View allAll Photos Tagged M104
M104 - The Sombrero Galaxy
Taken April 15, 20, and 21, 2025 at my remote observatory in Rockwood, TX
Telescope: Astro-Physics 92mm Stowaway @ f/7
Camera: QHY600M
Guide Camera: ASI120MM-Mini
Mount: Astro-Physics Mach2GTO
Capture Software: NINA
Exposure:
Red: 3 hours 33 minutes (71 x 3 min, bin 1x1)
Green: 3 hours 54 minutes (78 x 3 min, bin 1x1)
Blue: 4 hours (80 x 3 min, bin 1x1)
Lum: 8 hours 24 minutes (168 x 3 min, bin 1x1)
Total Integration Time: 19 hours 51 minutes
Processed in PixInsight 1.8.9
Another view of the Sombrero Galaxy, this time from recently released data from JWST. Part of a project in which I will eventually combine images from a variety of sources.
Processing Notes: There are some blank areas along the sides where data are absent. The footprint of the mosaic was difficult to work with, and I didn't want to cut off too much just because the edges weren't straight.
Red: MIRI F1280W
Yellow-Green: MIRI F1130W
Cyan: MIRI F770W
North is about 12.4° clockwise from up.
#M104 #SombreroGalaxy (04.04.2021)
It has a diameter of approximately 49,000 light-years anderen 30Million ly disrance to earth.
59 lights 180 sec. Gain26
30 darks
30 bias
30 (dark) flats
#idaslpsd2 Filter
#qhy268c f4 #celestroncgxlmount #youresa
#astrophotography #universetoday #milkyway #astrophoto #astrography #nightsky #nightscaper #starphotography #starscape #natgeospace #starrynight #longexposure #astro_photography #deepsky #galaxy #neustadtanderweinstrasse #astromaniacmag #celestronrocks #astrobin #baaderplanetarium #jw #jwphotography
This is my image of the Sombrero Galaxy or M104.
The Sombrero Galaxy is a spiral galaxy in the constellation borders of Virgo and Corvus, being about 9.55 megaparsecs from our galaxy, within the local supercluster. It has a diameter of approximately 15 kiloparsecs, three-tenths the size of the Milky Way. It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its outer disk, which is viewed almost edge-on. The dark dust lane and the bulge give it the appearance of a sombrero hat. Astronomers initially thought the halo was small and light, indicative of a spiral galaxy; but the Spitzer Space Telescope found that the dust ring was larger and more massive than previously thought, indicative of a giant elliptical galaxy. The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of +8.0, making it easily visible with amateur telescopes, and is considered by some authors to be the galaxy with the highest absolute magnitude within a radius of 10 megaparsecs of the Milky Way. Its large bulge, central supermassive black hole, and dust lane all attract the attention of professional astronomers.
CHI-1 is a Planewave CDK24, a 61-cm telescope with Corrected Dall Kirkham optical design, situated in the Rio Hurtado Valley, Chile. It is equipped with a set of Astrodon astrophotography filters as well as Sloan photometry filters and it's, therefore, an excellent choice for both scientific applications and astrophotography of deep-sky objects.
