NY Through the Lens - New York City Photography

New York City skyline and Central Park from above.

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When the day stretches out

leaving a trail of sighs

in its wake,

the sky

and the infinite

slowly implode

folding themselves into one another

until all that is left

is a never-ending horizon

reaching out towards

the rest of forever.

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This is a view of Central Park and the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan as seen from above. It was taken with the Sony A77 from the top of the Empire State Building on an impossibly perfect morning. Upper Manhattan sits in the distance with the Chrysler Building and Queens to the right. The trees of Bryant Park are peeking out in the bottom-left part of this image.

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The New York City skyline and the Empire State Building. Midtown.

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Being above the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan makes the mind and heart pause.

It’s hard to take in the immensity of the view especially after sunset when all of the city’s lights flicker like stars in a sky suspended upside down over an ocean full of clouds.

But, after a few moments, something else happens.

The mind reels, tipsy after taking its first, lingering sip of the cityscape.

And, with giddy eagerness, the eyes wander over every roof and into every window, past the fast moving traffic that zips across the city streets like shooting stars.

How many dreams are bursting forth, ready to propel themselves from the minds of urban dreamers: out from inside the walls, offices, apartments, and houses that contain them?

How many hopes are being uttered at the same time?

How many love songs are being sung?

How many hearts are being broken as other hearts are connecting?

And as the sun dips below the horizon letting the urban stars hang brightly in their own universe, the city speeds on at its own pace as someone else begins pondering variations on the same series of thoughts…

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This is a view of the Empire State Building and the New York City skyline as seen from Top of the Rock. It’s a 30 second long exposure taken with the Sony A99 and the view is looking south towards lower Manhattan. One World Trade Center (or 1 WTC - also known as the Freedom Tower) can be seen in the distance to the right of the Empire State Building.

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New York City night. Rain. Bryant Park. Midtown.

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Through eyelashes wet with rain,

a thousand thoughts fall

to the ground

and through the raindrops

the city lights blur together

as shadows make their way

into the night -

impermanence

registered with

every blink.

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Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge and the New York City skyline at night. Roosevelt Island view.

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When the night falls hard onto the city’s shoulders and the sky drapes a dark blanket over the skyscrapers and buildings, it’s hard to contain the effervescent charm that bursts forth after the sun has retreated.

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This is the Queensboro Bridge which is known by a few other names depending on where you are from and how long you have lived in New York City. Despite growing up in Queens, I will always think of this bridge as the 59th Street Bridge because I think I belonged to one of the few families in Queens that for whatever reason associated the bridge more with 59th Street in Manhattan. It’s also known as Queens Bridge which is a shortened form of Queensboro Bridge. Its current official name is the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, named after the now deceased former mayor of New York City who held office from the late 70s to the early 80s. He was definitely a “character” (as we say :) ).

The vantage point is from Roosevelt Island and this is the result of a 30 second exposure taken with the Sony A99. It was taken on a bitterly cold night in the beginning of March while I was having a spirited conversation with one of the Roosevelt Island security guards regarding the abandoned smallpox hospital further down the island. I tend to love to shoot long exposures alone but it was great to have the company (and quirky conversation) that night. It’s those type of moments that make me love the city: little bursts of spontaneity and brevity while watching the lights sparkle in the city’s eyes.

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New York City - Roosevelt Island Tram view. Midtown.

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I have been afraid of heights since I can remember. Even stepping on a tall foot stool would send me into a frenzied panic. It’s partially a control issue and partially an irrational fear of the eternal “what if” quandary related to my own mortality. And yet, I have discovered as I get older that there is something supremely thrilling about being high up above things especially being high up above New York City. It’s the same scattered sense of adrenaline-fueled excitement I get when I consider the vastness of the ocean. And in some ways, I think both vantage points offer the same sense of displaced wonder.

A month or so ago, I watched an absolutely incredible video called Overview which examined something called the Overview Effect. The Overview Effect is “a cognitive shift in awareness reported by some astronauts and cosmonauts during spaceflight, often while viewing the Earth from orbit or from the lunar surface.” I can’t recommend the video highly enough. It’s a 15 minute short film that explores different astronaut’s life-altering experiences viewing the earth from above for the first time. The footage of earth from above in the film is overwhelming. It’s an emotional journey of a film that definitely has lodged its way into my consciousness. Here it is:

Overview

A few years back, when I went to the top of a skyscraper I had never been to the top of before, I had such an incredibly visceral reaction when I experienced seeing the city from above. It was rough for me to even take the elevator up 70 floors to the observation deck. I clenched my sweaty fists and closed my eyes the whole time deep breathing probably much to the amusement (or dread) of the fellow elevator passengers. Once I stepped out and onto the upper deck, I was hooked. It was as if I was seeing the city for the first time. Once you take yourself out and away from the streets that surround you, it’s as if the city opens up its arms to you. It’s fascinating to consider all of the activity and stories that are contained in any one part of such a view.

