Shooting New York With Samyang

New York's famous yellow cabs
(Samyang AF 14mm f2.8 FE @ 1/250th sec, f8, ISO 100)

New York is without doubt the most photographed city in the world and a place that I will go back to time and time again. It's easily the most awe inspiring city that I've visited. I've been fortunate enough to have visited three times in the last ten years with my last visit in June 2017. Each time I've visited I've managed to cram in various sites, experienced a lot of what this bustling city has to offer and each time my stay is different but I still feel like I've just seen the tip of the iceberg.

Samyang AF 35mm f2.8 FE @ 1/30th sec, f3.2, ISO 800

Of the many things I love about Manhattan one of them has to be the geographical layout, which mainly comprises of a grid system with avenues running vertical and the streets horizontal so it's surprisingly easy to find your way around and get to various places provided you have the street address or avenue that it's on. Using the subway is relatively easy also. I'd recommend downloading a couple of apps for your smartphone to help you find your way around.





It was around the time of my second visit to Manhattan that I started to get into photography back in March 2013. I hired a Samyang 8mm fisheye lens especially for my trip to use with my Sony A65. It was great fun to use to capture unique images with crazy distortions and have the ability to fit so much into each frame. One of the images that I captured during this trip (taken at the observation deck at the Rockefeller Center) is to this day one of the most viewed images on my Flickr account with over 30,000 views and even made it onto the Flickr Explore page when it was first posted. When I shot this image I didn't really know what I was doing when it came to photography. It wasn't shot in RAW, the sensor had a load of dust spots on there (Photoshopped out) and I probably shot the image using Auto settings apart from the manual focus and manual aperture settings on the lens so I think this image could have been significantly better but I'm still happy with it.

Samyang 8mm f3.5 Fisheye @ 1/100th sec, unknown aperture, ISO 400

Having visited the Top of the Rock observation deck during a previous visit I knew that this would afford me the greatest vantage point over the city. In my opinion the view from there is better than the Empire State Building as you can see Central Park and downtown Manhattan (including the Empire State Building itself which makes a great focal point in the frame). It also features a more unrestricted viewing platform to the Empire State Building and even the One World Trade Center which has glass windows obstructing your view making it difficult to shoot good images. While here I shot images with both the AF 14mm f2.8 FE and the AF 35mm F2.8 FE lenses.

Samyang AF 35mm f2.8 FE @ 1/30th sec, f5, ISO 100

Samyang AF 14mm f2.8 FE @ 1/40th sec, f9, ISO 200

Samyang AF 35mm f2.8 FE @ 1/30th sec, f9, ISO 100

Here's another shot of the New York skyline. This time at night with the busy city traffic lighting up the streets below. This image was taken from the rooftop of hotel Ink 48.

Samyang AF 14mm f2.8 FE @ 30 seconds, f11, ISO 100

New York is well-known for it's skyscrapers and has some of the largest and most diversely designed buildings in the world. This shot was taken near the financial district. At the top of the frame you can just about see the iconic building which houses the famous Delmonico's restaurant. At the time I shot this, the restaurant had scaffolding up so it kind of ruined the concept of an image I had in mind so instead I looked up and saw this composition.

Samyang AF 14mm f2.8 FE @ 1/200th sec, f8, ISO 100

Another of New York's most famous landmarks is the Flatiron Building. Situated on 5th Avenue between E22nd and E23rd Street this building is easily one of the most iconic buildings in Manhattan. The Beaux-arts architecture also appears in the Spiderman films due to the Daily Bugle newspaper (where Peter Parker works) being based there. This is one of the most photographed buildings in the world.

Samyang AF 35mm f2.8 FE @ 1/250th sec, f9, ISO 100

Samyang AF 14mm f2.8 FE @ 1/30th sec, f22, ISO 50

When visiting New York it is essential that you walk the Brooklyn Bridge. Spanning a distance of just over 1.8km it's possible to take in incredible views of the city and create visually stunning images using the lines of the bridge cables and supports but be careful not to get in the way of the cyclists and runners. There's a cycle lane for a reason.