Telescope Model: Planewave CDK24
Aperture: 610 mm (24 inches)
Focal Length: 3962 mm
F-ratio: 6.5
Mount: Mathis MI-1000/1250 with absolute encoders
Minimum elevation: 30 degrees
Camera Specification
Model: FLI PL 9000 (spec sheet)
Pixel Size: 12 μm
Pixel Array: 3056 x 3056
Pixel Resolution: 0.62 arcsec/pixel
Cooling: -25 degrees in Summer, -30 degrees in Winter
Field of View: 31.8 x 31.8 arcmin
Filters(50mm square): Astrodon LRGB 2GEN,
Position angle: 359.36 degrees
Guiding
Off-Axis guider: Astrodon MonsterMOAG
Guiding camera: Starlight Xpress Ultrastar
Observatory name: El Sauce Observatory
Location: Río Hurtado, Coquimbo Region, Chile
Coordinates: 30.472529° S, 70.762999° W (Google maps)
Elevation: 1525 m
Average seeing: 1.3'' - 8''
All Data Taken remotely via Telescopelive
#telescopelive
#pixinsight
#photoshop
Constellation: Virgo
Telescope: Celestron 8SE / Wedge
Camera: Revolution Imager R2
Image source: 10 second AVI video
Date: 6/13/2021
Location: Lee, IL
well, my neighbour asked me if i could try M104. he is starting to getting interested in astronomy so i did him this favour, despite the object being relatively small for my setup, and i am glad he liked it. lets see if he really invests his savings in gear, sure as hell i will guide him through the first devastating hard learned lessons of astrophotography - i wish i had somebody a couple of years ago :)
camera: ToupTek ATR533C
mount: Skywatcher HEQ5Pro
scope: TS Optics 115/800 with 0.8x reducer
60x180sec @gain 100 and 1x1 binning, cooled to -10°C
stacking and editing in APP, SIRIL and Affinity 2
shot under a bortle 5+ sky in may at approx 20% waxing moon
Mak 150, D750, EQ6-R, MGEN II & OAG guiding. 22 x 3 min at ISO 800.
Good sky transparency, but low in the horizon and waxing crescent moon glow compromised image clarity. Could only get 1 hr before it fell below the trees.
Here you will find details of the implementation of this photo:
observatorioelche.blogspot.com.es/2014/03/m104-galaxia-de...
Thanks for visiting!
M104
Photo By Spruce
Post Processing By Fluorine Z.
Image Telescope/Lens : Sky-Watcher 150/750 BKP
Image Camera : ZWO ASI1600mm
Integration : 24 hours
My second Sombreiro Galaxy record (M 104). Processing is very laborious, and there is still a lot to improve. This record sums up the frames captured in the record I conducted in 2020 with the frames captured in 2021, totaling 15 hours and 10 minutes of exposure.
"With an apparent magnitude of 8, the Sombrero galaxy is beyond the limit of naked-eye visibility but can be spotted through small telescopes most easily during May. M104 is located 28 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo, and with a mass equal to 800 billion suns, it is one of the most massive objects in the Virgo galaxy cluster". Source: nasa.gov
Sky-Watcher 203mm F/5 EQ5 reflector with Onstep and ZWO EAF electronic focuser, Canon T6 (primary focus) modified, Optolong L-eNhance Filter (in part of the frames). 50mm Guidescope with ASI 290MC. 182 light frames (148x300" ISO 800 + L-eNhance: 34x300" ISO 1600), 80 dark frames. Processing: Sequator, PixInsight, Camera Raw and Fitswork.
@LopesCosmos
My one inch sea shell piercing the 50 light year in diameter Sombrero Galaxy.
Distance to Earth: 29.35 million light years
Radius: 25,000 light years
Galaxy photo: Hubble telescope
Shell photo: me
Shell length: 3 cm
The Sombrero Galaxy (Messier Object 104, M104) is one of the most unusual looking barred spiral galaxies visible from Earth. Its bright nucleus, large central bulge and spiral arms threaded through with a thick dust lane make it look a little like a hat from Mexico. The dust lane is a ring that circles the bulge of the galaxy, and it is rich with gas, dust, and hydrogen gas. Because it has all the elements needed for star formation, it’s not surprising that astronomers have found many sites of star formation inside.
The Sombrero Galaxy may not be part of a formal galaxy group, but could be a member of a string of galaxies that extends away from the Virgo Cluster.
As many as 2,000 globular clusters swarm around the core of the Sombrero Galaxy, and the number could be related to the size of the central bulge.
The Sombrero has a central supermassive black hole at its heart. Observations of star motions near the black hole suggest it could have the mass of a billion Suns, perhaps the most massive of any black hole found so far at the heart of a galaxy.
