The Morgan Library Photographing J.P. Morgan's gift to new york
Another one for my book in progress
This year I've been working on a personal project — a coffee-table photo book called The Great Indoors featuring interior spaces from around world — from cathedrals to palaces, from Opera Houses to restaurants; from amazing theaters to libraries; the book is a visual celebration of the classic art and architecture of some of history's most gifted designers of interior spaces.
Built in 1906 for $1.2 million dollars
This was originally built as J.P. Morgan's personal library (it was designed by architect Charles McKim) and after Morgan's death, it was made a public institution per his wishes. It's now a museum in New York City, and one of this great city's hidden gems.
I just learned about "The Morgan" this year
I've been visiting New York my entire life. My family is originally from New York (my mom and dad met in the Astoria pool), and somehow I never knew the Morgan existing. This summer, on my birthday, my wife surprised me with a trip to New York, and we got a chance to visit the Morgan (I was without my camera - it was a surprise birthday trip with my son. I wouldn't have brought it if I could have), and of course, I fell in love with the place and wanted to find a way to shoot it for my book, but of course without the flood of tourists everywhere.
Twitter to the Rescue again
After my visit, I tweeted:
"Anybody got a tight contact at the Morgan Library in NYC?"
...and before long I had folks contacting me trying to help get me a shoot there, but it was our Web Editor Grant Friedman that made it all happen, and when I was up in New York for the Photo Plus Expo two weeks ago I was able to get in early and spend an hour shooting in this amazing library and museum (a special thanks to the amazingly kind and patient Moriah Shtull from the Morgan). My buddy Jeff Revell went to assist me (Brad was leading location portrait class for Photo Plus, so he couldn't be there). Jeff also took the behind-the-scenes shots shown below the "Camera Settings" section and near the bottom of this post.
I didn't see any stairs, so I brought a rig to shoot up high
In the photo above, you'll notice there are no stairs that lead to the 2nd and 3rd floors. As I learned on this visit, there actually is a hidden staircase behind a secret panel to the left of the entry doors, but only one person in the building is allowed up those stairs due to safety issues. Since I didn't see any stairs in my summer visit, I through to bring a monopod remote rig (like I use when shooting football) to be able to get an up-high view of the library.
I attached the camera body to the end of my monopod, and put a Pocket Wizard III on top in the hot shoe mount and connected the PocketWizard to the camera's remote shutter port using a short cable. In my right hand is a 2nd PocketWizard and when I press the Test button, it takes a shot wirelessly. I have the bottom of the monopod resting on my chest and right before I press the shutter release, I hold my breath (to keep movement to a minimum) and then take the shot.
Camera Settings
For these monopod shots I set my ISO at 6,400 at 1/50 of a second. I know that's pretty slow so I took a series of shots one right after another so at least one of them would be in focus. I was using a Canon 1Dx body (which is why you barely see any noise even at 6,400 ISO). The shot above was taken using Canon's 8-15m fisheye zoom at 15mm, and the other shots are taken with the greatest ultra wide-angle lens ever (just my opinion, but it probably is), the Canon 11-24mm zoom.
The Rotunda
Between the Library and Mr. Morgan's office, is the amazing rotunda you see below. It looks like something you'd see in Rome, but it's the first thing you see when you enter this part of the museum. The entire rotunda is just stunning.
J.P. Morgan's Personal Office
I want an office like this. LOL! Pretty amazing. A mini-library unto itself. Beautiful natural light, but not a ton of it, so I had to shoot at a long shutter speed but that was no problem because I had a tripod (a borrowed tripod — thanks to Terry White coming to the rescue at midnight the night before). Here's a few shots from his incredible office.
Thanks for letting me share my Day at the Morgan Library with you.
Footnote: Taken with a Canon 1Dx, Canon 8-15mm fisheye, and Canon 11-24mm ultra wide angle zoom. Gitzo monopod and Gitzo traveller tripod.