Looking Back

I started this blog in the begging of the year and now is a good time to look back at all that happened.
I have to say it has been both good and bad. I lost my best friend, which i am still dealing with, I attended 3 other funerals besides his, which is way too many for 1 year, but life must go on.

My Photography has been evolving, I was published by +Anetta G. Heller and +Artur Heller who run Camerapixo magazine. Camerapixo also has PressID, if you are street photographer or trying to do more journalist work, this could be very helpful.
I was also published in +dodho magazine. You can find links to all the articles in my earlier blog posts.
One of the projects I worked on got turned into a book, you can find it here. There is another project I am slowly working on and hoping it will come to light in 2013, so stay tuned.
Another picture of mine was published in the +Plus One Collection Magazine, which I helped put together, it was all for charity and well worth the time, a big thank you goes out to +Ivan Makarov and +Andy Lee for all their work, please follow them on Google+

Here is one my latest pictures of Snow on Park Avenue, this shot was taken at ISO 3200 handheld through the window, I have to give credit to my new camera for having an amazing sensor technology.

Most importantly I want to wish all the people who follow me Happy Holidays and great 2013 may it bring happiness and joy to all. Thank you for reading!

Year End Approaching

I took a little break from writing, partially due to Hurricane Sandy, but lets get back on that horse :)
Since my last entry I have switched my camera from Panasonic G3 to Olympus E-PL5 and I could not be happier. Picture quality from this camera is great.

Another quick update worth mentioning, I participated in the Profoti 2nd Annual Color of Gold competition and one of my pictures was selected as Merit Winner.

One more exciting news, I should be receiving my Press ID from Camerapixo shortly, which should allow me to do some more reports like  the ones you seen on this blog about Apple iPad and iPhone. If you are a street photographer or trying to do some freelance journalism this a great way to start, please take a look at their website for more information. The team at Camerapixo is great and always available to answer any questions.

Thank you for Reading and if you are interested in any of the pictures you see on this blog, please visit my website www.rkworld.com

October Update

Plus One Magazine is now on Sale :http://plusonecollection.com/magazine/

My Picture is on Page 36, all proceed from the Magazine will go to Kilgoris Project. Please take a look.

Today I had a change to attend PhotoPlus Expo. It was an interesting gathering of people, with some nice demo's of software and products, but nothing you would not be able to find on the internet, not sure i will attend next year, may be once every 2 years is good unless you want to go play with a new camera.

Plus One Magazine

Plus One Magazine First Issue is out, I helped with some work that went into making this magazine happen. 

All proceeds from the sale of the magazine will benefit children in Kenya and the school built for them by the Kilgoris Project. Not only I helped worked on the magazine which was a pleasure in itself as this was for a good cause, but one of my pictures was also selected to be in the magazine. Initial release of the magazine is Limited Edition that will also come with a fine art print, then towards the end of October digital download and regular magazine will be available. Very excited about this and very happy to be a part of it.

iPhone 5 Madness

Good morning, today is the day of iPhone 5 and the madness that follows it. Just as I did in march when I published the report about new iPad launch event thanks to Camerapixo, I woke up earlier so I can be at the apple store around 7:45, giving me a few minutes before the 8am opening. Just to give you an idea of amount of people I took this picture using iPhone panorama mode.

What happened next was pure madness, I really thought that the event back in march was crazy, but today was far worth. There were 10 times more apple employees creating hype and cheering, there were every possible TV station, radio station and all kinds of other reporters on site.

At 8am on the dot Apple employees started that 10-1 count down, like it was new years eve and we are on time square watching the ball drop, simply amazing the amount of hype apple can generate. At the end of the count down the doors opened and the people who camped there for a week prior were taken into the store like some kind of VIPs.

There were more apple employees downstairs waiting to greet those people and applaud them.

Now the rest of the line started moving, the cheering continues, everyone is supper happy to spend 200-500 dollars to get their new toy.

Overall it is amazing that every time a new iPhone comes out, that this happens, and while this is all fun, it is also sad that this creates so much news. I mean TV stations, radio stations, police, all kinds of other security, you would think something important happened or someone died or something. Technology controls our life more then we realize, I love technology, I am geek myself but this is beyond my understanding, but I guess to each it's own right? I will leave you with this last picture of the line going all the way down to Lexington Ave. and then some more.