The Sombrero Galaxy is a favorite target for well-equipped amateur astronomers. If you have a good dark-sky sight, it can be spotted through binoculars; those with large telescopes can spot the dust lane. The Sombrero is a spring and early summer observing object half-way between the constellations Virgo and Corvus.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope have been used to study the Sombrero in visible and infrared light. The starbirth regions stand out in infrared wavelengths are are mostly located along the outer rim of the dust ring surrounding the galaxy’s core.
The Sombrero Galaxy looks as it does partly because we are viewing it “edge on” from our point of view here on Earth.
The Sombrero galaxy is split diagonally in this image: near-infrared observations from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope are at the left, and mid-infrared observations from Webb are at the right. The near-infrared image shows where dust from the outer ring blocks stellar light from the inner portions of the galaxy. Then, the mid-infrared image actually shows that dust glowing.
The powerful resolution of Webb’s NIRCam also allows us to resolve individual stars outside of, but not necessarily at the same distance as, the galaxy, some of which appear red. These are called red giants, which are cooler stars, but their large surface area causes them to glow brightly in this image. These red giants also are detected in the mid-infrared, while the smaller, bluer stars in the near-infrared “disappear” in the longer wavelengths.
This image was created with Webb data from proposal 6565 (PI: M. Garcia Marin). The assigned filters are as follows: NIRCam - F090W, F200W, F212N, F277W, F335M, F444W, MIRI - F770W, F1130W, F1280W.
[Image description: Two observations of the Sombrero galaxy are split diagonally, with Webb’s near-infrared observation at the left and Webb’s mid-infrared observation at the right. The galaxy is a very oblong disk that extends from left to right at an angle (from about 10 o’clock to 5 o’clock). The galaxy’s core is in the center of the image. In the near-infrared image, the galaxy’s center glows white and extends above and below the disk. The outer edge of the disk is mottled brown clumps. In the mid-infrared image, the galaxy is whiteish-blue, and clumpy, like clouds in the sky. There is an inner disk that is clearer, with speckles of stars scattered throughout.]
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; CC BY 4.0
Constellation: Virgo
Telescope: Celestron 8SE
Camera: Revolution Imager R2
Image source: 10 second AVI video
Date: 6/14/2020
Location: Lee IL
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope recently imaged the Sombrero galaxy with its NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), which shows dust from the galaxy’s outer ring blocking stellar light from stars within the galaxy. In the central region of the galaxy, the roughly 2,000 globular clusters, or collections of hundreds of thousands of old stars held together by gravity, glow in the near-infrared.
The Sombrero Galaxy is around 30 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo. From Earth, we see this galaxy nearly “edge-on,” or from the side.
This image was created with Webb data from proposal 6565 (PI: M. Garcia Marin). The assigned filters are as follows: Blue: F090W+F200W, Green: F212N+F277W, Red: F335M+F444W.
[Image description: Image of a galaxy on the black background of space. The galaxy is a very oblong, brownish yellowish disk that extends from left to right at an angle (from about 10 o’clock to 5 o’clock). Mottled dark brown patches rim the edge of the disk and are particularly prominent where they cross directly in front of the galaxy. The galaxy’s center glows white and extends above and below the disk. There are different colored dots, distant galaxies, speckled among the black background of space surrounding the galaxy. At the bottom right, there is a particularly bright foreground star with Webb’s signature diffraction spikes.]
