NY Through the Lens - New York City Photography

New York City. Above the skyscrapers of midtown.

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When you view New York City from above, it’s hard not to get caught up in the head-rush that almost instantaneously occurs the moment your eyes attempt to account for the grandiose sense of scale of the city.

How do you make sense of that split-second that your heart beats in time to the rhythm of the streets below?

How do you keep your feet on the ground while your soul attempts to soar above and throughout the city, swooping between the cavernous buildings?

New York City is a study in contradictions and confirmations.

It’s a city that either inspires flight or plants you firmly in its primordial schist formations like the skyscrapers that rise up from such depths.

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This was taken on an impossibly beautiful summer afternoon with the Sony A77. The view is from the top of the Empire State Building looking down at the streets and skyscrapers of midtown. Its definitely one of my favorite views from above in midtown.

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New York City skyline. City lights at dusk.

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Dusk dances on the water

every evening

as the city hangs

brightly in a night sky

illuminated by the lights

of skyscrapers that

climb their way up

to the surface of

dreams.

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The moments between day and night are some of my favorite moments. The sky seems to linger and dwell in the hues of the day while the city’s lights mix with the colors of the recent sunset on the surface of the water.

This image was taken with the Sony A99 on a brisk night while standing in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The view is of the skyscrapers of lower Manhattan including 1 WTC (also known as the Freedom Tower, the Woolworth Building, and New York by Gehry.

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New York City skyline. Financial District skyscrapers at sunset.

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There’s a series of moments that linger between day and night

that linger a little longer in the summer.

The sun slides down through the clouds towards the city

pouring its soft light onto the water.

The skyscrapers soften their time-worn facades

as they lean in towards the last fragments of the day.

And the spray from the wake of a boat

dances with the sun’s light.

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This was taken on an absolutely stunning summer evening with the A77 while on a boat in the East River. This is the skyline of lower Manhattan featuring the skyscrapers of the Financial District. To the right (out of this scene) sits the Brooklyn Bridge.

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New York City skyline. Hudson River view.

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The city rises out of the water

proud, elegant

adorned in its colorful,

man-made suit of armor.

And all of the hopes and dreams

billow up to meet the sky

propelling themselves past

the places and spaces that

hold them.

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This was taken recently while on a boat to New Jersey with the Sony A99. As I have mentioned before in other posts, one of the many reasons I love living in New York City is that the shifts in perspective can be so incredibly jarring and thought provoking. When you are in the midst of it all, you don’t fully realize that Manhattan (in particular) is an island. And yet, once you get on any of the boats that traverse the rivers that surround the city, it’s really overwhelming to see Manhattan’s skyline shrink into the distance under a vast sky.

The Hudson River is all that sits between parts of New Jersey and Manhattan. This view includes the Empire State Building and the midtown Manhattan skyline that sits on the west side of the island.

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

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Late afternoon light is a ghost.

It grazes eyelashes

and pours its stark light

over skyscrapers

like a battle-worn soul

asserting its presence

over the shadows.

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This was taken on a late afternoon in the winter with the Sony A99 on the top of Rockefeller Center overlooking the Empire State Building and the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan.

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New York City skyline. Fog. Midtown.

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There is nothing quite like a foggy day in New York City.

The sky slinks down seductively towards the city

sending its clouds on a romantic stroll through the streets.

And the skyscrapers,

lost in the moment,

appear weightless as they bubble over in a heady rush from all of the attention.

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This was taken on a moody day in Manhattan while on top of the Empire State Building with the Sony A77. The low visibility is always interesting to observe from great heights. The view is looking out towards the east looking out over the skyscrapers and roof tops of midtown Manhattan. You can almost make out the three lower Manhattan bridges in the distance.

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New York City Skyline. Night. Midtown.

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In the blink of an eye the city’s lights twinkle like stars in a universe that rises up from the ground to the surface of a darkening sky.

And all at once, everything else seems to fade away.

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This was taken on a frigid evening with the Sony A99 at Gantry Plaza State Park in Queens with wind gusts roaring across the river to the rocks I was teetering on with nothing more than my tripod and utterances of hope that the wind would let up for just a few seconds.

It didn’t.

But as I stood there frozen in place for what seemed like the longest 30 seconds of the night, the city’s glow rivaled that of a roaring fire and everything else seemed to pale in comparison.

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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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The Brooklyn Bridge and New York City Skyline

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It’s interesting how long exposure photography makes you acutely aware of the environment. This was taken on a cold night as a storm was rolling in. In between stubborn sustained wind gusts as the water from the East River lapped at the edges of Brooklyn Bridge Park gushing over the sides every so often as if to foreshadow what the clouds were hoping to do to the city, I waited for a few eerie moments of unabashed calm.

Shortly after sunset as storm clouds moved in and the increasingly darkening sky turned various shades of purple and blue, there were a few minutes of calm silence. And as the water played nice and the wind decided to run its own marathon elsewhere, 4 seconds were there for the capturing before the skies unleashed their watery exclamations in the form of rain.

