Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with nyc and photography

Money + Art = Profit?

kathrineg — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:24:48 -0800

Best way for a hobbyist photographer to sell prints? In NYC. Should I go hang out at Union Square with some prints? Somewhere online? Should I have a website? Should I make editions and number them?

How much of a profit should I be expecting from each piece?

Should I offer to take photographs of people? Is there any money in artsy/impressionistic photography on commission?

My apartment has a great print and two people have offered to buy a print of the same photo (for real, not out of politeness). So I'm thinking I have a decent opportunity to make a little cash from a wider audience if I hustle a little bit.

Cheers, and thanks.

Grumpy NYC Street Photographer?

donblood — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:55:38 -0800

Looking for an NPR video about an aggressive NYC street photographer. Some time within the last six months, I saw an NPR video about a man in NYC who photographs pedestrians. His style was very aggressive: he'd conceal his camera and flash until he was within a foot of his subject, then go in very quickly for a close-up. He's an older guy and he's been doing this at least since the 1970's. His demeanor was decidedly crotchety in the style of the stereotypical New Yorker.

I've been googling around for this story (which I could swear I found on MeFi originally) with no luck. Anyone have any ideas?

(I ask because I saw him working in Times Square today and followed him around for a while.)

Where can I get cool photos of the numbers 1-20 around New York?

paul_smatatoes — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:38:19 -0800

NYC Wedding Filter: The future Ms. Smatatoes thinks numbered tables for our wedding would be too boring, but the current Mr. Smatatoes doesn't want cutesy names (ie, "Tribeca", "Red Hook"), either. So our compromise is getting nice photographs of numbers from around the city- ie, a shot of the front of a 1 train for table #1, and so on. Here's the question: what are some good, creative places to get a cool shot of the numbers 1-20 around NYC?

Help me think of Reenactment Photos for Cosplay

Del Far — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:11:24 -0800

Creative Ideas Filter: I need ideas of Famous and Memorable Photographs or Paintingsor famous and memorable scenes from History, Movies, or Television that can be Reenacted on the spot without planning by 3-6 people for me to photograph for a final project for school. So I have this final project for school and I realized that I could use my trip to the NY Comic-Con for "fun and profit." We had previously done reenactment photography in my digital photography class and I had a lot of fun, and I just thought, I could get some hilarious shots of people already cosplaying but also reenacting great scenes for me.

Imagine it, all the Naruto cosplayers reenacting the Mexican stand off scene from reservoir dogs. Or a reenactment of Jesus' Last Supper with people dressed up as DC heroes.

I Seek Decay

grumblebee — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:06:24 -0800

I'd like to photograph the interior of a run-down old building. I live in NYC. My wife found this site, and I immediately fell in love with the photos of dilapidated asylums. I wish I could buy prints and hang them all over my apartment, but I'm way too poor for to afford his $300 - $500 asking price.

It occurred to me that I have a good camera, and I'm a competent photographer. I'm not fooling myself that I could take photos like the ones on that site, but I'd love to try.

But where?

I don't want to go somewhere where I have to sneak in, take a bunch of really quick shots, and then sneak out before I get caught. I need to take my time. I need to take hundreds of shots so that I can pick the best for printing.

Photography Jobs/Internships

Del Far — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:06:08 -0800

Are there any Photography Studios/Companies/Newspapers in the New York City area that an amateur photo could get an internship or a summer job with? I'm a college student looking for internships or a part/full time job for the summer. I'm currently a psychology major and I'm taking a digital photography class right now but don't plan on minoring or majoring in Photography.
I have become very serious about photography for a couple of years and I have multiple experiences shooting A Capella performances, Concerts, I've tried my hand at photographing theater, and I would like to try out photographing other things, such as Models, Food, News, etc. I really would like to experience a whole lot fields of photography.
So would anyone know of any Photography Studios or businesses that would accept interns or Part time work? Or does any me-fite work at a place like this and could give me tips? I don't want to receive college credit, because we have to write in some silly journal and write a research paper. I don't care if I get paid or not get paid at. I just want experience and I'm willing to do gopher work. If it's a part time summer job, that would be fine also.

art 101

shothotbot — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 12:53:56 -0800

Help me find some art classes for a rank beginner in New York City. My business is folding and I am hoping to take a year or two of my retirement now in my early 40s. I want to take some photography and art courses in New York City. I have no measurable talent and less experience. Where should I go for a friendly, hands on introduction to drawing, watercolors and photography?

