It’s hard not to love the view over New York City, made even more enchanting at sunset.

The last time I was in New York was during a trip whilst studying at UNC Charlotte, back then I had a 350D and some relatively uninspiring lenses. Coming back though I wanted to capture some of the same scenes some 6 years later, but this time with nicer lenses and a better camera.

I feel the normal tourist locations are somewhat of a right of passage, first up was the Rockefeller building in the somewhat harsh sunlight.

New York
New York City, taken from the Rockefeller building
New York city street from above
View of the street below from the Rockefeller building
New York construvtion from above
View of a tall building being built from the Rockefeller building

Something that I really like to do when at the top of some of these buildings is focus on some of the little detail going on below, I love shooting street scenes or building sites even from all the way up high, especially if there’s lots of details that you can make out. Take the photos above for example., sometimes they don’t make for the most artistic of photos, but I just love the idea of showing real life from a different angle that you wouldn’t see on a normal day.

Next of course is the Empire State Building, which I must say is the best view you can get out of the two main tall buildings offering viewing platforms. Sunset is of course the best time of the evening to look over the city. The golden hour makes for some very moody and impressive views.

New York
New York City, taken from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building at sunset.
New York
New York City, taken from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building at sunset.
New York
New York City, taken from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building at sunset.

Once dusk had turned into night the obvious next place to go is Time Square, it’s honestly surprising how busy it remains well into the late evening / early hours of the morning, and how bright all the lights are.

New York
Time Square at night
New York - 9/11 memorial
9/11 Memorial Site

We also stopped by the new 9/11 memorial site, I’ve visited a number of times from a couple of years after the tragedy right up to now, and each time there’s something new. This time they had opened the large fountain in the footprint of one of the original buildings, along the edge were engravings of all of the people’s names who died in the tower. It was incredibly sad and moving to see.

This is only a small number of the photos I took while in New York. As always I thoroughly enjoy walking about and finding new places, even though it’s the normal tourist locations that end up being some of the better photos – mostly because I am a sucker for a skyline or high up cityscape scene! If I could spend more time walking around and doing some street photography, I would.

I may post more at some point soon in a follow-up post.

Posted in: America, Photography