Photographing in colorful Times Square with the Fuji X-Pro2

Last night I went to Times Square at dusk to test out the Ricoh Theta S 360º panoramic camera. I wasn't prepared for the swarm of summer tourists who invaded the space with cell phone cameras blazing away, squeezing off selfies from every conceivable angle. Documentary photography is not something I do very often. I had my Fuji X-Pro2 with me along with the Fuji 16-55mm f/2.8 lens and decided to do a mini-documentary of the frenzied photography scene in the square. I kept the lens set to its widest 16mm almost the whole time.

I simply left the X-Pro2 on auto ISO and auto exposure because I knew it would easily handle this scene, plus I wanted to be able to shoot very quickly to take advantage of impromptu moments. Times Square at night is much brighter than you might realize. My auto-ISO was fluctuating all over the place from 320-4000, but stayed mostly around 640.

I processed the RAW images using both the Vivid and Provia color modes from Adobe camera RAW. I needed the RAW images to bring in the blasted out highlights of the brightly lit signs as I shot for the mid-tones. When photographing in Times Square it is best to start shooting earlier than sunset to balance out the lights with the natural light. I began my project rather late, just after sunset and paid for it with the blasted out highlights.

Below is a sampling of the essay in all its colorful glory.