Film Photography in New York City...Lessons Learned

This vacation was a long time in coming.  Not just because it was the first airplane travel vacation since 2019 but because we had long talked about taking the kids to New York but wanted to wait until we were living back in the US.  Why travel to get to know the US when you are living in Asia? Or the Middle East?  Or Europe?

The plan was a simple one.  Spend seven days visiting the typical tourist locations throughout NYC.  Don't overdue it.  Just be sure we are seeing interesting things everyday. Enjoy wonderful food and forget that you are blowing a hole in your budget and enjoy.

The photography plan was a bit more complicated in that I wanted to take both digital and film photographs of the place.  As any reader of my website knows, I have plenty of cameras, in fact it is a bit of an obsession with me.  So the selection process of what cameras to take it complicated....it has more to do with what I want to photography than anything else. 

I tried to look up the experiences of other photographers looking to take film photographs of NYC but found no useful sources.  So I decided to write up a quick lessons learned section for those who come after me.  As people say, this is my experience and your mileage may vary...

Cameras:
I wanted to try a bit of street photography and who wouldn't.  It is NYC and screams to be photographed in all its charm.  I opted for my Leica M10 for digital shots and so I went with a Leica M6 for film.  The kept the lenses I was forced to carry to a minimum.  I also wanted some larger frame photographs of a few of the sites...something I could print big in the darkroom.  I opted for my Hasselblad 500 CM.  The Rolleiflex needs some CLA work done....it works well but why risk it.  

Being that I selected Leica equipment I automatically limited my lens length as all I have is 15mm, 28mm, 35mm and 50mm (my 90mm is showing its age with the new film of today).  So how was this?  I ended up doing just fine with this.  There was only two occasions I was left wishing for a longer lens...not worth carrying for just two shots.  But, and this is a big but, you must be happy with the wider shots of the city skyline (see top photograph).  

I also took a film point and shoot, something I could carry around at night with a small flash to catch some candid moments with the family at dinner.  I never took it out of the bag!  My iPhone did a great job and handled the night shots wonderfully.  In fact, this is the first trip where my iPhone carried a bit of the photography load.  

Film:
I kept it simple and stuck with HP5.  Not just that, but I made a decision to shoot it at the same Exposure Index (EI).  I kept it at box 400 EI this was as I develop I can do them all at the same time.  I took both 35mm and 120 HP5 to keep everything consistent.  Now that I am back I am thrilled I did.  There were a few occasions I would have liked to push the film a bit but this was only a handful of pictures and I did not want to lose the chance to continue photographing as I exited the darker buildings.  

This did leave me with only digital in some spots, such as subway shots.  If this is important for you to capture on film, I suggest dedicating a morning to running around the subway lines with a film camera set at 1600 or 3200 EI.  

Tripod:
I took a small desk top one from Manfrotto but never used it.  Most places won't allow you to shoot with a tripod anyway.

Bag:
I purchased a messenger type bag from (Retrospective 30) from ThinkTank.  This was small enough for me to carry into all the museums and big enough for me to carry all my gear.  If you have not looked at there bags have a gander....their quality is amazing!

Shot List:
I always make a shot list but this time I kept it simple.  Normally I walk into a vacation with 10-15 shots I want to take.  For NYC I wanted to be flexible and relaxed so I picked the following:

• Brooklyn Bridge
• DUMBO shot of Manhattan Bridge
• Street Shots 
• Statue of Liberty
• 30 Rock Skyline shot 
• Central Train Station

That is it.  Nice simple and successful on all counts.

Lessons Learned:

• Security at the airport were HAPPY to hand check my film.  No problem whatsoever.  I asked it as a favor and they were happy to help me out.  
• Security to get to Statue of Liberty again, happy to hand check film. This was the only place that had X-ray.  All other checks were done by hand.
• Tripods are not allowed in most places.  
• Street Photography....I never found a place more relaxed about taking pictures of people.  Everyone seemed to understand and while I used proper judgement...no shots of children, one picture and move one and I kept smiling at everyone.
• Safety was not an issue.  I kept an eye out and did not go down any dark alleys alone but never encountered any issue. Be smart but don't be driven by fear.
• If possible stay in the city and select a place close to Central Station. This makes it easy to take subways and trains everywhere you want to go.  
• Buy a subway week long pass...it is around 30 USD but saves you time and can save you money if you use it.  It also works for busses if needed.
• Food at restaurants is more expensive than in Houston.  We went to nice places (nothing out of this world as we wore jeans but nice) and we were spending about USD 50 / person for lunch and USD 85 /.person for dinner.  The difference was mostly the wine at dinner. 
• Tickets to any event will cost you allot.  To enter into a museum or to go up the Empire State Building and so forth is expensive...plan on 25-35 USD per person.  There are student discounts and discounts for people under the age of 16 in many places. 
• People are in a hurry but they are very nice and helpful.  
• For the Instagram famous spots...go early.  Get there before 9am and you should be fine.  If not you will not have a chance to shoot as everyone is there taking their instagram shot.  
• The iPhone 13 is GREAT to photograph with.  Honestly some of my best shots were taken with it.  And why the heck not...it is always with me! Take a look at the Radio City and Atlas shots below.  Both at night, in fog and all I had was my iPhone.  Some captures I am thrilled with!!

In short, NYC is film photographers paradise.  I will share some of the film photographs once processed and printed.  Go out and enjoy!!!!