How to keep upto date on latest photo shows/exhbitis in NYC?

unmodern — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:34:55 -0800

How can I keep abreast of photo gallery openings, new photo exhibits, photo-related events in NYC? Any favorite online resources that do the work for you? Woeful that I missed out on the Juergen Teller opening at Lehmann Maupin. Help me not miss any other good shows!

Blue Steel! Le Tigre! Ferarri! MAGNUM!

Sloop John B — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 11:53:50 -0800

I'm about to make a drastic change in my appearance, and would like to update my photo on various websites. Where is a good place in NYC to have my picture taken? NOTE : I'm not looking for airbrushing or photoshopping or anything like that. However, I would like to find some place that will make me look cool, and not like one of these rubes.

I'm a guy in my late 20s, if that makes any difference.

Photography trips in NYC area

lsemel — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:36:30 -0800

I'm looking for ideas for interesting, off-the-beaten-path places to go and take photographs in New York or the surrounding areas. It would be good to take photographs that not absolutely identical to things you see in travel books, so no touristy or centrally located areas. Recent visits been to the abandoned buildings of Ellis Island, the recently-collapsed smallpox hospital on Roosevelt Island, Astroland, Vinegar Hill, and Washington Rock (in NJ). What are some other photo-worthy places?

Does anyone remember a picture of Times Square with all the ads / billboards / text removed?

bshort — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 13:16:57 -0800

Does anyone remember seeing a picture of Times Square with all the ads / billboards / text removed? I remember seeing it a couple of years ago, but all my Googling has been for naught. Hope me find it, Hive Mind!

NYC-area Wedding Photographers

josh — Tue, 16 May 2006 04:46:28 -0800

Help me find a great wedding photographer for my wedding on Long Island next June! We're getting married in June of 2007 in Bayville, NY, a small town on the North Shore of Long Island about an hour from New York. We've looked at a few wedding photographers in the area, but they are all crazily expensive ($6,000+). More problematically, they only give us maybe a hundred prints in the end--out of thousands of photos--and are generally into a super-cheesy, glamour-shot aesthetic. Lots of pictures of the bride staring off into the distance, showing off her garters, making out with the groom on the beach, etc. etc. A lot of them have arcane pre-digital rules (no access to the digital files, for example, until one year after the wedding). None of them are appealing so far.

Ideally, we'd like to pay less for someone to shoot a lot of great, candid photos, and then give them to us in digital form (on a DVD, say). We're computer savvy and could take charge of making our own photo albums and prints. The main thing is that we'd like a good, fun, flexible photographer who can shoot digitally and give us access to the photographs. Any suggestions, endorsements, personal experiences? Thanks!

printing/cross-processing in nyc

provolot — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 22:34:43 -0800

I'm looking for a good photo lab in Manhattan... I went to my local lab one day and found them mishandling negatives and generally not caring about the quality of the print itself, so I'm looking for a photo lab somewhere in NYC -- specifically Manhattan -- preferably around the Upper West side, but anywhere else including the East and West Villages is fine.

I'm trying to 1) print/enlarge a 35mm negative, and 2) get a few of my 35mm slide rolls cross-processed. I've searched for previous threads, and people have recommended Spectra, Flat Iron, Adorama, Ben Ness, etc.. but will these places do crossprocessing as well?

Couple questions re: printing digital pictures.

Vidiot — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 09:03:33 -0800

A few questions about printing digital photos in NYC, and tangentially, the legality thereof. One of my photos was selected for a small gallery group show, and I have some questions as to how I should go about getting the print made. (I'm used to putting my pictures online, and have never printed them out beyond snapshot size.)

--The photo was shot with a 3.2MP camera, and measures 1536x2048. How big can I reasonably make this when printed? The show organizers are asking that all photos be 16"x20", but say that adding white space around it will be fine. (They suggest that I increase the "canvas size" in Photoshop.) I want to make it look both as big and as good as possible -- what's a good size that will satisfy both aims?

--Can anyone recommend a photo printer in NYC (because I need to get this printed quickly, ideally in the next couple days) that can do this? (The NYC Photobloggers group tends to love Adorama, but they are closed this week and next...and 12x18 seems to be their maximum size anyway.)

--Part of my photo includes part of a painting by another artist. Will I run into any kind of copyright or other hassles by printing/exhibiting/selling a print of this?