In the short film I linked above, one of the astronauts describes the Overview Effect saying that common features include a feeling of awe for the planet, and a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life among other perspective-shifting feelings. And I really think that anytime we take ourselves high above or deep below the reality we experience every day, it produces different (subtler when it comes to standing on the top of a skyscraper and perhaps more overwhelming in regards to being deep in the ocean) versions of the Overview Effect.

Since experiencing that amazing feeling when I pushed past my fear of heights to take myself high above my own every-day reality, I have actively pushed myself to seek out as many high vantage points as I can. This particular image (taken with the Sony A99) was taken high above the 59th Street Bridge (also known as the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge) entrance overlooking the buildings and skyscrapers that make up the New York City skyline in midtown Manhattan.

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New York City skyscrapers and rooftops from above. Midtown.

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This New York City skyline view was taken from the top of the Empire State Building on an absolutely gorgeous summer morning with the Sony A77. The light from the sun in the summertime is un-matched in some respects. It seems to take on a distinct golden quality as it shines through the heavy summer air that hangs languidly over the city’s rooftops.

This particular view is of the tops of the skyscrapers and buildings of midtown Manhattan facing east.

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Under the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. Midtown. New York City

I had a recurring dream when I was younger that puzzled me for years. It involved boarding a hovering bubble shaped vehicle and ascending over the skyscrapers until I was soaring under the bridges and through the cavern-like spaces of the city. It was euphoric but also terrifying at the same time. When I was older, I finally relayed the dream to someone and they laughed and asked if I had ever taken the Roosevelt Island tram when I was very young. I had no recollection of it. It prompted me to ask my mother if we had ever done such a thing and she said it was possible but she couldn’t remember a specific time that we would have done it (my mother, like me, is absolutely terrified of heights). It’s possible that my family took the tram to Roosevelt Island at some point and the experience embedded itself deep into my imagination where it mixed with other flights of fancy (pun intended) of flying through a Gotham-like city like Batman.

So, when I found myself photographing the underbelly of the 59th Street Bridge (also known as the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge or just the Queensboro Bridge) with the Sony A99 late last week, it was hard not to recall those earlier dreams and feelings they invoked while I stood there waiting for the long exposure to capture 30 seconds of what had haunted me for years. The bridge is one of my favorite ones in the city. Its architecture is distinctive when viewed from the side but I absolutely love how slick and dripping-with-sci-fi-overtones it appears when viewed from below. The bridge travels from darkness into the light of a gleaming New York City as the water below it only stirs with the occasional disruption of a boat. You can also make out the cables that the Roosevelt Island tram travels on to the right of the bridge.

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New York City skyline and Chrysler Building - view from Roosevelt Island

My recent foray into experimenting with long exposures has been blossoming into a zen journey. I am a solitary shooter by preference. While I thrive on being around people, when I am shooting it’s an almost spiritual experience that I enjoy only when I am alone. The world tends to melt away and my thoughts evaporate into whatever it is I am shooting. I am not sure if it is because my mind runs at around 1000 miles per hour normally and resembles a rushing waterfall of activity that I seek out these types of experiences where I can calm the mental flow into a gentle stream of thoughts but I am finding long exposures to be an absolutely blissful experience.

This is the result of a 20 second exposure taken late last week from Roosevelt Island with the Sony A99. I have been shooting skylines for the past month for a secret project that I can’t talk about until later this month and it’s been interesting viewing the skyline from different vantage points throughout the boroughs. Roosevelt Island is a tiny island that sits in the East River overlooking the Upper East Side and midtown Manhattan. The Chrysler Building is a beacon of white, sparkling lights in a sea of skyscrapers lit by the yellow glow of the lights on the FDR Drive. It’s a rather calm place to visit at this time of year since it’s not quite warm enough for people to take full advantage of the promenade that runs parallel to this amazing view.