Samyang AF 14mm f2.8 FE @ 1/20th sec, f22, ISO 50

Samyang AF 35mm f2.8 FE @ 1/320th sec, f10, ISO 100

If you venture over the Brooklyn Bridge then you have visit D.U.M.B.O (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). Here you will find Washington Street and it's amazing perspective of Manhattan and the Empire State Building through one of the archways of the Manhattan Bridge. This is a pretty clichéd shot and one that you may have seen used in the film Once Upon a Time in New York but one that I had to take myself. I wanted to get low to the manhole cover so that you could also read the N.Y.C embossed in the metal. It's virtually impossible to photograph this area without any other people in the shot due to how popular it is.

Samyang AF 35mm f2.8 FE @ 1/200th sec, f8, ISO 100

Brooklyn Bridge Park piers offer truly amazing views of "The Big Apple". This area is filled with photographers looking to capture the perfect shot showing the city's skyscrapers in all their glory. This spot is a great place to take in a beautiful sunset.

Samyang AF 14mm f2.8 FE @ 1/640th sec, f13, ISO 100

Samyang AF 14mm f2.8 FE @ 5 seconds, f22, ISO 50

Whilst on my way to the Roosevelt Island Tramway and looking for interesting things to photograph I stumbled across the Bloomberg Tower (also known as One Beacon Court) at E58th street. Here I chatted with a doorman of the building and showed him this image that I'd just captured. He told me about the building and said that he'd never seen it captured at this angle before.

Samyang AF 14mm f2.8 FE @ 1/200th sec, f10, ISO 125

The Roosevelt Island tramway runs from E60th Street, Manhattan over to Roosevelt Island. It only costs a few dollars to take the trip over and you get to take in a different perspective of the city.

Samyang AF 14mm f2.8 FE @ 1/400th sec, f8, ISO 100

The World Trade Center Transportation hub or "Oculus" as it is also known is an incredible building with sleek lines which was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and built at a cost of $4 billion. This a most definitely a building worth visiting if you're a fan of modern architecture. I love the amazing sleek, white lines of this beautifully designed building. From the outside it looks quite small amongst the other skyscrapers around it but when you get inside the scale of it is pretty spectacular.

Samyang AF 14mm f2.8 FE @ 1/25th sec, f22, ISO 64

Another place that I recommend to shoot from (possibly a great spot to shoot a nice sunrise) is Exchange Place Waterfront over in Jersey City. This spot is accessible via a short subway ride from the Oculus transportation hub (above). Here you get an amazing panoramic view of the city and it's skyscrapers.

Samyang AF 35mm f2.8 FE @ 1/125th sec, f11, ISO 50
(Yes, that is me in the photo)

A short walk from Oculus, on Fulton St, it's possible to get an image that fits the One World Trade Center building in the frame. It took me a while to get this shot due to the city's crazy traffic.

Samyang AF 35mm f2.8 FE @ 1/60th sec, f8, ISO 100

Tudor City Overpass is another stunning vantage point. You get a beautiful view virtually from one side of Manhattan over to the other taking advantage of the long, straight roads and the trees make for a beautiful composition. It's also possible (if you shoot in portrait) to get the beautiful, art deco architecture of the Chrysler Building in the shot.

Samyang AF 35mm f2.8 FE @ 1/15th sec, f18, ISO 50

Yet another must-do while in New York is a beautiful green park/walkway known as the High Line. Built on a former rail line this 2.3km elevated trail offers a great viewing platform over the westside of Manhattan. During the walk you'll come across some cool architecture including the Zaha Hadid Architects' 520 West 28th building which was still in the process of being built while I was there but from what I saw it looked like a stunning building.

Samyang AF 35mm f2.8 FE @ 1/250th sec, f8, ISO 100
(shot through a dirty glass window)

Samyang AF 35mm f2.8 FE @ 1/200th sec, f6.3, ISO 100

Samyang AF 35mm f2.8 FE @ 1/160th sec, f7.1, ISO 100

On my last day in New York I had a few things that I wanted to see and tick off my list. One was the Guggenheim Museum which is situated in the Upper East-Side area of Manhattan between E88th and E89th Street, adjacent to Central Park. Of all days for me to visit, on this particular day the building was closed. I was so disappointed. I still wanted to shoot the stunning Frank Lloyd Wright architecture and wanted to have a NYC yellow cab in motion going past the building during my shot.

