New York City
I called NYC home for over ten years, living in Brooklyn and Manhattan. I know it real well having run a thousand loops of Central and Prospect Parks, biked over the bridges countless times, and probably been on every street south of 145th in Manhattan. It's got the best and worst of everything and we'll call it a day at that. It's great for photographs. Almost certainly the best in the country for photos with the streets, bridges, people, architecture and wild rhythms of the city.
DUMBO
Go any time from 8 am -11 pm and there is going to be someone at this spot (where Water St and Washington St cross in DUMBO, Brooklyn). Go from 9am-9pm and there's usually hundreds. I woke up before sunrise in June to even have a chance at no people. This one is a popular one in my store. It's an overdone shot for sure, we all know this. At certain points on the street the Empire State Building is directly in the middle of the opening in the Manhattan Bridge. I decided to prioritzed the symmetry of the buildings over getting the ESB directly in the center of the Manhattan Bridge's opening. What I'm saying is that it's good for a reason.
Just before Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, there's usually a thousand people milling around under the terrace. This was around a minute exposure to weed them out as best as I could. The musician became headless in the process but life can be like that sometimes.
Dumbing the Guggenheim (5th ave between 88th and 89th) down to Gugg was my intention and that's what happened.
Central Park
One of if not the most popular movie location in the world, Central Park. Bruce Willis drives through it from 110th to 59th in what he says 'has got to be a record' in my favorite of the Die Hards. Wall Street had a climactic scene in Sheep's Meadow. That other movie, it probably had a scene there. It's my favorite place in Manhattan (but my favorite in all the boroughs is in the Bronx). It's got about 30 tennis courts, newly added Pickleball courts, ice skating rinks (plural), 26 baseball fields, a bocce facility, the Great Lawn, an amphitheatre, the Sheep's Meadow, the Harlem Meer, hills, the NYC Marathon finishes there yada yada yada. It's great for a Sunday hang and for pictures. Above is also in the Bethesda terrace (or some people call it the arcade), 72ndish would be the imaginiary cross street if walking from the Upper East or West Sides.
Lower East Side
Taken on a Saturday night on the gritty, scene-y Lower East Side of Manhattan. Katz's Deli (where Sally did that moaning scene in When Harry Met Sally) is a popular place for wildly large sandwiches. A Citi Bike was riding in between the tripod and the deli which created the streak. The exposure was 30 seconds. Located at Houston and Ludlow.
The East River
I've returned to this spot a few times and still don't believe I've nailed it due to weather and lighting. I liked keystone-ing the Manhattan Bridge and the immensity of its supports, with its strong base. This was taken at sunrise on a Monday from Chinatown in Manhattan. I ended up using a short exposure of 1 second vs my intention that was 2-3 minutes.
Brooklyn Bridge
Like most things in NY, the Brooklyn Bridge is packed with tourists and commuters at most hours of the day. If you want a good shot, you got to get to it at odd hours. The left was taken on the bridge looking into Brooklyn Heights, the right was taken from the Manhattan side through a chain link fence.
