NY Through the Lens - New York City Photography

New York City. Skyline cityscape at sunset.

There is something really extraordinary about the shift between day and night in New York City. It’s gradual and at the same time abrupt in its magnitude. The lights on the skyscrapers flicker on as the night sky pulls itself over the city while the sun is still dancing with the horizon. I love this time more than I love the moments when the sun disappears for the night.

It’s this sort of in-between time that seems to suit a city full of people who feed off the frenetic energy and constant shifts that occur on a momentary basis. New York City rarely dwells in absolutes. Its landscape and structures only seem to remain still.

—-

This is a 20 second long exposure taken with the Sony a99 from the highest desk on the Top of the Rock (also known as 30 Rock and the top of Rockefeller Center). The skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan sit in the foreground leading up to the Empire State Building and further in the distance sits the Freedom Tower and lower Manhattan.

—-

View this photo with a comment thread on my Google Plus page

—-

Buy “New York Cityscape - Skyline at Sunset” Posters and Prints here, email me, or ask for help.

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.

—-

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.

—-

View this photo with a comment thread on my Google Plus page

—-

Buy “New York City Skyline at Sunset - Lower Manhattan Skyscrapers” Posters and Prints here, email me, or ask for help.

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.

—-

*Shot with the Sony a99.

—-

View this photo with a comment thread on my Google Plus page

—-

Buy “New York City Rooftops - From Above - Midtown Skyscrapers” Posters and Prints here, email me, or ask for help.

The New York City skyline at sunset.

Late summer sunsets over New York City are the most intoxicating.

The bubbles from the wake of boats in the river go right to the head.

And the sun’s trail of gold kisses on the water

lead straight to the heart of the city.

—-

It’s this time of year when I start to miss late summer sunsets like this in New York City. This was taken near the end of this past September with the Sony a77 and Zeiss DT Vario-Sonnar 16-80mm lens (that lens, that lens! is pure love).

When I need to clear my mind, I head to the water. Sometimes I go to the beach to listen to the waves and sometimes I go to the river to gain perspective on everything going on in my life. I don’t know what I would do if I lived in a land-locked area.

On the day that I took this photo, I rode the East River Ferry for 4 hours straight (the day-pass is incredible) watching the light stretch across the sky and cityscape changing subtly every hour until the sun burst over the city like a supernova. The waves were perfect that day.

The East River Ferry stops in both Manhattan and Brooklyn going from 34th Street in midtown, down to Wall Street’s Pier 11, passing under each of lower Manhattan’s bridges and then across to stops in Brooklyn and Queens connecting at piers in DUMBO, Greenpoint, Williamsburg and Long Island City.

—-

View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

—-

Buy “The New York City Skyline at Sunset” Posters and Prints here, email me, or ask for help.

Storm clouds and tenements. Chinatown, New York City.

As storm clouds approach, the sun washes over the city showering its splendor onto the urban landscape like a brilliant star projecting its last bits of light into the vast universe.

—-

I love the light on the buildings in this section of Chinatown before a storm. This particular view overlooks the tenements that face the Forsyth Market under the Manhattan Bridge where produce and other food is sold daily in a sprawling open air market.

—-

View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

—-

Buy “Storm Clouds - Chinatown - New York City” Posters and Prints here, email me, or ask for help.

New York City skyline featuring the Manhattan Bridge as viewed from Brooklyn.

If there is one opening sequence in cinema that perfectly illustrates even a tiny iota of the overwhelming love I have for New York City, it’s the opening sequence to Woody Allen’s Manhattan which you can view here: Opening sequence and dialogue. I know that people have very definite ideas about Woody Allen but his early body of work still contains some of my favorite interpretations of life in Manhattan and this particular opening still chokes me up absolutely every time I watch it especially the montage from 1:52 on. I actually learned how to play Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue on the piano when I was younger almost entirely because of this opening sequence :).

I was asked a while ago if I ever get bored or jaded about certain views or landscapes in New York City. I didn’t really know how to answer the question without sounding like a blubbering idiot. I know many people seem to get bored of overly-photographed parts of New York City but for me, there is always something new and something special imparted to these landscapes based on each individual artist’s perspective.

The photo in this post is of a landscape that overwhelms me every time I lay eyes on it (I posted a phone photo of it last night to Facebook which prompted me to dig through my archives of regular photos of it). For me, this scene encompasses a feeling that is hard to express entirely in words. It’s how the light falls onto the Manhattan Bridge embracing its architecture in a glow while the skyline gracefully pushes through the dreamy haze distilling the essence of New York City down to its purest forms of hope, beauty and possibility.