Samyang AF 14mm FE f2.8 @ 1/15th sec, f22, ISO 50

Here's another image I shot on the last day of my visit. This time a portrait taken with the AF 50mm f1.4 FE. As I walked back to my hotel to collect my belongings and check out I noticed this homeless man with so much character and detail in his face and beard. He was sat on the sidewalk in a shaded area but the light was so bright that it made him squint his eyes a little. I gave him a few dollars and asked him if I could take his picture and he obliged. This portrait blew my mind with how sharp the details were. I only wished that I'd spent a little more time photographing some more New York characters while I was there. Maybe something for my next trip, whenever that may be.

Samyang AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ 1/500th sec, f2.2, ISO 100

During my most recent visit I clocked up over 55km of walking across the space of three and half days in near 40° blazing sunshine so I think I earned the numerous pizza slices that I consumed during my trip. I got to see different sites to my previous two visits and experienced different things this time around also but I'm still left wanting to see more that New York has to offer. I can't wait to go back with my wife again in the future and take our two boys to experience the "Big Apple" and see it once again. Next time with more of the Samyang range of lenses to capture New York from a different perspective

Thanks for reading!

Check out my reviews for the three Samyang lenses used in this article for Sony E-mount below:

Samyang AF 50mm f1.4 FE review
Samyang AF 14mm f2.8 FE review
Samyang AF 35mm f2.8 FE review

I'd like to thank Alice and all involved at Samyang Korea for sending the lenses out to me.

For more information on Samyang products please take a look at their website - samyanglensglobal.com and subscribe to their newsletter to keep up to date with product news.

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Samyang 85mm F1.8 ED UMC CS Lens Review

Samyang 85mm f1.8 ED UMC CS on my Sony A7R

Samyang have kind of surprised me a little with this one. Their recent roster of released lenses reads with an impressive array of AF lenses and high performance, manual focus XP lenses all for full frame cameras but on this occasion it’s a manual focus lens for APS-C (cropped sensor) cameras. I would have bet good money that following on from the recent release of the Canon mount AF 85mm f1.4 EF that Samyang would then bring out a similar lens for Sony E-mount with the additional extension to make up the flange distance lost due to the lack of a mirror in mirrorless cameras. I was wrong!

Size in hand (I don't have the biggest of hands)

Recently announced with the tagline "Create New Possibilites - Everything from portrait to street photography" this brand new Samyang 85mm f1.8 will find a gap in the market as there isn’t any competition for fast aperture (cropped sensor only) 85mm lenses. There are plenty of full frame options (which still work on APS-C camera bodies) out there such as Sony’s 85mm f1.4 Gmaster lens (£1649), Zeiss Batis 85mm f1.8 (£935) or Sony’s 85mm f1.8 (£599). However, the first two of these lenses (Gmaster and the Batis) are very pricey. This Samyang lens will be released at a SRP of £319.99 which will appeal to Sony APS-C shooters as this is relatively inexpensive compared to it's competition. Samyang achieves this by leaving out features like autofocus, weather sealing and full frame capability but as a result the lens remains quite compact for a lens of this focal length and aperture. 

The fairly compact lens is made up of 9 elements in 7 groups including one High Refractive Index element and one Extra Low Dispersion element. All elements have Samyang's UMC (Ultra Multi Coating) which helps reduce chromatic aberration and flare. It features a 9-bladed manual diaphragm so the aperture is not recorded in the EXIF of each image, something which made remembering the settings for each test shot that I took pretty difficult. It has a minimum focus distance of 0.65m, a magnification ratio of x0.17 and weighs in at 344g for the Sony e-mount version. It has a 62mm thread for the use of filters and comes with a plastic lens hood. An 85mm lens on a Sony cropped sensor gives a real world/35mm equivalent focal length of 127.5mm or 19.1° so is ideally suited to portrait photography. This lens is also available for the following mounts: Fujifilm X, Canon M and MFT.

