Hints and tips in New York

[pixelpixel]

Hello,

Yes another Hints and tips this time for New York. In a few weeks I will be in New York and was looking some tips for nice places to see and also to photograph. When I was in London recently I found myself taking various pictures of the same thing on the same spot. This was fine to me but not the other half.

Any pointers for places that will keep my gf happy while I as she says 'fart about' with the camera.

[electrolyte]

NYC is heaven for photographers. And it is also heaven for female shoppers. So what I'd recommend is let your Mrs go shopping for a few hours while you snap. Places I'd recommend are:

- Top of Empire State Building (pre-book your tickets online to avoid the queue to buy them - unfortunately you still have to queue for the lift)

- Grand Central Station

- Brooklyn Bridge - takes about 20 mins to walk across and then go down to the waters edge in Brooklyn for a fantastic view of Manhattan

- Boat trip to Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty - great history trip in Ellis Island and great view of the Lady Liberty afterwards

- Staten Island Ferry - it is free and you get great views of Manhattan on the way back

- Liberty Park in New Jersey - it is a subway and train journey away from Manhattan but worth it as the views of Manhattan are amazing. Go there at night with your tripod and you'll get fantastic night shots of the skyscrapers all lit up

- Take a helicopter ride over Manhattan, Ellis Island and statue of liberty. All I can say is "wow" - pricey, but well worth it. We went during the day and the shots I managed to take were great. I imagine the view at night is better but taking good shots while the copter is moving would be difficult I'd imagine

Most of the above could be sold to your Mrs I reckon as there would be enough for her to see while you were taking snaps. If not send her to Macy's etc. I'd also recommend the B&H camera superstore and J&R for camera stuff and general AV products. Don't go into any of the camera shop around Times Square, they will try to rip you off.

[electrolyte]

Oh also forgot - some of my best shots were taken from my hotel room. I stayed at the Affinia Dumont on E34th St. I had a fantastic view of the Chrysler Building (possibly the most beautiful building in the world IMO) plus lots of other 'scrapers. See here for photos from my NYC trip: http://www.pbase.com/electrolyte/new_york_2006

[pixelpixel]

Originally Posted by electrolyte

Oh also forgot - some of my best shots were taken from my hotel room. I stayed at the Affinia Dumont on E34th St. I had a fantastic view of the Chrysler Building (possibly the most beautiful building in the world IMO) plus lots of other 'scrapers. See here for photos from my NYC trip: http://www.pbase.com/electrolyte/new_york_2006

electrolyte I have seen your photos before. I even have them bookmarked and have show the other half.! I will pre-book the Empire State Building and I was stung on the London Eye recently and that took up most of our day in London.

[Cadire]

For some (sometimes bizarre) people pictures, head over to Central Park on a weekend. I think you could make a documentary about the weird and wonderful people there. There's also some nice vantage points in some of the higher structures that give a good view of the park itself (which is huge) and the surrounding buildings.

Although it's very safe in the park, in the daytime, don't hang around for any night shots

If you want to take some bridge pictures, start at the George Washington Bridge and work south, some amazing structures there.

[electrolyte]

Originally Posted by pixelpixel

electrolyte I have seen your photos before. I even have them bookmarked and have show the other half.! I will pre-book the Empire State Building and I was stung on the London Eye recently and that took up most of our day in London.

Wow, thanks for book-marking my shots. I'm honoured.

I went to NYC in March - outside of peak tourist season. Not sure when you are going but you might be the same. So to our great suprise, the ESB was pretty quiet. I had heard that you can queue for up to one hour to buy the tickets, one hour to get on the 1st lift up to the 80th floor and another hour for the second lift to take you to the top. However when we went we only queued for about 10 mins for the 1st lift and 5 mins for the second. Hope it is the same for you...

Another good tip is that when you pre-book your tickets there isn't a set time or date when you have to use them. they are valid for a week I think so that means you can look at the weather forcast and choose a clear day to go up.

[pixelpixel]

I am in New York on the 2nd November. So will give it a go. The other half wants to go and see a play. That will also give me the chance to see time square. woo hoo! Has anyone got any tips about the guggenheim museum should I go or is it a miss? Plus is there anything I cant take a picture off ?

[electrolyte]

Originally Posted by pixelpixel

Has anyone got any tips about the guggenheim museum should I go or is it a miss? Plus is there anything I cant take a picture off ?

I'm afraid I didn't visit any of NYC's museums so can't help. I wanted to go to some but we just ran out of time. We were there for 6 days and still didn't have enough time to see everything!

[grantsteve]

NY is a great place for photographs ... most of the best places have been mentioned already, but make sure you take a trip to Wall Street and surroundings (you'll probably end up there if you go to see Ground Zero). Its great for candid people shots and there is some nice (older) architecture round there too.

Carry your camera everywhere! There is always something worth shooting in NY.

See a (very) small selection of my NY shots HERE

... the shot of SJP was a complete fluke as I happened to have my camera on me whilst shopping. EDIT: I'm sure there is one of the Guggenheim too. Its worth a visit.

I'd like to go back now that I have a DSLR and my shots are starting to get a bit better.

[pixelpixel]

Originally Posted by grantsteve

I'm sure there is one of the Guggenheim too. Its worth a visit.

Nice pic of the Guggenheim. I have been to the gallery in Bilbo. Back in the days before digital cameras and before I even had a camera!

[gringottsdirect]

OK going up the ESB is one of those things you have to do but if it was me then Top Of The Rock offers better views of Central Park and of course the view towards lower Manhattan includes the Empire State.
The elevator is a blast plus there are usually no queues.

www.topoftherocknyc.com

[nabby]

Originally Posted by gringottsdirect

OK going up the ESB is one of those things you have to do but if it was me then Top Of The Rock offers better views of Central Park and of course the view towards lower Manhattan includes the Empire State.
The elevator is a blast plus there are usually no queues.

www.topoftherocknyc.com

Agree completely with this.

I was in NYC about 4 weeks back and having done the ESB previously on numerous occasions, I though the Rockerfeller Centre would be a nice change.

It is way, way better. Just be wary of the direction of the sun. The day we went it was very bright and the sun was shining from the southeast so was into the lens for shots of the ESB and downtown Manhattan. Of course, this meant great conditions for shots of Central Park and uptown...

Also, at the bottom of the Rockerfeller Center, on 5th Avenue, there's an art installation by Anish Kapur (I think) of a giant concave mirror called the Sky Mirror (or something like that). Very impressive and you can get some nice shots of it.

Ellis Island is worth a trip if you have time, also consider the Circle Line boat tour round Manhattan Island, if it's running when you go.

And don't forget to go to Grand Central Station (and definitely don't forget to look up at the ceiling in the main hall!) - take a tripod if necessary...