—-

View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

—-

Buy “The Manhattan Bridge and New York City Skyline” Prints here, email me, or ask for help.

The New York City skyline at sunset in silhouette under dramatic storm clouds.

Clouds, which once covered the sky like a thick, dark purple blanket open slowly to reveal the blue hues that breathe life into the day.

And as the sun’s flame dips closer to the horizon, its scintillating luster reaches up to the clouds.

For, you see, the sun only disappears temporarily to make way for the moon and stars that blush white-hot in thoughts of its splendor.

—-

View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

—-

Buy “There Is a Hole in the Clouds Where Light Shines Through - New York City Skyline at Sunset” Prints here, email me, or ask for help.

Street art and a bicycle. Soho, New York City

Through each scattered urban landscape every sidewalk dream unfolds periphally as daily adventurers traverse the city full of promise and silent giddy trepidation.

It’s in the quiet still moments marked by emptiness, vast loneliness and encroaching solitude that these peripheral dreamscapes come into focus.

These moments, suspended in time, marinate in the severity of their potential to eventually etch themselves into the eternity of the mind.

The rest of time moves with the rapid ebb and flow of life like bits and pieces of paint on a wall chipping and peeling off, finally scattering like a discarded lover’s flower petals in the wind.

—-

View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

—-

Buy “Sidewalk Dream - Street Art - New York City” Prints here, email me, or ask for help.

The New York City skyline at sunset under clouds in silhouette.

I used to refer to sunsets as sun-fire.

Those first sunsets burned through my retinas into the innermost recesses of my mind.

Clouds poured over the smoldering sparks of orange like thick plumes of smoke and before the sun extinguished itself, it burned the brightest of any flame in existence.

When the sun sets over New York City, it’s as if a thousand flames dance across the sky, leaving embers scattered across the skyline in the wake of it’s burning: like a fevered dream scattering its remnants across the mind before the deepest of slumbers.

I used to refer to sunsets as sun-fire.

I still do.

—-

View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

—-

Buy “Sun Fire - The New York City Sunline in Silhouette at Sunset” Prints here, email me, or ask for help.

Gimbels traverse on 32nd Street. Midtown, New York City.

There is a green copper traverse that is situated high above 32nd Street in midtown Manhattan. In my ongoing quest to find the rare few traverses (also known as skybridges, footbridges and air spaces) that exist in New York City, I found myself under this one last week. This area of midtown is admittedly rather depressing. Having spent quite a bit of time here when I went to FIT nearly a decade ago, I can definitely say that most people who pass down this street are either in a rush to get to the transportation hub at Penn Station which is directly at one of the ends of this long block or are hurriedly rushing along to get somewhere (anywhere) else. It’s one of those streets that unless you have an affinity for dreary chain stores, you probably don’t end up on to admire the views (although, the block does have arguably one of the best 99 cent stores in existence, Jack’s 99 cent Store. So, it’s no wonder that this gorgeous skybridge traverse goes largely unnoticed.

Aside from being a beautiful work of architecture designed in 1925, this copper bridge which sits at three stories tall was the product of architects Richmond Shreve and William Lamb, two of the same architects who ended up involved in the design of the Empire State Building. The bridge was commissioned by the retail store Gimbels which was a department store that reigned supreme from the late 1800s to the late 20th century. It became the largest department store in the world in the 1930s even playing an interesting role in the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street.

Gimbels had a spirited rivalry with Macy’s for many years. Macy’s eventually ended up outlasting Gimbels due to a number of factors such as reputation and brand identity. Many people felt that Macy’s outward image was more polished than Gimbels. Whatever the reasons, the skybridge in this photo was actually a product of Gimbels competitively branching out to a more ‘fashionable’ street in 1922. Both Macy’s and Gimbels were located in Herald Square (where Macy’s still stands) and in a move to migrate the store towards the more fashionable 5th Avenue, Gimbels merged with the Sak’s on 34th Street store. To link its Herald Square location to the newer 5th Avenue location, a grand skybridge was designed and built for Gimbels.

I love that the skybridge has survived all these years. Gimbels is long gone and the neighborhood has gone through many architectural changes but this little reminder of the dynamic and spirited department store wars of the mid-20th century still sits above 32nd Street.

—-

View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

—-

Buy “Gimbel’s Skybridge Traverse ” Posters and Prints here, View my store, email me, or ask for help.