New York City in January

12:55pm 09-01-14 – Newark Airport, Terminal C, New Jersey

Sitting at the airport gate, my South American adventure about to begin, shortly I’ll step aboard a jet plane to transport me to the capital of Peru. I’ve had a quick stop-over in New York, should have been longer but the extreme weather meant my scheduled flight was cancelled. I’m looking at 3 months away and I have to admit its daunting, I’ve only done 6-8 weeks away at a time in the past. I know once I get going I’ll relish this amount of time to explore places, taste new foods and photograph new scenes, but sometimes the airport departure lounge seems like the loneliest place in the world.

Travelling east always makes it easier to get up early but harder to stay up and enjoy the nightlife, yesterday morning I caught the PATH train from Newport, New Jersey (where I was staying) into Manhattan. The weather forecast was clear skies so I was planning on a shooting the South Street Seaport with the early morning, golden light hitting the buildings and boats. I only managed a few frames before my hands stopped moving – the sign across the river said it was minus 15c!!

In the afternoon I headed out to Coney Island with a friend, its strange seeing such a deserted place – in the summer it would be packed with beachgoers but during these frigid January temperatures we pretty much had it to ourselves. I was interested in shooting the signage and esplanade. I come from a seaside town myself (Weymouth, Dorset) so am always drawn to the coast.

Having only one day in New York I wanted to cram a lot in, after returning from Coney Island I headed up fifth avenue to try and shot of the Flatiron building. I had envisaged something with the late afternoon sun coming up the avenue but it wasn’t quite the right time of year to get that angle. Heading a little further up Fifth to find a coffee I found a view of The Empire State Building, and I came back to shoot it again as night fell.