Fall At The Mall

There is no park in the world that has the plethora of compositions like Central Park in New York City. Every path and every turn brings a new composition to the eye. This is a photo of a walkway known as "The Mall" in Central Park. Having photographed this tree-lined walkway in the park so many times over the years, I decided I wanted to create something that was different than what I had shot previously and different from the many photographs taken by other photographers. My creative energy was put to work when planning a trip to New York City one particular fall. I envisioned that the photo would be void of people which meant a very early morning shoot. I also wanted the engulfing trees with arm-like branches to be filled with leaves that contained fall color and, lastly, the lamps had to be lit. It was a bit of a walk in the freezing cold weather to get to the park from where I was staying. My fingers were so cold it was difficult handling the camera. I set up about a hour before dawn and just waited patiently in the dark and the silence. Good compositions come with adequate planning. Great compositions are the results of exercising remarkable patience. I needed just enough light at the break of dawn to capture the picture but so much light that the lamps would turn off. I captured a number of images that morning with no one in the scene but I ended up liking this photo with a photographer far down at the very end of the walkway. The reality is you're never completely alone in Central Park so i decided this was the best photo from that shoot.