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; CC BY 4.0
Crop
nel dettaglio
——— STRUMENTAZIONE ———
Telescopio: Skywatcher 200/800 Wide Photo
Camera: Zwo Asi 2600 duo mc
Montatura: Zwo Am5
Correttore di coma: aplanatico Skywatcher f4
Filtro optolong l-qef
Software d'acquisizione Sgpro
————— FOTO ————
temp -10 con dark, flat e darkflat
100 x 180s
————— ELABORAZIONE ———
Pixinsight
Photoshop
Location / Identities anyone? Thanks to Flickr friends below, the location was the MCW works at Washwood Heath near Birmingham, and identities of the six buses in view were as follows: M104 is the one burned down to chassis level in the foreground and I’d say the one with no front upper deck is M103. M53, M153, M175 and M188 were also sent to MCW for assessment and all bar M53 and M104 were rebuilt. Many thanks to Leaside Preservation Group (see comments below)
The MCW Metrobus was a two and three-axle double-decker bus manufactured by Metro Cammell Weymann (MCW) between 1977 and 1989. Launched in January 1977, with the first five prototypes delivered to local passenger transport executive operator West Midlands PTE, the MCW Metrobus was conceived by Metro Cammell Weymann as a successor to the integrally-bodied Scania Metropolitan, which MCW partnered with Scania AB to manufacture the bodywork for (MDs in London). The London Transport Executive purchased 1,440 MkI examples between 1978 and 1985, numbering them M1 to M1440. The type remained in service in London until the mid 2000s. More info here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MCW_Metrobus
Taken with a Soviet made Zenith TTL camera and standard lens.
You can see a random selection of my bus photographs here on Flickriver: www.flickriver.com/photos/southallroutemaster/random/
The Sombrero Galaxy (M104) is the topic of a Deep Space LIVE edition with Dietmar Hager at the Ars Electronica Center’s Deep Space 8K.
A best of Ars Electronica photos can be found here.
Ars Electronica Center Linz
Ars-Electronica-Straße 1
4040 Linz
Austria
Credit: Ars Electronica / Robert Bauernhansl
A quick data grab between holes in the clouds.
The Sombrero Galaxy (also known as Messier Object 104, M104 or NGC 4594) is a spiral galaxy in the constellation borders of Virgo and Corvus, being about 31.1 million light-years from our galaxy, within the local supercluster. It has a diameter of approximately 49,000 light-years, 0.3x times the size of the Milky Way. It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its outer disk, which is viewed almost edge-on. The dark dust lane and the bulge give this galaxy the appearance of a sombrero hat.
Image Details:
- Imaging Scope: Astrotelescopes ED 80mm Refractor
- Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI183MC Color with UV/IR Blocking filter
- Guiding Scope: William Optics 66mm Petzval
- Guiding Camera: Orion Starshoot Auto Guider
- Acquisition Software: Sharpcap
- Guiding Software: PHD2
- Light Frames: 10*5 mins @ 40 Gain, Temp -20C
- Dark Frames: 10*5 mins
- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker
- Processed in PixInsight and Adobe Lightroom
Image Details:
27 x 300sec @ ISO800 Lights for a total exposure of 2 hour 15 mins
24 Darks, 200 Bias, 25 Flats.
Optic - Altair Astro 8" Ritchey Chretien (CF) with AP CCDT67 reducer - 1110mm @ F5.46.
Mount - HEQ5 PRO Synscan with Rowan Belt Drive mod.
Sensor - Canon 1000D (Full Spectrum Modded) + Astronomik CLS-CCD filter.
Guiding - ZWO ASI120MM + Orion 162mm/F3.2 guidescope with PHD2.
Captured with BackyardEOS and processed with PixInsight.
Thanks for looking.
Ex Stagecoach Fife as 52027 NSU 133.
New to Thames Transit as 16 M104 XBW for 'TUBE' services from Oxford to London.
Final test image with the Celestron C14 and 0.8x + 0.63x reducers.
This time on the Sombrero Galaxy (M104), low on the southern horizon.
This is just a short series of 5 frames per filter (RGB) of 120s each, binned 2x2. Taken with QHY23.
As I continue my venture into learning how to do deep-sky imaging, While at the Winter Star Party in the Florida Keys, I was able to capture this image of M104 known as the Sombrero Galaxy. This was an unguided image of 29 stacked frames. Each exposure was 14.76 seconds.