For a complete set of pictures please visit my website www.rkworld.com and click on events.

Thank you for reading!

Out with the Old, in with a New

Sorry for not writing for a while, been busy updating my website and it is finally ready, please visit www.rkworld.com  

I was also interviewed by TeraBella Media, please visit   http://www.tbmpn.com/newsletter to read it. Another addition I would like to mention, I started a Facebook photography page to make it easier for people to follow me, please visit and like https://www.facebook.com/romankphoto 

After my photowalk with Trey, I have been more and more interested in HDR photography and have taken some nice shot of New York City using 5 bracketed shots with 1ev spacing and later merging them on the computer. 

Here are the shots :

The summer is officially over and we are in September, but with fall comes fantastic photo opportunities so stay tuned for some fall colors soon.

Thank you for Reading!

Style

No, we are not talking about your clothing style, we are talking about photography style. Earlier today I read an article that talk about how you have to pick a style and stick to it in order to become a better photographer. I have been thinking about it all day and yes most photographers who are successful have a style that they stick to and known for, but do you really have to. I love street photography and for the most part that is what I do, but I also like city and architecture photography and some landscape, I love photography in general so why should I be limited to only 1 style. I think learning other styles is important and will help you develop as photographer.

Both photos represent 2 different styles of photography, but I love them both.

Thank you for reading!

All the pictures you see on the blog are available for purchase via my web site

Photowalk with Trey

I was part of Trey Ratcliff New York PhotoWalk a rare opportunity, first to meet him and second to go on the PhotoWalk with him. While I personally do not do any HDR work or much landscape photography, I do however follow Trey. What I like about Trey is how open he is about sharing online and not being worried about people stealing his pictures, please check out his site and blog at http://www.stuckincustoms.com/

There were supposed to be over 200 people on this PhotoWalk, I don't know if we actually reached or exceeded this number, but there was a lot of us. (Can you see Trey?)

We walked from Broadway & Cortland, down to the Battery Park, stopping at different places to take some pictures, imaging 200 photographers walking down the street LOL, that could be a start to a good joke :) Once in Battery park we waited for the sunset to take some pictures of it, so I decide to try my hand at HDR. This is my first attempt and it was educational.

All in all it was time well spent and I enjoyed the walk and people. Talking about people here are some shot of the photographers at the walk.

Thank you for reading!

Why?

Have you ever taken a picture and it is nothing special, but yet you cannot stop looking at it, because there is something about it. I recently took 2 of such pictures, there is nothing special about them at all, but yet I love them and not because I took them, trust me i am my worth critic. Have you ever came across such picture? Where you cant explain why you like it, you just do. Maybe it is the way it is processed, may be it is something else, let me know in the comments what you think.

My photography quote for today is:

“In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.” – Alfred Stieglitz

First Picture is man on the subway

Second Picture is people in the tunnel

Thank you for Reading!

Life Around Us

As photographer you notice things that others may not, because you stop to capture that moment in life and when you later look at that picture you realize how many things are happening at the same time. Life moves all around us and its wonderful being able to capture a moment of it.

Each one of us have a different vision about life, but being able to express that vision is very important and photography helps me do that. There is more to life then just you regular daily routine and I hope my pictures show that.

OK, enough of philosophy let's talk about something more exciting like m43 camera's. There has been a lot of development in that field, just look at Olympus OMD EM5 camera. Sigma finally came out with lenses for m43, so there is finally 3rd party support for both Panasonic and Olympus, which means more is on the way.
I am actually considering picking up Sigma 19mm F2.8 lens, the reviews on it are great and the price is right. 

All my shots that you see on this site are taken with Panasonic G3 paired with Olympus 45mm F1.8 Lens and Panasonic 14-45mm, which is a great setup for the money

Thank you all for reading!