Build quality of the lens is very good and it features a metal lens mount. The focus ring is smooth with a lot of travel so you can really nail the focus. The manual aperture ring moves with pleasing half a stop clicks. I was very surprised by the sharpness and detail that this lens is capable of capturing even though I had to use my camera in crop mode so as a result lost quite a lot of megapixels. I'd imagine that this lens would work great on a dedicated APS-C camera like the A6500 which has 24.2 megapixels so you'd see even more detail and have the ability to crop in more if needed. The bokeh produced by this lens is beautiful and due to the relatively wide aperture and long focal distance you can really isolate your subject from the foreground/background.


This lens can be a little tricky to use due to it's reasonably long focal distance and lack of autofocus so it makes shooting some subjects very difficult especially things in motion. In my case with some of the sample images that I've shot I've had to judge where some points of focus were going to be before capturing the image with perfect timing (see punchbag image where you can even see drops of sweat coming off the fighter as he throws the punch).

As usual I've kept the waffle to a minimum so as to let the images speak for the lens's capabilities. The only e-mount camera that I own is the Sony A7R so as a result all images have been shot in the camera's Crop/APS-C mode. This brings the resolution of the images down quite a bit but is still a very respectable 15.3 megapixels. Check out the images below.

1/500th sec, f1.8, ISO 250

1/3200th sec, f1.8, ISO 100

1/160th sec, f1.8, ISO 50

1/160th sec, f4, ISO 100

1/160th sec, f3.5, ISO 64

1/160th sec, f4, ISO 100

1/160th sec, f4.5, ISO 64

1/160th sec, f4.5, ISO 64

1/160th sec, f5.6, ISO 64

1/250th sec, f4, ISO 100

1/1250th sec, f1.8, ISO 100

1/320th sec, f1.8, ISO 100

1/640th sec, f1.8, ISO 100

1/8000th sec, f1.8, ISO 250 (should have dropped the ISO)

Thanks for reading!

Check out my reviews for some of the other Samyang lenses for Sony E-mount below:

Samyang AF 50mm f1.4 FE review
Samyang AF 14mm f2.8 FE review
Samyang AF 35mm f2.8 FE review
Samyang AF 35mm f1.4 FE review (Part 1)
Samyang AF 35mm f1.4 FE review (Part 2)


I'd like to thank Alice and all involved at Samyang Korea for sending the lens out to me for testing.

For more information on Samyang products please take a look at their website - samyanglensglobal.com and subscribe to their newsletter to keep up to date with product news.

Special thanks to Gary at Forge Fitness & Boxing for giving me access to shoot at the gym and also to Cage Warriors Middleweight fighter Lee Chadwick for starring in the action shots.

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Shooting Food with Samyang

Sony A7R and Samyang AF 50mm f1.4 FE

Over the last few years I have developed my skills and focused (excuse the pun) more on food photography as I regularly shoot for a host of clients throughout the UK including restaurant chains Wildwood and Dim T amongst others. Despite being a terribly fastidious eater, shooting food is my favourite photography discipline. I love the detail, colour and texture that each dish can offer and the challenges of photographing them at the right angle with the correct lighting, camera/lens combination and settings.

I have recently started to rely more on my range of Samyang lenses to get the images the clients need. My favourite Samyang lenses that I regularly use on food shoots are the AF 35mm f1.4 FE and the AF 50mm f1.4 FE which I use on my Sony A7R. I also use a 90mm macro lens for some close up images of the food but I would love to replace this lens with a Samyang macro lens at some point. Perhaps Samyang will release an AF version of their 100mm macro lens one day. Who knows?

The reason why I like to shoot with Samyang's AF 50mm f1.4 FE and AF 35mm f1.4 FE is that these lenses offer great sharpness with a beautiful fall-off from the point of focus when used at a wide open aperture. With a fast aperture you can achieve a shallow depth of field which can help isolate a particular item in the image or lead the viewer's eye to a specific part of the dish.