Details:
Date - Feb 02, 2020
Time - 2:52AM EST USA
Astro Physics 5" f8 refractor
Losmandy G11 Mount
Camera - ZWO ASI178MM
Capture software - SharpCap Ver 3.2.5985.0
Processing - PhotoShop and Lightroom
This well-known and attractive galaxy is a tricky target from my location as I only have a limited time before it disappears behind a neighbour's house. This is a stack of 14x480 seconds taken with a colour CMOS deep sky camera through my 356mm f/10 SCT.
Peter
Distante d'à peu près 28 millions d'années-lumière de nous, son diamètre de 50 000 années-lumière est comparable à celui de notre Galaxie.
Setup :
Télescope : Newton Sky-Watcher 200/1000 f/5
Monture : HEQ5 Pro GOTO
Correcteur de coma : SW0264
APN : Nikon D600 (au foyer) - ISO 800
Guidage : Kit Star Guider 50mm - Caméra I-nova PLB-Mx2 - Logiciel PHD Guiding 2
Navigation : Stellarium - pointage EQMOD,
Acquisition : DigiCamControl
Empilement : DeepSkyStacker
Développement : Lightroom 5
Temps de pose : 9 x 300s = 45mn
15 darks - 9 flats - 15 offset
Make sure that the Hubble continues its great science work.
Note the number of more distant galaxies in the background (use full size)
The 18.4M pixel version uploaded is1/2 original size (74M pixels)
If you need the Hubble huge size, go to hubblesite.org/gallery/album/entire_collection/pr2003028a/
For some history about the galaxy, go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sombrero_Galaxy_M104
Sombrero_Galaxy_half_size_Q70_M104
The Sombrero Galaxy (also known as M104 or NGC 4594) is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo located 28 million light years from Earth. It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its inclined disk. The dark dust lane and the bulge give this galaxy the appearance of a sombrero. Astronomers initially thought that the halo was small and light, indicative of a spiral galaxy. But Spitzer found that halo around the Sombrero Galaxy is larger and more massive than previously thought, indicative of a giant elliptical galaxy. The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of +9.0, making it easily visible with amateur telescopes. The large bulge, the central supermassive black hole, and the dust lane all attract the attention of professional astronomers.
This image taken using a Meade LX-90 12" telescope with a Canon T3i at prime focus.
Astrotech Ritchey Chrétien 6"
Astrophysics Telecompressor 0.67x
Canon 60D Modificada y Refrigerada by Dr. Caos
Orion 50mm + QHY5-II Mono
Raspberry Pi3 + Astroberry
Celestron AVX
Fotos: 130 x 180 segundos
Darks: 20
Bias: 20
Flats: 20
Temperatura de sensor: -10°C
Iso: 2000
F: 6.12
Df: 917mm.
Captura: Kstars - Ekos
Procesado: Pixinsight 1.8
Guillermo Cervantes Mosqueda
Observatorio Astronómico Altaïr
Poncitlán Jalisco México
The Sombrero Galaxy (also known as Messier Object 104, M104 or NGC 4594) is a galaxy in the constellation Virgo found 9.55 megaparsecs (31.1 million light-years) from Earth. The galaxy has a diameter of approximately 15 kiloparsecs (49,000 light-years), 30% the size of the Milky Way. It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its inclined disk. The dark dust lane and the bulge give this galaxy the appearance of a sombrero hat. Astronomers initially thought that the halo was small and light, indicative of a spiral galaxy, but the Spitzer Space Telescope found that the dust ring around the Sombrero Galaxy is larger and more massive than previously thought, indicative of a giant elliptical galaxy. The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of +8.0, making it easily visible with amateur telescopes, and it is considered by some authors to be the galaxy with the highest absolute magnitude within a radius of 10 megaparsecs of the Milky Way. Its large bulge, its central supermassive black hole, and its dust lane all attract the attention of professional astronomers.
