It’s a slow Friday, the weather is perfect, and you’re stuck in the office. What can you do to get out and enjoy the weather? Right! You use the lunch break to go out and shoot (photos). And if you are lucky to work in New York, not far from Central Park, you even get a good location for people and nature shots. You don’t have to own a fancy dSLR, any camera would do.
So there it was – a slower day in the office, beautiful weather outside, and I was craving to go out. I spoke to a friend photographer and we decided to use the lunch break to go out in Central park and try out our new gear (my new 70-200 f/2.8L IS II and he was trying out his new Nikon D700).
Gear selection was a no-brainer this time – the 7D with the 70-200, and the 1.4x lens extender. Batteries were charged, memory cards were empty, everything was set.
We entered Central Park from 6 Avenue, and we worked our way to the Mall and back. There were many tulips in the park, and they made excellent photo subjects.
But there weren’t only flowers in the park – there were also lots and lots of people, doing all the things you’d expect them to do on such a beautiful spring day – like reading a book…
… exercising their guitar skills….
… believing they can talk to wild geese…
…performing to the park visitors…
… taking a break ….
…enjoying their dog life… (seriously, this dog was enjoying Central Park more than some people)
But my favorite photo of the day came to me close to the end of the stroll through the park. I saw this man, who apparently is trying to walk on air and carry the world on his shoulders (well, not really, but you get the point)
It was a fun lunch break, and I got back at the office starving (luckily I got myself some food on the way back). I ended up improving the mood of the day (yes, it’s hard to believe anyone can make a Friday better, but… I guess this worked for me).
Would I do this again? Yes! Why? Because it’s good to do something I enjoy, be outside, freed from the conditioned air of the office, enjoying the sun and weather. You should try to make time to go outside, and escape the office, even for a short time. You can be into photography, but it’s not mandatory – even a walk around the block would be excellent, giving you a chance to detach from the stress at work, allowing you to go back refreshed and ready to take on those tasks that pile up in your inbox.
There are more pictures from this lunch break on Picasa or Flickr.
Thank you for reading, and if you like any of the pictures, please comment to let me know which one and why you like it, or tell me what’s your idea of relaxing and renewing yourself on a work day (if I don’t ask too much).
