NYCinHDR vs NYCBuskers

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I have decided to do a self-published book project. It was partly inspired by my involvement with Kickstarter (post about that coming soon). My original idea was to do a NYCinHDR book. I have been interested in strengthening my HDR skills and this sounded like a great way to do this. It is definitely a city rich in depth and urban texture, an ideal subject for HDR. Another idea I had recently was to make the project about the people of the city. Mostly the street and subway performers found throughout the city. Each subject has it’s pros and cons.

As far as I know, there has not been a book dedicated to HDR photography of New York. I don’t really want to redo all the iconic views in HDR form. So what do I do to keep it fresh but still New York? One thought is to give a little more context to the images with some anecdotal or historic information about the places in the photos. One of the drawbacks is it will have to be mostly architectural due to the nature of HDR. Not to mention, there are so many photo books of the city already, would HDR be enough to make this one appealing and not just another NYC photo book?

An HDR image of storm clouds rolling over the Brooklyn Bridge.

I had an idea once to do an album with only musicians from the subway. I’ve heard some really talented ones and thought it would make a great compilation. There is something that attracts me to these people. I recently shot a cello player while I was at Highline Park shooting brackets for HDR. It was the highlight of my day. I posted the photos, tweeted the link and a few hours I had a message from @sawlady on twitter asking me if I would like to shoot her. She called herself a busker so I looked it up. In a nutshell, it’s an old English term for street performer.

A busker playing for the crowds awaiting the Ferry at Battery Park.

So what is more interesting, the buildings or the people? Many would say the people. Can I find a way to mix them both in? I’m not sure. There would have to be some continuity between the images besides being NYC, I think. I am kicking around the idea of using Kickstarter (no pun) to get people’s input based on what they would contribute to.

Either way, I will be continuing to shoot both subjects so I don’t have to decide now.


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