Leadership

This past weekend I had the pleasure to meet with Story Musgrave and Stan McChrystal. Both are amazing people who accomplished a lot in their life, I urge if you do not know who they are to look them up and read about them. Now how does this relate to photography, well something Story Musgrave said during his speech that stuck with me, he said work on your strength, don't worry about your weaknesses. If you like photography and you are good at it, just continue to take pictures and you will get better at it.
Picture above on the right, was taken by a friend it is not the best quality, but any picture with him is better then no picture at all he is an amazing human being.

Leadership and photography, how does one become a leader. Look at people like Trey Ratcliff, I consider him one of the leaders in photography and he does that by being open, by sharing, by communicating with community. Stan McCrystal said during his speech that to be an effective leader you need to share information, you need to communicate, build trust in the community. Listen to his speech here.

Some other notes worth mentioning, in case you missed the post about my book, it is out and available via Blurb. I am working on my second book, which I will try to publish with LULU as it seems cheaper, but second book will take a bit longer as I am still gathering material for it. Here is a teaser that I will likely use for the cover of the book.

Thank you for reading!

Welcome to New York

Welcome to New York is the title of my new book, that I finished early. The book shows my vision of this great city. Book can be view and purchased @ Blurb. It comes in both digital and hard cover versions.

New York and New Yorkers are so full of life that taking pictures of the city and it's people is a pure pleasure. Life in the New York City never stops, at any time of the day or night there is something happening and there is always something to photograph as you will see in this book. The book consists of 3 chapters and each picture is accompanied by a quote.Chapter 1, in this chapter you will see your everyday people going about their daily routine. Chapter 2 is very different, it consists of people who actually live on the streets of New York. It shows you the not so pretty side of the city in the comparison to the fun and happy New York. Chapter 3 explores the subway system of the big city, specifically the multitude of the musicians that you see on the platforms.

Full Link to the book just in case the above does not work:

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3362825?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=bookstore-share

Thank you for reading!

To see or not To see, that is the Question

A little Shakespeare in today's title, but something I observed of myself today that I wanted to share. I took a shot today of something I see everyday, but until today I did not see it. I stand on that subway stop every morning in the same spot, maybe I am just not awake or my mind is elsewhere, but until today it did not click. The more pictures I take the more things I see, I think that is the explanation for this photo. Take you camera or your mobile phone with you everywhere, as you never know what your mind may see at any given moment, that you will want to capture.

Thank you for reading

The Book!

Good day to all, in my previous post I mentioned about working on the book and it is coming along nicely. The book will consist of 3 chapters, and it will be about 50 pages give or take a few depending on the images I decide to put in there, each page of the book will also have a quote about photography. I will announce the book here on my blog, followed by Google + and twitter, so please follow me if you want to stay updated on the release. Book will be available in both hard cover for your coffee table or office and as an eBook for you mobile device/reader.

Thank you again fro reading and as the image above illustrates i now need some coffee :)

Changes & Thoughts

I decided to change the Title of the blog, I think it better reflect my thoughts on photography and where I am going as a photographer. As I think about it, I realize that what interested me in street photography and photography in general is that a a photo can convey so many messages, it can tell story of someones life, it can open up your imagination. Once you see that photo that will move you, that speaks to you, then you will understand why I changed the title.

My next project will be a photo book of New York and the people in it. Yes there are plenty out there already, but I promise you it will be different than others. I am still working on the material that will go into the book, but I am hoping it will be ready towards the end of the summer.

As always thank you for reading and your comments.

Photowalk with Iesha & John

Back Story, Iesha found me via my blog and contacted me saying she will be on vacation in NY this week and asked if i had some time for a photowalk. I was happy to make some time, I always enjoy meeting new people who are like minded and love photography, we met today in midtown and took a train to Union Square. There are always plenty of weird and fun people and  things to shoot in that area. 

We walked around the area for about an hour as we were waiting for one more person to join us. 

Here is a picture of Iesha.

John sent us a text at around 5pm and we went back to Union Square to meet with him and continue our photowalk. We took Broadway down toward China Town, talking and doing some shooting on the way. During our walk we run into another photographer his name is Rameen, he was showing his work, lots of great jazz picture and a few others, i will provide a link to his work later.

Once we got to China Town I had to take the train home as it was getting late, and i needed to go home so i can spend some time with my kids and family. This was a fun afternoon walking around New York, meeting new people and photographing New York City and its people.

