New York, March 2024

Published Apr 04, 2024 in #cameras, #personal, #photography, #photos, #travel

Took a quick trip with the family to New York City at the end of March, since Jordan and I skipped our traditional anniversary trip last December. I dug out my old Fujifilm X100S and had a lot of fun taking photos (more on that later). I’ve posted a full set on Flickr.

Day One #

We stayed near Koreatown, and on our first morning starting in the Flatiron district, stopping in at Eataly and the Harry Potter store.

A man in a gray baseball cap and glasses prepares homemade pasta behind a glass partition. — Homemade pasta station at Eataly

A bar with a back wall arching over top. The wall is decorated with dozens of bottles, some lit up by lights. — Butterbeer bar

Two girls smile from within a replica London phone booth within the Harry Potter store in New York City. — Ring ring (I like that Em is using the old folks’ sign for a telephone)

We walked downtown to Union Square for lunch and a stop at Strand bookstore.

A person reaches into the back seat of a parked sedan, their legs extended into the street. — This could have been a mannequin for all I know

A teenage girl and a woman read menus. Behind them a mounted mirror reflects a restaurant interior. — Lunch at Friend of a Farmer near Union Square

A cornmeal waffle with bananas and strawberries, dusted with powdered sugar. — Cornmeal waffle

Strand bookstore in New York City. At the checkout counter, a wall of bookshelves decorated with books organized by color extends behind the cashiers. — Reading rainbow

A building at a street corner is split by light and shadow.

We wrapped up the afternoon with a quick trip to Little Island, then had an early dinner at Her Name is Han.

A series of pillars underneath the Little Island in New York City. Light reflects off the water underneath the pillars. — Holding up Little Island

An orange construction barrier with the word “irregular” spray painted on it sits in front of a row of portable toilets. — irregular

A man and woman in a dim restaurant sit side by side, smiling. — Dinner at Her Name is Han

A bowl of bibimbap, with a single egg yolk perched perfectly in the center. — That egg!

Day Two #

Breakfast at Sullivan Street Bakery, then a walk along the High Line up to Hudson Yards

A mural on a black wall, with Albert Einstein portrayed spray-painting a message “We ❤️ NY.” — Chelsea mural

A man inside a bakery kitchen works next to a modified street sign with a large capital K and the message “Be Nice. Kindness Zone.” — Kindness zone in Sullivan St Bakery

Train tracks in the foreground of a series of buildings on New York City’s elevated High Line.” — Mixed materials on the High Line

After the high line we stopped in at B&H, Moynihan Train Hall, and then rode up to Central Park. I have to say, seeing my kids figure out the right Metrocard swipe technique after a few tries really warmed my heart.

Two men on a subway platform, shot from inside a subway car. The man on the left wears a red hoodie and a black and red Yankees cap. The man on the right wears a traditional blue and white Yankees cap.” — Subway stare

A woman in a fuzzy, multicolored bucket hat and pink shoes looks at her phone while riding the subway.” — Think pink

Christopher Doyle/Wong Kar Wai NYC subway vibes (no audio).

The Falconer sculpture in Central Park, silhouetted by the sun. The sculpture features a man extending his arm as a falcon alights on it.” — The Falconer

A tree in central park with a massive knot in the center of its trunk.” — The trees have eyes

We capped things off with a late lunch near our hotel and then got back on the road to head home.

Two bowls of ramen, one of which contains a fiery red spicy broth .” — Ajisen Ramen

See the rest on Flickr.

Camera Notes #

I have a Fujifilm X100VI on order, and it’ll probably be in my hands in May.¹ In the meantime I dug up my Fujifilm X100S. I’ve owned since 2015, but I haven’t shot it much the last four years because I broke the power switch.² On this trip I remembered how much fun it is—having an optical viewfinder is great when shooting street scenes, and the low-profile lens makes it jacket-pocketable and easy to drop into a sling/purse. It kinda made me wish I had brought it on my long trip last year.

It’s funny, too—a lot of the limitations I used to gripe about don’t affect me as much. Probably because my kids are a lot older, I’m no longer chasing them around and missing shots due to slow autofocus. Back then I had a short wishlist of improvements:

A tilt screen.

Flexible noise-reduction settings for JPG output.

Faster, more reliable autofocus with the focus joystick from the X-Pro2.

The first item came with the X100V, and the latter two have been solved since the X100F.

The X100 line has definitely turned into a thing in the meantime, though. Whereas people used to ask if I was shooting a film camera, or a Leica, this time around I got asked whether I was shooting the new VI. Kudos to Fujifilm, even if it means I have to wait months to get mine.

Or June? The demand for this camera has been ridiculous to the point that stores have had to publish posts like this one. ↩︎
I spilled a cocktail on the top plate, the power switch got really sticky, and when trying to loosen it up I broke the internal stops. It still turns on/off, but it’s really easy to nudge it to either state. ↩︎