Day 73: Rooftop Portrait

2026-04-20

Hello!

As soon as I heard about a free event for students to experiment with crazy camera gear, I reserved my ticket and cleared my calendar. This kind of opportunity doesn't come often, so it's important that I try and make it.

New York City seems to be the place for all the portraits, because that's where I went for this event! I found this side door that anyone else would probably pass right by, talked to the security guard, took the elevator up, and landed on the top floor to sign in.

Except they struggled to sign me in, because I wasn't on the list? They gave me a pass anyway. I exchanged my ID for a really expensive Sony camera and lens, went outside, and started exploring. As always, the technical info is there for nerds to criticize at the bottom at the article.

The camera and lens is so dang heavy! Bigger, modern cameras seem to prioritize durability and robustness, but that requires heavy materials. My older, cheaper camera is still heavy when the right lens is paired onto it, but it's manageable. I imagine I could find an alternative neck strap that could distribute the weight more evently, but I don't know.

There's a few awesome portraits I got from that event — the images are so detailed! — but the files I saved are huge in size, and it'll take me a long time to edit them to the level they deserve.

Finally, a monochrome photomosaic. Monochrome, as in "shades of one color", and photomosaic, as in "one photo made from many small images". Photomosaics are really hard to get right, and oftentimes, people cheat in different ways. So when a good photomosaic is sent my way, I appreciate it.

Cheers,
David