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
Image Acquisition Specifics: The image frames for this image were taken from a Bortle 4 site in Landers, CA, USA on a New Moon night. Telescope: TPO Ritchey-Chretien 6 inch with a FL 1370mm. Guiding was with Orion 50mm Guide Scope FL 242mm with a ZWO ASI183MC for the guide camera. Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro. Main imaging camera: ASI294MC PRO cooled to -5C. Exposures: 26 x 240s with Gain at 120 at Bin 1x1. No darks, flats or bias frames. Processed in PixInsight and Photoshop. The image was slightly cropped for adequate size in presentation. Polar alignment was with SharpCap Pro.
Here is an LRGB image of the Sombrero galaxy (Messier 104) taken with GSO 10" RC scope and ST10xme + AP 0.67 focal reducer on Paramount mx mount. Lum 21x10 min. Red 6x10 min. Green 4x10 min. Blue 6x10 min. Apo-Len-Di observatories, Attard, Malta. Date 15+25/5/19 & 2/6/19
——— STRUMENTAZIONE ———
Telescopio: Skywatcher 200/800 Wide Photo
Camera: Zwo Asi 2600 duo mc
Montatura: Zwo Am5
Correttore di coma: aplanatico Skywatcher f4
Filtro optolong l-qef
Software d'acquisizione Sgpro
————— FOTO ————
temp -10 con dark, flat e darkflat
100 x 180s
————— ELABORAZIONE ———
Pixinsight
Photoshop
New KTR standalone 40x46 mm grenade launcher with a capacity of 3 rounds +1 in the chamber. Lever operated and AR stock compatible.
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DPMG constest entry. Thanks to the guys at Discord for general input.
The one and only remaining step entrance single decker bus still to be in regular stage carriage work in the city of York, Volvo B10B Wright Endurance J6 SOE (M104 UKX) is now something of a phoenix.... it had been marked down for scrap, but has been tested (presumably MOT) and has passed the testing - this is its first day back after the test, the first of many for a while longer yet, and is taking the tight turn from Woodlands Grove to Straylands Grove in Heworth with the 181 to Castle Howard and Paul driving.
This cool looking Mercedes SL 500, was driving towards Hessle Road/A63 in Hull. The car was imported to the UK in December 2018, probably either from the US or Japan, due to the plate recess on the rear of the car, and LHD set-up (yes, I know Japan is officially a RHD country but 1990's Mercedes models were commonly specified in LHD for the Japanese market). Also, the car is listed as having a 3401cc engine, so it could actually be one of the rare R129's which was fitted with the AMG-tuned 3.0 M104 engine, bored out to 3.4 litres. A very interesting car for sure.
Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom
1994 BMW 520i SE.
Last MoT test expired in May 2018 (SORN).
It failed a test in April 2019 -
Nearside rear tyre tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm and has cords exposed (5.2.3 (e)) - Dangerous
Offside rear tyre tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (5.2.3 (e)) - Dangerous
Offside front tyre tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (5.2.3 (e)) - Dangerous
Nearside headlamp not working on main beam (4.1.1 (a) (ii)) - Major
Nearside rear position lamp not working (4.2.1 (a)) - Major
Windscreen washer provides insufficient washer liquid (3.5 (a)) - Major
Exhaust lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (8.2.1.2 (c)) - Major
At a relatively bright magnitude of +8, M104 is easily seen through small telescopes. The Sombrero lies at the southern edge of the rich Virgo cluster of galaxies and is one of the most massive objects in that group, equivalent to 800 billion suns. The galaxy is 50,000 light-years across and is located 28 million light-years from Earth.
Hubble easily resolves M104's rich system of globular clusters, estimated to be nearly 2,000 in number -- 10 times as many as orbit our Milky Way galaxy. The ages of the clusters are similar to the clusters in the Milky Way, ranging from 10-13 billion years old. Embedded in the bright core of M104 is a smaller disk, which is tilted relative to the large disk. X-ray emission suggests that there is material falling into the compact core, where a 1-billion-solar-mass black hole resides.
