#explorer in New York City, New York, USA
Using his iphone to photograph a seemingly calm and quiet New York City, Ruben Hughes offers a glimpse of what its like to live and breathe in the Big Apple. Beautiful cityscapes, symmetry, soft colors and impeccable framing make his stream of photos worth a long look! Follow Ruben on Instagram here @RubenHughes
Place you live: New York, NY
Place your Instagrams were taken? New York City Can you sum up NYC? When most think of this city, they become overwhelmed with the thought of a fast pace metropolitan. Living on the Upper Westside, I learned what it meant to be surrounded by just that. Exploring to me is an outlet for creativity and a suppressant from everyday obstacles. New York has taught me to constantly look up because you never know what you might see.
If New York was a person or character who would it be? New York is a place with many faces. I couldn’t express it in one person or character but instead, it’s collectively the personally of everyone. It’s the colorblocking walls of Chinatown to the treelined streets of Tudor City. You find beauty in this city like a friend. It’s diverse and willing to let us call it home.
How long have you been using Instagram? 106 weeks, 742 days or 2 years
What phone camera do you use to shoot with? iphone 5
What is your editing process? It’s quite simple. I use VSCOcam for filtering and a handful of apps for fine tuning like Afterlight.
Do you create images outside of Instagram? Yes. I carry around a Canon G15 for when on-the-go. It’s durable, sharp and one of my favorites.
Has Instagram/phoneography affected how you shoot? In all, Instagram has made me more aware of my surroundings. I find myself optimizing certain angles in my shots and developing better processes for exploring. I try to factor in an editorial perspective when shooting.
Can you give a couple tips to aspiring Instagram photographers? I will tell you what someone once told me. Take a lot of photos. You can only get better with understanding your weak points in photography.
Who are your three favorite Instagrammers? For city life and architecture @Trashhand loans a brilliant perspective for me. I love to travel and plan to visit Europe in detail, next year. In preparation and a bit of obsession, I seek @halfgirl who captures beautiful landscapes of Iceland and home life in Copenhagen. @Benjaminheath has the best of both and balances well between his explorations.
Name:Ruben Hughes
City:New York
Best place to eat:
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Must do:
Visit the Brooklyn Bridge Park for everything from kite flying to kayaking. It’s a playground for local explorers.
Local tip:
Make friends with people wherever you travel. You never know what knowledge they might have.