The Hell Gate Bridge was opened in 1916, and was the inspiration for the Sydney Harbour Bridge (built in 1925). The red paint used on the bridge fades relatively fast, I believe it had it’s last paint job in 2005 (bright red), but has returned to a very dull maroon color.
The East River Roundabout park is easily the most unknown and inaccessible park in NYC. It’s only use at the moment is a dog run. The structure is an old garbage transfer station, and the sculpture on top of it was designed/installed in 1995 by Alice Aycock. The NYC parks department has a bit more info about it. I love the structure.
Ever since I shot the pano in April, I was unhappy about it (the second one), and decided to reshoot it (the first one), with more coverage to the left, and a bit more resolution.
About 400 megapixel.
The lights and colors of this area were really attractive. I did try this panorama last week, but my memory card died on me, so I had to reshoot, and fortunately it turned out much better. The waiters of both restaurants were a bit curious to see what I was up to, but didn’t say anything. The moon over the Statue of Liberty was just a quick 7 panel panorama, nothing special, but I left the orange/yellow sky over New jersey as it really was. The moon was dark yellow, about 4 year old Gauda cheese. I did dial the orange down in the first/large panorama, because it was just a bit too much.
Digital, about 650 megapixel.
The 125th birthday celebration were in full swing with a light show on the bridge. I went back to the same spot where I shot the “two Bridges” panorama from, only this time I used the 85mm lens. I personally found the light show quite cheesy and garish, but I guess it attracted tourists.
I reshot the marina since last December, since I wanted to get some more of the boats and the water reflections in there.
Digital, about 600 megapixel.
South Street Seaport is an interesting mix between museum, tourist attraction and shopping and food mall. It’s one of those places where old New York meets new New York.
About 460 megapixel.
Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge: since so many people really liked this panorama, I decided to reshoot it much larger, and this is the new and improved version that will soon find its way into the portfolio with the usual size of 243x76cm (96x30in).
Digital, about 400 megapixel.
Riverside Park South is nearly finished, it just needs some small touch-up, and it’s actually quite nice, and very inviting for sightseeing, walking and biking. I like the fact that they left some artifacts of the old piers in the water, especially the old railroad barge transfer facility. I was also surprised to see so many people there at night, despite the signs that the park is closing at 11pm. Why the park is closing, I do not understand. Afterall, it’s a major throughway for bicycles. After I was finished with those two panoramas I moved on to the next location, the 72nd Street Ballpark and was promptly harassed by at least four cops in two vans, stating that I was doing something suspicious (photographing), and that I was trespassing. I was of course the only one that they harassed, all the others in the park that I saw were left alone. This encounter was way different than the Triboro bridge encounter, where the cops were just bored, but professional and somewhat friendly, while those four were clearly just out of line. So I will take the last panorama at the Ballpark as soon as the weather is OK again, before 11pm, so they can’t piss me off again.
About 250 megapixel.
Roosevelt Island has a great view of Manhattan, especially the upper east side.
About 250 megapixel.
Now that winter seems to be over in NY, and the trees almost start blooming, I went back into the park. The Pond surrounds a small animal sanctuary, and without leaves on the trees, the reflections on the water are pretty calm.
About 330 megapixel.
This panorama was originally a custom shot for a client in Florida. He needed a panorama of NY with a 5:1 aspect ratio and more than 1 gigapixel resolution. It turned out not to be fruitful at all. The extreme wide aspect ratio prevents me from taking it into my fine art portfolio, but maybe it has a future in stock photography. So, if you like to license it, contact me.
I went back to the Brooklyn Bridge to take another panorama, this time only a 200 degree panorama, with nothing but water in the foreground and all the focus on the bridge and a quite nice moon. It’s stitched from 50 tiles.
About 280 megapixel.
Walking around in Manhattan is inspiring. You stumble over locations that are interesting, but yet deserted. South Street seaport, teaming with tourists during the day had only 2 employees there at night, and a bunch of teenagers partying.
About 280 megapixel.
Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridge are probably on every NY tourist photo. It’s just a bit tough to get them both in the same picture.
Digital, about 95 megapixel.
It is amazing what kind of friendly people live in NYC. You meet them at a party, chat with them, ask them nicely, and they let you up their roof. Thank you Sasha&Ruth. Unfortunately, the wind was too strong and I am not happy with the results, so I have to retake it another night.
Digital, about 400 megapixel.
Thom Sokolosky and his team created the second encampment, basically a gigantic outdoor group art show for local artists. Each artist is assigned a tent, which are similar to those from the civil war and lit up with a small light source. The reception was phenomenal, I think over 10000 people visited the encampment over the course of the weekend (it was open until 1am each night). An of course, Manhattan looks great from Roosevelt Island, and I liked the opportunity to finally take some panoramas from that location, since the park usually closes at sunset.
5 more panoramas after the break.
Digital, each about 50 megapixel.
I assume every tourist has seen the Pepsi Cola sign across from the UN, but always wondered how to get there. Well, you sort of can’t, but it’s just a matter of just going there. I like this one a lot, even if the visual information content is not very high. But it has a lot of ompf.
Digital, about 500 megapixel.
NY has hundreds of bridges, not just the five that everybody knows. You can see five of them from Rainey Park in Astoria: Queensboro Bridge, Roosevelt Island Bridge, Triboro and Hellsgate, and a small pedestrian bridge going from Manhattan to Wards Island. I had to wait a couple of days for the rain to stop to take that panorama. Rainey Park closes after 9pm, and all the gates stay open. Three police cars drove into the park, and came up to me and asked me what I was doing, that the park is closed, that I’m not supposed to be here, that I could be a terrorist, that it’s dangerous in parks alone at night, that I could get a summons, yadayadayada… fortunately they were all kind enough to leave me alone after a brief chat.
Digital, about 350 megapixel.
John was so kind to let me out on the terrace to shoot a panorama. I took the opportunity to shoot a small one while the sun was setting, and a big one after it was completely “dark,” or at least as dark as it ever gets in NY.
Digital, about 100 and 330 megapixel.
Astoria Park is right around the corner. It has a nice running track, but is otherwise not the nicest park. The fact that the Triboro Bridge is under renovation doesn’t really help. Close up it’s still an ugly bridge. The Hells Gate Bridge has much more class, although it could use a bucket or two of that hells-gate-red. But, over on Astoria Blvd, a block east of the world manor, is the best Gyros NYC is to offer. And as far as day panoramas are concerned, I think I stick with the night panoramas…
Digital, about 100 megapixel.
The lake in Central Park is simply called The Lake. Going to the Hearnshead at midnight was a bit scary, whoever you meet at that time is either scared of you, or you should be scared of them. Shooting on the streets of New York at night is no issue for me, but the Park is another story. I asked Peter, a good friend from Germany visiting NY that week, to join me, just in case. He was totally excited to go to the Park at night, saying that this is exactly what every tourist guide tells you not to do.
Not a single turtle in the turtle pond near the castle in Central Park, but sleeping ducks, and two racoons in the bushes.
Digital, about 26000x7000px.