Iesha can be found on her blog One Life, many Shots

Rameen Gasery can be found at his website

John Can be found on Instagram @rottenronin

Thank you for reading!

Instagram & Instacanvas = Instagood

I have been playing with instagram for about a month now, and just recently discovered Instacanvas. Instacanvas connects to your instagram account and allows people to purchase your pictures on different size canvas as well as you can browse others peoples work on the computer which is much better then mobile device. Here some of my work that is available for sale! The price is set by them and its the same across the board for all. There is really not much else to say about it, except please go ahead and check out my prints available for sale at http://instacanv.as/rkruglov

Summer on the Streets of New York

It almost 90% degrees out and the humidity is about the same, welcome to New York City summers. The city comes alive during the summer with so many interesting people, not to say that city is ever boring, or other seasons are not fun, but summer is just more cheerful and photo opportunities triple. Do you have a favorite season for photography?, let me know by leaving a comment below.

Few other things worth mentioning:
1.  The deadline for photo submission to plus one magazine is May 31st. For more information about the magazine and how to submit, please read this Google plus post.
2. I came across an interesting kickstarter project called photoville, please take a look.
3. If you have not heard or seen Humans of New York, i highly suggest you take a look.
4. Google + One Year Anniversary Photowalk is approaching, click here for more info and to find information for your city/location

Thank you for reading

Seinfeld Episode or Street Photography

As i was taking picture's on my way home from work on Friday night i was thinking about street photography and how many photographers concentrate on taking a street portrait vs an actual street photograph. Warning this is purely my opinion it is neither right or wrong just what i think, which i hope was reflected by the humor of today's title :)

Many street photographers concentrate on taking a portrait shot on the street, yes it takes some "brass" to come and ask can i take your picture, but to me it somewhat looses the element of the street as all you see in the picture is that person, the picture itself looses the story. Step back show some buildings, show more people, give the picture some life, so the reader/audience can see something else except a strangers face. I guess to me there are really 2 genres, street photography and street portraits.

Thank you for reading, all comments are always welcome :)

Instagram

Instagram has been a hot topic recently, i have read a number of blog posts about it:

Example1: Eric Kim, Why Instagram is the future of street photography

Example2: Wired, Why Instagram is terrible for photographers and why you should use it.
Here is actually a nice proof how instagram may work for photography, click here to read the story

After reading all of them, i decided to give it a try, while i do not agree with everything that was written by Eric, i do think Instagram has potential and is fun little app. I will give it a try, to see what will come of it. Here is a picture i took with it.

Do you use Instagram? What do you think about it? Please let me know in the comments and as always thank you for reading.

Fallen Riders

This post is slightly off my usual photography nature, but i hope you like it none the less.

Today(5/6/2012) was a special day, "First Annual Ride In Memory of Eddie.T". The Ride was organized by 2 clubs, Bikers of Brooklyn and BRATVA, all the proceeds from the Ride went to Eddies family. It was very dear to my heart to see all this people come out and show their support, the only way this day could be better if Eddie was with us, instead of watching over us. His family was there and i know they appreciated everything that was and is being done. It was a difficult day for many, but we pulled though it as one big family that supports each other. Talking about support, it has been  nothing short of amazing.

On the side note there were so many photographers there today, It must have been some organized photo-walk, if it was i hope the word will spread and more people will attend next year. The ride is not only in the memory of our fallen, brother and friend, but also to raise awareness that people should be tested after certain age, if they should continue to drive. Please Click on the link and sign this petition!

Once again i want to thank on behalf of myself and his family, all the clubs and people who came out to show their support, words can not describe how much it means.

Thank you all for reading and your continued support.

Another Magazine

Good news my subway series have been published by Dodho Magazine, you can take a look at the article here. This is my 3rd publishing, kind of a big deal for me. I appreciate all the support i have received so far.

I have submitted my work to a few more places, so stay tuned for more.

Some other news to share I have been trying a slightly different approach to street shooting with a wider lens instead of my 45mm, and slowly getting a hang of it, I can't say I like one better then the other, but it is something different and does produce different results, but I let you be the judge, so please leave me a comment let me know what you think of the following pictures

Thank you all for reading