"5 PM" was the theme for this week and boy was this tricky theme! At the first, the theme seemed easy enough. But with a busy week of running around, I was stuck with only one day to take my photo (and still didn't make the 5 PM time frame). 

         My best friend is visiting New York, so naturally I asked her to volunteer as my muse for this week. After some quick shopping at the mall and grabbing a bite to eat, we headed to the Yonkers' Waterfront. It was a bit after 5 PM and the sunlight was pretty harsh. We strolled south along the boardwalk towards the George Washington Bridge. We got to the end, and started clicking away. We got the shot around 5:30 pm. 

         To get the shot, I had to do at least 20 test shots to get the proper lighting. The sunlight was simply too powerful. I used an external flash to even-out the lighting. In post processing, I edited the photo to mimic a post card. I figured, since she's playing a tourist on a vacation... she should have a memorable scenic view (with herself in it). I added warmth and a bit of color to give the overall image more depth. I particularly like the subtle graininess in the photo, for reasons I can't put into words at the moment. 

         As I was shooting, I thought of this wonderful quote by Gustave Flaubert, “Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” Seems fitting :) Here's a before and after comparison of the shot.

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