AF 35mm f1.4 FE @ f1.7, 1/80th, ISO 250 (cropped)

When it comes to my lighting setup I usually like to have a good mix of natural light and add in some strobe lighting via a battery powered studio light mounted in a huge octagonal softbox. This softbox produces a beautiful soft light due its size and level of diffusion. However, it’s not always possible to have access to natural light on some food shoots so in those circumstances I just rely on the studio light to get the job done, the same high quality is there but the images have a slightly different feel.

Food photography Essentials

• Camera body - Pretty obvious. I shoot with a Sony A7R. Yes, it's a few years old but it gets the job done for me and produces stunning, detailed images with a fairly high 36 mega pixel resolution.
• Lenses - Again stating the obvious. You can get reasonable images from a kit lens but they won't always offer the best image quality. Invest in some good lenses like the Samyang AF 50mm f1.4 FE or the Samyang 100mm Macro. These lenses are capable of a wider maximum aperture than kit lenses so will be able to shoot with a shallower depth of field. These lenses will be sharper, resolve the details a lot better and give you better quality images.
• Tripod - having the ability to have a slower shutter speed but keeping the ISO down to a minimum is very critical when shooting food. You want your images to be sharp and full of detail.
• Shutter Remote/Trigger - with your camera mounted on a tripod you'll need a remote to trigger the camera. Using your finger on the shutter button can cause vibrations in the camera which will then make your image blurry. The slightest movement can be picked up by the camera so you really want to minimise this. You could set your camera on a 2 second delay (or whatever your camera is capable of) but this just wastes time when you could just use a shutter remote.
• Lighting - I use a mixture of ambient/natural light plus a studio strobe with a softbox. I have shot food shoots with just natural light with good results but as I travel to different venues all the time to shoot I can't rely on there being a perfect setup next to a window every time. The studio strobe with softbox light modifier provides a lovely soft light which is perfect for food photography. It's also possible to use a speedlight mounted atop your camera and bounce the light off the ceiling. It all depends on the colour of the ceiling though. A white ceiling is perfect as it won't cast any colours onto your subject.
• Props - Don't underestimate the importance of setting the scene in your image. Placing props that help tell the story of what's in the food gives context and makes the image so much more interesting.

Here's some of my images that I've shot for various different clients using Samyang lenses. The lens used is labelled underneath each image.

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f2.5, 1/20th, ISO 50

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f5.6, 1/100th, ISO 250

AF 35mm f1.4 FE @ f2.2, 1/100th, ISO 80

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f3.2, 1/50th, ISO 125

AF 35mm f2.8 FE @ f7.1, 1/5th, ISO 125

AF 35mm f2.8 FE @ f5.6, 1/60th, ISO 200

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f2.2, 1/160th, ISO 125
 

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f6.3, 1/80th, ISO 250

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f4, 1/100th, ISO 160

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f4, 1/100th, ISO 100

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f4, 1/100th, ISO 100

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f2, 1/160th, ISO 64

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f2.2, 1/160th, ISO 50

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f2, 1/160th, ISO 50

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f3.2, 1/400th, ISO 160

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f3.2, 1/80th, ISO 160

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f3.5, 1/80th, ISO 64

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f3.2, 1/125th, ISO 100

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f5.6, 1/125th, ISO 200

AF 50mm f1.4 FE @ f4, 1/60th, ISO 100

AF 35mm f1.4 FE @ f6.3, 1/100th, ISO 320

AF 35mm f1.4 FE @ f2.2, 1/60th, ISO 320

Thanks for reading!

Check out my reviews for the two Samyang's AF lenses that I use during food shoots below:

Samyang AF 50mm f1.4 FE review
Samyang AF 35mm f1.4 FE review (Part 1)
Samyang AF 35mm f1.4 FE review (Part 2)

I'd like to thank Alice and all involved at Samyang Korea for their continued support.

For more information on Samyang products please take a look at their website - samyanglensglobal.com and subscribe to their newsletter to keep up to date with product news.

Follow me on my social media channels:

INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
TWITTER

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