Gallery • 10 Photos

Leon Nguyen

Times Square.

Have you ever packed your bag and made a trip somewhere by yourself? Have you ever found yourself sitting at a restaurant you have never been to, trying out new food and enjoying a cup of coffee, all by yourself?

On Friday, March 11 during spring break, I made a short trip to New York City by myself for a couple of reasons.

I love New York City. In an odd way, the city always gives me inspirations in both photography/videography no matter how many times I have been there. This time was not an exception.

In the past months, I have watched so many photography/videography tutorial videos and learned a lot from that. But what is the point of learning if I cannot practice it in real life?

The first reason I went to New York City is to look for new inspirations and to try out new photography/videography techniques that I thought they would be great to have later on in my career.

As soon as I got to New York City, I found myself setting up my camera gear in the lively Times Square, and ready to try out time-lapse technique.

I spent my entire day exploring the city I have been to countless times, to create new concepts (time-lapse photography and fisheye perspective) that I have never been able to, from Times Square to the Empire State Building to Pier 78.I would not say my first experiment with new techniques was perfect, it is imperfect, but it gave me the satisfaction that I could finally try them out.

You can check out the videos I have made here:

• Spring Break 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njdgFULdwr4
• Time-lapse only: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwQ3w1PYx-U

The second reason that I decided to make this trip is because of a Korean hip-hop show, Grand Carnival Tour with Dynamic Duo.

Another thing about me if you did not know: I am into Korean music, or K-pop; and also I am an intern associate writer for www.korea.com, a Korean entertainment website.

I had the honor to represent www.korea.com as the show’s photographer.

Dynamic Duo’s first stop of the tour at Playstation Theater in New York City was a great success as the duo poured all their energy onto the stage and gave off an amazing vibe. The crowd welcomed the artists with high energy as well as singing along during the show. It created a fantastic atmosphere which left fans talking about about the event afterwards.

Solo travel can give you the freedom of what you want to do, where you want to go, or when you want to do it. You can also learn so much about yourself going somewhere alone—you hit the limits of what you like and what you do not like.

I am not saying you should not travel with your companions, however.

People think it would be scary making a trip somewhere by yourself. I often think it is not bad to explore places by yourself, to take a look around, to look for new things that inspire yourself and to me, that is the most important.

It was a short trip to New York City but it sure was a memorable one. I am glad that I could end my spring break with this trip. Until next time.