This is one of the more popular vantage points for photography of the Brooklyn Bridge. The skyscrapers belong to the Financial District. Prominent structures and buildings include: the Woolworth Building, New York by Gehry (at 8 Spruce Street), One World Trade Center (also known as 1 WTC and/or the Freedom Tower), Pier 17 and the South Street Seaport.

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Taken with the Sony A99 (lens details can be found clicking through the photo here to Flickr).

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New York City. Night skyline.

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Night slides across the sky

like a trumpet’s note falling over a syncopated rhythm

and the stars swoon and sway

mesmerized by the city lights

that pulsate to their own time signature.

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I have been traipsing all over the city for the last few months trying to capture a large majority of New York City’s skyline views. I think everyone has a particular skyline view they immediately think of when they think of the city. And yet, it’s still incredible to me after all this time that I come across different skyline angles that I hadn’t previously come across or had the time to explore before from certain vantage points.

New York City has several prominent skyline views that are popular. One is in lower Manhattan and usually includes the skyscrapers of the Financial District along with the one or more of the bridges that serve the lower part of Manhattan. The other series of skyline views can be found from the top of a few popular skyscrapers in midtown Manhattan. Another series of skyline views involves the midtown Manhattan skyline as seen from different vantage points across (or in some cases directly from) the East River. This particular view is taken from one of the latter vantage points. It’s a 30 second long exposure taken with the Sony A99 on a gorgeously clear and cold night in the beginning of March from Roosevelt Island.

Prominent skyscrapers in this view are the Chrysler Building and the United Nations building (all the way to the left). The lights of other famous midtown skyscrapers can also be seen even if those skyscrapers (looking at you Empire State Building) are hidden in this view. The lights directly in front of the skyscrapers that line the East River belong to the FDR Drive, a major traffic route that lines New York City’s east side.

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New York City skyscrapers and streets from above. Midtown.

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When you find yourself above New York City (or perhaps any city), what really stands out are all of the layers of activity. It’s hard to completely grasp the layers when you are among them everyday. But when you change your perspective, it really shifts your understanding of the complexities of urban life.

This is a view of the entrance to the Queensboro Bridge (also known as the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, 59th Street Bridge, and Queens Bridge) and the skyscrapers of the New York City skyline in midtown Manhattan close to 59th Street on the east side. It was taken with the Sony A99 from the vantage point of the Roosevelt Island Tram, a tram that crosses over the East River from midtown Manhattan to Roosevelt Island a around 100 times a day.

Aside from the cross-section of a part of the midtown Manhattan skyline, you can also make out the pedestrian walkway of the bridge which runs alongside the busy traffic-laden vehicular section of the bridge. Above the traffic and pedestrians is the beginnings of the grand architecture that makes up the bridge itself and midtown streets and traffic snake their way through the city below the bridge.

The variety of architecture in this area of midtown is also striking when viewed from above. The lower-slung buildings sit alongside newer skyscrapers of varying heights and structure. It would be interesting to take this section and label each building according to its completion date to note the ever-evolving skyline throughout the years in relation to the bridge.

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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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New York City Skyline and the Chrysler Building as seen from Gantry Plaza State Park. Queens.

When clouds pull themselves over the city after sunset, the city reaches up to greet the night with stars in its eyes and a racing pulse.

And when the night reaches down to hold the city in the palm of its hands, the city’s lights spill out onto a dark sky peppering it with stars.

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There is a heady essence of myth and legend that permeates the in-between times of the day. It seems to seep out especially in the evening just after the sun has reached the horizon when the air is thick with legend. One of my favorite activities is waiting for night to fall while experiencing the deep inhale and exhale of the city. Light spills out from the buildings and pours itself onto the surface of the water and the sky while the blue of the day’s sky melts into the night’s palm.

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This was taken on a bitterly cold and windy evening at Gantry Plaza State Park in Queens with the Sony A99. The wind was whipping across the water with some ferocity and the dock was moving along with the wind gusts making even a 4 second exposure (as this is) quite a challenge. But the light and the storm clouds were magical that night and it was well worth the endless crossing of fingers hoping that the wind didn’t dance too much with the camera.

Some of the most beautiful views of the skyline are from across the East River and Queens has an impressive view of the skyline in Long Island City. When I was growing up in Queens, Long Island City was an almost entirely industrial area. It has become far more residential in recent decades and the areas that boast these views are now in high demand.

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New York City skyline and the Chrysler Building on a hazy day. Midtown.

Late summer light

hangs over the city:

humid-laden heartache

tinged with heavy hope

and hazy promises.

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Where the winter brings a crystal sharp clarity to New York City, the summer seems to bring with it a gorgeous, bittersweet gauze-like haze.

Summers in New York City cling to the ribs and heart like ethereal remnants of distant thoughts peeking their heads out of the sea of heat and humidity.

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Taken with the Sony A77.

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