New York City Skyline

A brilliant sunset sky over the skyline of New York City and the Brooklyn Bridge

The lower Manhattan skyline as viewed from Brooklyn Bridge Park at dusk

The skyline of lower Manhattan as viewed from Brooklyn Bridge Park

I’ve had some shots on my photo bucket list for quite a while. Those include images from Patagonia, Iceland, and New Zealand among many others. It’s pretty easy for me to justify a lack of images from those locations in my portfolio. I haven’t traveled to those locations… yet.

But, the skyline of New York? That’s hard to explain. It’s not that difficult to get there. The shot itself isn’t technically difficult. I just didn’t have it. So, when Taylor and I began to plan a trip to Boston and New York, I immediately began to think about locations in New York that I would like to photograph. The view from the Empire State building or from the top of Rockefeller Center was one obvious location I wanted. The other that came quickly to mind was a view of lower Manhattan from Brooklyn or New Jersey.

As I began to flesh out the details of our trip it became apparent that the time of day that I could shoot most readily would be sunset. That meant that I would want to put the setting sun behind the city. So, I would be shooting from Brooklyn. As I researched online the spot that came up over and over again was Brooklyn Bridge Park. Since I haven’t spent a lot of time in New York City I had not visited that location before. Frankly, I didn’t know if the area would be safe, well-lit, or even easily accessible. When I talked to my brother-in-law who lives in the city he assured me that the area was perfectly safe and that I would not be alone there.

So, I hopped on the subway and made my way to Brooklyn. After a short walk to the park I was surrounded by other photographers, sightseeing tourists, and plenty of locals who were out enjoying a beautiful late spring evening. Now all I had to get was great lighting conditions for my shots. As it turned out I had perfect conditions and I was extremely grateful for them. To be in the right place at the right time doesn’t always work out for your friendly neighborhood photographer. But, God smiled on me that night.

I shot from several different locations, but I ended up at a seating area that has been created to view the perfect New York City sunset. The seating area is located just south of the Manhattan Bridge. As you can see, there is just enough of an angle so that the Brooklyn Bridge can serve as the foreground for the skyline of lower Manhattan. I sat in that location for a very happy hour and a half just watching and capturing the changing light conditions.

The shot I had in mind when I set out that night is the glowing sunset over the city. It’s a toss-up though whether my favorite is the dusk shot or the later shot with only a bit of glow still lingering in the sky. I love them all. I hope that you enjoy them all as well. And, as always, thanks for stopping by. Enjoy.

The Guggenheim

The beautiful and utterly unique architecture of the Guggenheim Museum on Manhattan’s Upper East Side

I’m extraordinarily fortunate to have family who lives on the Upper East side of Manhattan. Not only did Taylor and I have nice accommodations we also got to spend time her uncle and aunt who treated us with great hospitality. And after visiting in the city for a few days I came to appreciate the relative peace and calm of the area as opposed to the constant noise, hustle, and bustle in some other areas of the city.

One of the sights that I had pretty high on my list to visit was the Guggenheim Museum. I was primarily interested in seeing the architecture that Mr. Wright had dreamed up and constructed. Of course, a bonus would be to visit the collections of the museum. As it turned out, the day we had available to visit was a day the museum was closed. That didn’t deter us from taking a rather walk to Central Park via the Guggenheim though.

When we arrived, I wasn’t the only person with a camera in tow looking to capture a unique view of the place. There was a photographer from Brazil who was capturing street scenes with the museum as a background. That wasn’t my goal, though. I wanted to make the sensuous curves and elegant white concrete the primary element in my composition. It wasn’t very difficult to get my shot. By focusing above the street level I was able to isolate the upper part of the museum in both vertical and horizontal compositions.

I had the chance to visit one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s other masterpieces later in the fall. Now that I look back on my images of the Guggenheim I can see that the two structures have much in common. The most striking commonality is how futuristic both structures look even now. Wright simply had a way to create design elements that are timeless, elegant, and beautiful. Oddly, the Guggenheim is unlike any other architecture I saw in New York. Yet, I can’t imagine the city without her. Enjoy.

The View from the Rock

The Empire State building and lower Manhattan at sunset as viewed from Rockefeller Center

One of the shots that I hoped I would be able to get was the Manhattan skyline from the top of Rockefeller Center. Unfortunately, on the day we had tickets to go up some rain was forecast for New York City. After discussing it for a while, we decided to go anyway hoping that the weather would hold off until after sunset.

So, we queued up with all the other tourists and waited our turn to ride the elevator up to the observation deck of Rockefeller Center. I could tell from the gathering clouds that our chances were pretty slim for staying dry. Still, the experience was fun and we looked forward to our turn.

Our time finally arrived and we made our way through the queue and into the elevator. When we arrived at the top of Rockefeller Center we took a few minutes to wander around a bit, taking in the view and looking for the best vantage point for the upcoming sunset.

My only mistake was taking the rules posted on the Rockefeller Center website a bit too seriously. There were strict prohibitions of any type of tripod or monopod being allowed. Of course, I immediately saw at least two tripods in use and no one really seemed to care. A bit later on I regretted not having even a small travel tripod. I was able to photograph until the sun actually set, but after that there simply wasn’t enough light for me to hand hold my camera and take a shot without vibration.

The good news was that the incoming storm also created some pretty sweet shooting conditions. I did have to stand through a brief rain shower covering my camera with my rain jacket. But, it turned out to be worth it. There was a brief ten minute or so window where the setting sun dropped below the clouds creating the showers and cast some beautiful golden light on the Manhattan skyline.

The shot posted here was taken in just those conditions. Some of the city lights were coming on at dusk. Some sunlight was creating a wonderful glow on the Brooklyn Bridge and some of the buildings of lower Manhattan. The Freedom Tower stood virtually glowing in the late afternoon light. All in all, it was a pretty amazing experience even though we did get a bit wet. Enjoy.