03-
I only had a brief moment to take in the details of this scene before I had to decide whether it warranted a photograph ...
First of all: why is someone wearing sunglasses at this early hour in the morning? Hung over? Anticipating a bright glare of sunshine? (The sun would be coming from the east, on the left side of this photo, and it probably would not be high enough above the top of the neighboring buildings to cause any glare on the street, at least not for another hour).
Meanwhile, what is the cast/bandage on the guy's left hand all about? And what's he doing out in the middle of Broadway, anyway -- can't his dog poop at the curb like a normal dog? And what kind of animal is that anyway? An alpaca?
And why is the Frito-Lay truck double parked beside the Coca-Cola truck? Why couldn't he have pulled up to the curb, in order to allow two lanes of traffic to flow down Broadway? And why does the Food Emporium (which is the only food-related store shown on Google Maps for that stretch of Broadway) need to stock that kind of junk food anyway? And where is the M104 bus that should have been stopping at that bus-stop, between 89th and 90th?
So many questions, so little time. I was overwhelmed, so I just shrugged and snapped the photo ...
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This is one of several early-morning photographs taken on a walk down Broadway, around 7 AM in the morning. The usual mob of school children, office workers, and other "daytime denizens" of NYC had not really appeared on the street at this point...
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This is the continuation of a photo-project that I began in the summer of 2008 (which you can see in this Flickr set), and continued throughout 2009-2014 (as shown in this Flickr set, this Flickr set, this Flickr set, this Flickr set, this Flickr set)), this Flickr set)), and this Flickr set)): a random collection of "interesting" people in a broad stretch of the Upper West Side of Manhattan -- between 72nd Street and 104th Street, especially along Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. These are the people in my neighborhood, aka "peeps in the 'hood."
As I indicated when I first started this project six years ago, I don't like to intrude on people's privacy, so I normally use a zoom telephoto lens in order to photograph them while they're still 50-100 feet away from me; but that means I have to continue focusing my attention on the people and activities half a block away, rather than on what's right in front of me. Sometimes I find an empty bench on a busy street corner, and just sit quietly for an hour, watching people hustling past on the other side of the street; they're almost always so busy listening to their iPod, or talking on their cellphone, or daydreaming about something, that they never look up and see me aiming my camera in their direction.
I've also learned that, in many cases, the opportunities for an interesting picture are very fleeting -- literally a matter of a couple of seconds, before the person(s) in question move on, turn away, or stop doing whatever was interesting. So I've learned to keep my camera switched on, and not worry so much about zooming in for a perfectly-framed picture ... after all, once the digital image is uploaded to my computer, it's pretty trivial to crop out the parts unrelated to the main subject. Indeed, some of my most interesting photos have been so-called "hip shots," where I don't even bother to raise the camera up to my eye; I just keep the zoom lens set to the maximum wide-angle aperture, point in the general direction of the subject, and take several shots. As long as I can keep the shutter speed fairly high (which sometimes requires a fairly high ISO setting), I can usually get some fairly crisp shots -- even if the subject is walking in one direction, and I'm walking in the other direction, while I'm snapping the photos.
With only a few exceptions, I've generally avoided photographing bums, drunks, crazies, and homeless people. There are plenty of them around, and they would certainly create some dramatic pictures; but they generally don't want to be photographed, and I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of them. There have been a few opportunities to take some "sympathetic" pictures of such people, which might inspire others to reach out and help them. This is one example, and here is another example.
The other thing I've noticed, while carrying on this project for the past six years, is that while there are lots of interesting people to photograph, there are far, far, far more people who are not so interesting. They're probably fine people, and they might even be more interesting than the ones I've photographed ... unfortunately, there was just nothing memorable about them. They're all part of this big, crowded city; but for better or worse, there are an awful lot that you won't see in these Flickr sets of mine...