I meant to update my blog weeks ago, but my life has been crazy with travel and work. This means more blogs to come, however, when I get the chance.

While I was in New Jersey, I spent a day wandering around Hoboken while my cousins worked. This was the day after I wandered around New York City in my previous blog. It was so wonderful to have 2 days to do nothing but walk around and take photos. I wasn’t on assignment, I wasn’t shooting a wedding and I didn’t set out with a purpose.

Light and Shadow

Hoboken has a safe charm to it. It is close to the city, but it feels quieter and safer. In some ways this makes it less exciting than NYC, but I can definitely understand the appeal. It feels like a small town and a big city at the same time.

Small town, Big city

As I explored Hoboken, the most interesting thing I found to photograph was a skate park. For some reason the scene just resonated with me- so much so that I went back to photograph it for a second session. I have photographed skate parks many times, but this time I was in love with the entire scene- the way the park was tucked away from the rest of Hoboken, the way New York City was the backdrop for the crazy tricks these kids were attempting and the variety of people who came to the park. This scene became the perfect backdrop for me to work on layering. For hours I sat and watched the scene unfold and attempted to capture a moment in time in which interesting things were happening in multiple layers in the photo. I already had an interesting back layer with the city, but the rest of my layers were moving, so this took time, patience and planning. When pulled off well, photos that are layered make for very powerful and interesting images. It is always important to pay attention to what is going on in every layer in every photo you take. This is one thing that separates a hobbyist from a professional. Henri Cartier Bresson, one of my photographer idols, did this very well. Below are the results of my attempts- any feedback on which photos work the best would be much appreciated. I am having a hard time editing this shoot down.

And at the end of the day, it was this scene that summed it all up for me.