Coney Island Mermaid Parade: Happy Pairs & Warrior Women?

Last month, June 18 to be exact, I ventured out to Coney Island for the annual Mermaid Parade.  It's the perfect place to capture images of people in costumes.  

As you may know, I feel that portrait photography isn't my strong point.  But, I knew moments after I started taking photos that sunny Saturday, that the majority of my photos were going to be portraits.  What I hadn't envisioned was that I would create a black and white series.  The colorful costumes are wonderful sights but when I started editing I kept seeing them sans color!

More photos HERE

In keeping with the water theme, the above images capture a couple of striking Viking ladies.

 

Above, the first couple were a part of the parade ... a sailor and his bride, again keeping with the water theme of the parade.  The second couple apparently got married on the beach after the parade.

I didn't turn all of the photos black and white.  Color images can be found HERE.

Summer: Coney Island

About a month ago, I was out on Coney Island.  Of course, I had my camera with me!

Parachute Jump, Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY - June 18, 2011

I took about a half dozen images of the Parachute Jump trying to translate what I saw in my head to my camera.  I didn't want a wide shot that captured the whole structure nor did want just the top portion.  I couldn't put into words then what I wanted, I just knew I'd know when I found the right angle.  Now I realize that I wanted to give the feeling that I might be climbing up the structure.  Originally, I envisioned the image as black and white.  However, when I sat down to start editing, the image told me it didn't want to lose its color.  I went about trying to figure out what the image wanted and ended up with a high contrast "retro" type image.

Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY - June 18, 2011

When I took the above image, I knew based on the skull, that I wanted the image to be rather dark and gloomy looking.  I wanted it to look ominous.  I wanted to give the feeling that if you got into one of those buckets, you would mysteriously vanish.  I don't know how well I captured that but that's what I was after.

Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY - June 18, 2011

I've been fascinated by retro imagery for a while now.  I gave it a try with a Holga and well, that experiment didn't turn out well at all!  So, I've settled on using editing software to make my digital images look old.  I of course need some practice.  I envisioned this image as an old postcard.  A part of me wants to flip it over and read about Aunt Birdie's Coney Island wish you were here vacation.

Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY - June 18, 2011

I love black and white photography.  But, I often find it difficult to take the color away from scenic images.  Flowers, landscapes, water, etc. always feel right in color.  As I was preparing a number of images for a black and white series, I decided to give this beach shot a go.  I've found that as much as I like it in color, I now like it more in black and white.

 

Street Photography: Coney Island

Last Saturday, June 18, I went out to Coney Island for the annual Mermaid Parade. Events such as this one are the perfect opportunities to take photos of strangers.  They're in attention grabbing costumes and are in general, happy to have their photos taken.  I got plenty of photos of costumed people and I'll share some of those a bit later, once I've sorted and edited!

A friend and I were walking along, looking for a friend of hers who had provided Amazing Race quality clues as to his location.  It was kind of like looking for buried treasure which I suppose would have been appropriate since she was dressed as a saucy pirate.  Anyway, as we were walking, I spotted a couple of things that caught my eye and grabbed some shots.  Interestingly enough, it wasn't anyone in a costume!

Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY - June 18, 2011

Of all the photos I took that day, I think the above shot might well be my favorite.  He was perfectly positioned so that it looked like the pointing lady in the painting was referring to him.  I immediately saw the photo as black and white in my head.  Even though that's how I saw the image in my head when I raised the camera to my eye, in editing, I debated over whether to leave it in color.  The colors in the painting are so vivid I wasn't sure I wanted to take them away.  In the end, I decided to go with what my original vision was.

Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY - June 18, 2011

Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY - June 18, 2011

The above two images were also vividly colored.  But I liked the way they felt in black and white.  I've come to realize, that I prefer street photography dark and desaturated or in black and white.