The night tends to fall quietly over the lights of Manhattan when viewing the skyline from this vantage point. The only sounds that are prominent are the sound of waves lapping up against the sides of the promenade as the rare boat speeds by. I find it endlessly fascinating how a long exposure can calm even those sounds down visually - smoothing out the water’s surface until the lights seem to melt into the water like liquid stars in a watery universe.

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New York Winter - Snowy night in midtown Manhattan

New York City resembles a snow-globe when snow first falls.

As the snow swirls, the trees reach over the city streets as if they are trying to catch snowflakes with their bare, graceful branches.

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This was taken at night during a winter storm in New York City that dropped enough snow to turn the city into a winter wonderland momentarily. This is the area on 42nd Street next to Bryant Park across from the Grace Building which can be seen partially on the left-hand side of the image.

It’s one of my favorite spots to snow-gaze at night.

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Taken with the Sony A99.

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The New York City skyline in midtown Manhattan at sunset.

Late summer and early autumn sunsets in New York City are intensely beautiful. The city seems to cling to every bit of sunlight through a haze that sleepily hangs low over the urban waterfront. This was taken near the end of a four hour long ferry ride back and forth around the East River in the late summer. There were barely any people on the ferry that day and I spent entire rides just taking note of the sun’s descent in the sky.

When this moment occurred, it was so brief and fleeting and yet so dramatic in its intensity as the sun dipped towards the midtown skyline grazing the skyscrapers that I barely even knew if I captured it properly since the waves were kicking up in the river and the boat was swaying up and down over the waves. By then, I had gotten my ‘sea legs’ and knew the exact way to stand and counter the movement with my camera in my hands.

And the sun-kissed skyline drifted away from view and descended into the twilight of evening.

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Taken with the Sony A77.

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New York Winter. 5th Avenue in the snow. Midtown.

This is one of my favorite scenes from last Friday night’s snowstorm. Quite a few people asked me how I was able to take photos without having snow and water droplets on my camera lens. It was quite a production actually. As I explained in my initial post, I wrapped my camera lens in plastic and then poked a hole in a plastic bag and threaded the lens through that hole. The rest of the plastic bag went over the camera as a covering. I secured the plastic with a lens hood which came in handy during periods of blowing snow. When I wasn’t taking a photo I would point the camera down lens to the ground so that when snow blew towards me, it would blow and collect on the outside of the lens hood keeping the lens relatively dry and clean. I also had a lens filter on the lens.

This meant that I only had a tiny amount of time to shoot each shot. I shoot in manual mode because it’s a long-standing preference of mine so I already had set up the settings that worked for the majority of shots (I did have to adjust a lot once I got to the Times Square area due to the lighting there). In the event that there was a shot I wanted to go for that was in the direction of blowing snow, I would just quickly take the shot and then scurry towards an awning, scaffolding cover, or dry entrance where I would wipe the lens down with a lens wipe.

I finally got around to putting some of the more popular photos from my winter storm Nemo in NYC set that I took and shared this past weekend during the (non) blizzard in my main portfolio and store. They are scattered throughout the rest of my photos. A number of people asked when I was going to put them up for sale so I have been slowly putting the photos from the set into my portfolio - store. I actually have more photos that I haven’t even touched from that night that I hope to go through in the next few weeks and eventually share.

I really didn’t expect the response I got for the photo set over on Flickr! Over the weekend, my Flickr was viewed 175,000 times and the winter storm Nemo photoset (in its entirety) has been viewed nearly 30,000 times (with each photo being viewed anywhere from 900 to over 4000 times). Over on G+, the main photo that I shared has been viewed 189,000 times. Craziness! Thanks all for all of the awesome messages, comments, shares and love for New York City in the snow :).

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New York City skyscrapers and rooftops from above. Midtown.

These are the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan from above as seen from the top of Rockefeller Center (Top of the Rock). Looking out over these time and weather-worn buildings, it’s almost incredible to think of the sheer amount of activity occurring behind each tiny-eyed window at any given time.

This is a scene that peaks in the teasing warmth of winter sunlight as the sun dips towards the horizon in the late afternoon. With rooftops covered with a light glaze of snow and with sultry exhales of smoke billowing out into the late afternoon sunlight, the city basks momentarily in distant memories of summer.

