NY Through the Lens - New York City Photography

New York City sunset over the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan.

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I never really get tired of this view.

I know I have expressed that sentiment many times but it’s absolutely true. There’s something incredibly breathtaking that occurs when you are above the rooftops of the city. It’s as if the city shrinks below a vast sky in a huge universe and everything that once seemed impossible seems effortless and within the realm of possibility.

It’s so easy to forget that sort of thing when you live in a large city like New York City. When you are in the thick of it all, it can feel like the you are alone in a never-ending maze of cavernous streets as everyone else’s dreams and hopes fly past you at the speed of light. But when you take yourself out from the middle of everything and change your perspective, it’s as if the city holds its arms out to you beckoning you to come back and put your own dreams out there so they can spread their wings and fly up to the sky towards the horizon leaving a trail of hope in their path.

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This was taken from the top of Rockefeller Center (also known as Top of the Rock) with the Sony A99 and it’s probably one of the most popular views of the New York City skyline since it includes the Empire State Building and the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan. The view is looking south towards One World Trade Center (also known as the Freedom Tower and 1 WTC) and the skyscrapers of the Financial District.

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The New York City Skyline and Central Park from above during sunset.

Summer evenings are when the city smolders

as the sun paints the clouds

and the night sky waits just another hour longer

to dance with the last remnants of the day.

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This is a view of the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan and Central Park from above looking north towards upper Manhattan. I took this at the end of August on a gorgeous, sweltering evening. I made it up to the top deck of Top of the Rock (30 Rock) just as this spectacular sunset was making its way across the sky.

It’s hard not to feel overcome with emotion when the summer sky puts on one of its late summer sunset shows. When it happens, the city is bathed in an other-worldly glow as the lights in the buildings twinkle on like stars and the sky and the impossible all seem to melt away into an infinite horizon full of endless possibility.

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New York City Skyline and the roof tops of Brooklyn Heights at sunset overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge.

Summer evenings in New York City weave their own spell when summer night skies slide onto the city through the sticky-sweet haze.

The skyscrapers cling to the sunlight wrapped up in the glow and hazy anticipation of just one more kiss of light.

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This was taken at the peak of last summer from a roof top in Brooklyn overlooking the skyline of Brooklyn Heights, the Brooklyn Bridge and a very hazy lower Manhattan skyline. I was shooting with a camera I wasn’t at all used to shooting with and the temperature was hovering near 80 degrees at night with nearly 100% humidity. The air was thick as molasses and the heat was unrelenting but it was an absolutely gorgeous summer sunset.

It’s usually this point of the winter when I start pining for summer evenings like this forgetting that on summer evenings like this, I am usually pining for winter :).

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New York City. The skyline at sunset. Financial District.

New York City is magical
during the pause between night and day
when the sun dips behind the skyline
shining its light out through the twinkling eyes of the buildings.
This time of day is when
dreams roll off the tongue,
with a slow-motion exhale
at the end of a word
in a phrase
that trails off
without end.

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Winter in New York City isn’t the friendliest especially near the water when the wind-chills dip into the single digits and the wind whips across the waves. This is the result of a 30 second long exposure taken last night with the Sony a99 after a long-walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. The view is of the skyscrapers of the Financial District in lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty can be seen fading into the sun-streaked horizon. I have always loved the way the skyscrapers in this view just sort of abruptly break up the more open view on the left.

I love the moments just after sunset. The sky sinks into a momentary pause before the night sky pulls itself over the city. When everything is devoid of color on cloudy days, the tiny bits of color during these moments that come from the lights in the skyscrapers and the color that streaks across the bone-chilled-grey sky reach right into the heart.

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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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Flatiron Building sunset. Autumn. Madison Square Park. New York City.

Late autumn in New York City has its own brisk beauty. Cold air sharply punctuates the end of every wind gust and the sun retreats earlier and earlier every day. Autumn clings to December in the brief moments before the trees drop their leaves to the ground for good and every afternoon sunset reaches through the sharp cold with its lighted fingers in one last dramatic attempt to bring warmth to the city.

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This particular view is of the Flatiron Building, one of New York City’s unique and classic skyscrapers, as seen from inside Madison Square Park during autumn.

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The New York City skyline at sunset.

At the end of this past summer, I rode the East River Ferry alone one day for four hours. I find it really relaxing to be near or on the water.The ferry has an all-day pass and at times it was only me on the deck watching the bridges and skyline fade in and out of view as the sun danced across the sky.

There is a moment at the beginning of sunset when the sun begins to drop from the sky when it almost appears as if it is trying to catch its reflection in the water mirror below. I wish I could have bottled this moment up to have forever because it was as if the entire city was wrapped up in an intensely intimate embrace with the sun.

Isn’t that what is so great about photography?

Moments can last a lifetime.

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Seen in this photo: The Manhattan Bridge is in the foreground and the Brooklyn Bridge is directly behind it. The skyscrapers of the Lower Manhattan skyline are off to the right including the Woolworth Building, New York by Gehry and One World Trade Center (formally known as the Freedom Tower). To the left sits the borough of Brooklyn and the neighborhood of Dumbo.

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Sunset over the New York City skyline as viewed from the East River.

In the last minutes before the night rides across the sky with its trailing blanket of darkness, the sun melts over the rapidly darkening silhouettes in the distance pouring itself into the water like liquid gold.

It’s in these last minutes before the city lights illuminate the urban landscape like constellations, before every last ember of daylight fades that the remains of the day extinguish themselves in the long sighs of evening wanderers.

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