Manhattan Bridge | Brooklyn Wedding Photographer | Lindsay Taryn Photography

Top of the Rock & the Brooklyn Bridge at night

As is most likely gleaned from previous blog posts and pictures taken, I am a sucker for all things NYC. I love immersing myself in this city and sharing my excitement for it with other people. So when Isaac Lane Koval came into town and invited me to check out the Top of the Rock with him, I instantly agreed. It was my first time meeting him in person, but I’m a big fan of his and have been following him online for the past year+. I consider him to be one of my photographic inspirations, as he’s so insanely talented. So it was great to finally meet him. I always love seeing how other photographers work in the field – I think it adds more meaning to their work when I see it because now I know a bit about how it came to form.

Despite the fact that it was my 5th time on Top of the Rock (well, technically 4th; 1 of these trips was actually up the Empire State Building), I had a blast up there. I don’t care how cliche it is, I just can never get sick of the fantastic views of the NYC skyline. It’s gorgeous, and I don’t take it for granted. It was also freakin’ FREEZING up there, especially after sunset. We were literally there for about 2.5 hours and saw the city bathed in late afternoon light, followed by sunset and dusk. Being my zillionth visit, I took the liberty of introducing my 70-200mm lens to the view for the first time. Unfortunately I forgot the big lens needed a tripod collar, so my low-light shots were done semi-handheld (drats!). What I did was I rested my camera on my wrist (which was lying flat on the ledge), and tilted the lens downward toward the city, and tried to hold still. All things considered, I did a pretty decent job with it.

Once we were too cold to function up there anymore, we went back down and got some dinner. I’m not sure how it’s possible that Isaac had never experienced proper NYC pizza when he lived here in ’08, but I felt like I had to remedy this by taking him to Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn. I’ve only been there twice myself, but that’s mostly because it’s always so crowded there. But this time it was the strangest thing – we got seated instantly, at probably the best table there – AND, our pizza was served in no time at all! Crazy! We pretty much devoured the pizza and thawed out before going back outside to photograph the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges after dark. Again, it’s a view I’ve photographed the heck out of for the past two years, but I’m still in love with it. There’s just something magical about it…

Manhattan Bridge during golden hour

It’s no secret that I have a (slight) obsession with bridges. I have a really hard time NOT traversing or passing below one if I’m remotely nearby; it’s like some magnetic force draws me toward it before I can even make a conscious decision to approach or not.

However, today I DID consciously decide to bike to the Brooklyn Bridge. But, true to fashion, I ended up dismounting my bike at the Manhattan Bridge and spending a few hours entranced by it. I didn’t make it to the Brooklyn Bridge a mere 5 minutes’ walk away, nor did I actually go *on* the bridge. Just walking around and under it was enough for me today. I snapped photos from every which angle, then sat for awhile and waited to the sun to go down. It was an absolutely gorgeous day for the end of November, sunny and comfortable, with an excess of people in the park. And oh, how I love the golden hour where everything seems to glow just perfectly.

I’m also fond of the time just after sunset, where the sky is a bright blue before it gets completely dark. I think my camera is, too. I ended up tonemapping most of my images from the day, not quite to the point of them being too unrealistic (I think/hope?). The one real HDR shot is more saturated than the rest, though :)

A glorious spring day in Dumbo

The roomies and I spent the afternoon in Dumbo, starting with a jaunt around the indoor flea market (where I bought a blue pendant necklace and sampled some cheese, fudge, and coffee), a quick stop for chocolate at Jacques Torres (chocolate-covered cornflakes and coconut clusters!), and then some relaxation in the park down between the Brooklyn & Manhattan bridges (hula hooping!).

All shot with the 5d2 & 135L.

Springtime in Union Square; wind across the bridge

I very rarely get to start my workday in the Manhattan office, so today I took full advantage of the location and the sun and took my lunch break in Union Square. After work, Fal and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge hoping to get some nice sunset/dusk shots, but unfortunately it was far too windy to get many sharp photos.

All shot with the 5d2 & 135L (last 2 with 85/1.8).

September 11, 2008

On 9/11/08, I went down to Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park to admire the Tribute in Light over the Manhattan skyline. As an added bonus, I also got to see some of the waterfall installations along the river. At any rate, photographing NYC’s bridges is a tireless hobby of mine, especially at night. It just never gets old!

The last two shots are HDRs created with Photomatix.