When I was younger, I used to imagine how incredible it would be to fly through the city like Batman. I would close my eyes and imagine dipping into the dark,narrow valleys created by tall skyscraper peaks. I would ascend up past the multitudes of water towers to distant rooftops where I would bide my time while seeking out other routes to glide through (in my imagination Batman took quite a few joyrides through the city during his off-time!).

I still like to imagine these things. It’s probably why I love views that take me above the hustle and bustle of the city. There is a peace that seems to come with viewing the cityscape from above.

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*Shot with the Sony a99.

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The New York City skyline and the Empire State Building. View from Top of the Rock. Midtown.

When the night pulls its cobalt blanket over the city
the lights flicker like stars
in a magnificent universe.
And the world pauses
for a minute or two
enthralled in a reciprocal gaze
of epic proportion.

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The hour right after the sun dips below the horizon is one of the most enchanting hours of the day. It’s not quite day and not quite night but it’s a blended mixture of the two. There is no better place to witness this transformation in New York City than 70 stories up in the air on the observation deck of Rockefeller Center (known colloquially as Top of the Rock). After feeling the elation that comes with watching the sun set over the city, all of the city’s lights come into view twinkling little by little until they all seem to build up to the most intense crescendo of illuminated splendor.

This view is looking south towards lower Manhattan past the Empire State Building. I took this photo last night bundled up in layers of winter gear since the temperatures have been rather arctic here in New York City as of late. I wanted to take the Sony a99 up to capture this time of day specifically. This is the result of a 30 second exposure completed by placing my camera on one of the ledges (while tethered to a very, very still me with gloved hands in pockets barely breathing for fear of moving the camera/camera strap). The Top of the Rock and Empire State Building are rather strict about their no tripod policy. Sometimes you can catch a kind security guard who doesn’t mind a gorilla pod but for the most part, you have to get creative if you want to take super long exposures. In this case, since it was so ridiculously cold, there weren’t many people on the deck and I staked out my ledge during the pre-sunset time period (the sunset was stunning!) taking photos while waiting for this particular moment.

There is a special clarity that comes with this time of year. While this spot is a popular vantage point in the summer, there is also a lot less visibility due to the thick summer haze that hangs over the city in the warmer months. In the dead of winter though, it’s crystal clear if you catch a clear day (another rarity!).

Locations of interest in this shot include: The Empire State Building, One World Trade Center (also known as the Freedom Tower or 1 WTC, the Statue of Liberty, Manhattan Bridge, the New York Life building (one of the buildings with a gold top), Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower.

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Times Square. New York City.

Times Square is its own universe.

It’s New York City filtered through cinematic dreams and commercially-tinged aspirations wrapped up in flashing lights and colorful billboards. There is a familiarity to it that is tinged with a wild-eyed estranged quality that makes it all the more alluring.

And when a yellow New York City taxi cab drives by at the speed of light under all the flashing lights, it’s hard not to smile.

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Taken with a Sony a99 using the Miniature setting creative style. The Sony a99 has around twenty different creative styles and while I usually shoot in RAW format and do my editing after the fact, I have to say that the Miniature setting was just way too fun to play with especially in Times Square! The results are similar to a Tilt Shift Lens (or I suppose a Lens Baby as well) and you can adjust where you want the focus and blur to end up.

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Buckyball by Leo Villareal- Madison Square Park Art. New York City.

This is a large-scale work by light installation artist Leo Villareal called Buckyball that is on display in Madison Square Park until February 1, 2013.

The work’s two nested geodesic spheres are comprised of 180 LED-tubes arranged in a series of pentagons and hexagons that contain thousands of individual pixels capable of displaying 16 million distinct colors. Controlled by custom software designed by the artist, the 30 foot tall illuminated sculpture animates Madison Square Park’s natural landscape with dynamic, random light sequences of varied color, opacity, speed, and scale.

Zero-gravity couches, are placed at the base of the sculpture to allow viewers to gather and contemplate the artwork. The couches and sculptural aspects of the installation reference elements of the park and add a physical and temporal dimension to the viewer’s multisensory experience of Buckyball.

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I went for a little walk in the fog last night and ended up sitting on one of the zero-gravity couches in Madison Square Park (as mentioned above) and staring at this installation for quite a long time since it constantly changes. This installation is quite a sight to behold and is very mesmerizing. The fog was quite thick last night as well as you can see through the light next to the tower in the background which is the MetLife Tower. Not a bad way to spend a foggy evening in New York City!

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