Throg's Neck Throwback Thursday

GWB Sunset
Canon 60D, EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6, f/16, 1/200s, 400ISO, 135mm

Just a couple of photographs of the Throg's Neck Bridge, the newest of the East River crossings. Shot from Little Bay Park in Bayside, Queens in June of 2013.

Throg's Neck HDR
Canon 60D, EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6, f/16, 6s, 100ISO, 33mm

Wide Angle Wednesday HDR

CityScape Vanishingpoint
Canon 60D, Tokina Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/250sec, 200ISO, 11mm

This photo was taken from a pedestrian overpass over Central Avenue in Downtown Phoenix. Central Avenue had been blocked off for City Skate, a small ice skating rink (the skate rental tent is visible in the lower third of this photo).  

When I loaded my photos on my computer, this shot was giving me a hard time, as the shadows were still too dark or the highlights were too bright. So I decided to make an HDR photo from this single shot, creating two additional copies of the file in Lightroom, with the same settings except for overall exposure of either + or - 1.5EV from the original. I used the Photomatrix plugin with Lightroom, and this final image was created. 

Here's a shot of the rink, just cause.

CitySkate
Canon 60D, Tokina Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/500sec, 200ISO, 11mm

 

Wide Angle One World Observatory

My job has its perks as I've said in the past. We recently were approved to work in the One World Observatory private event space, which is located on the 102nd floor of the Freedom Tower. So of course I was excited to take any chance to go up there. My first visit was for a site survey, and it was an overcast day. The second time I went up in December, it was also an overcast day. But finally, last week, I was able to go up on a clear day. And when you are that high up, you can see for miles. 

Uptown
Canon 60D, Tokina Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/200sec, 320ISO, 15mm

The above photo is looking uptown from the north side of the building. The Hudson River is on the left, the East River on the right. The two tall buildings are the Empire State Building in the center, and to the right of it 432 Park Avenue, which will only be slightly shorter than 1WTC.  

Southward Gaze
Canon 60D, Tokina Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/40sec, 400ISO, 11mm

Looking south, you can see Brooklyn, from the Heights to Red Hook, and Coney Island. The large island is Governor's Island. The Verrazano–Narrows Bridge is barely visible, and if the lens was a little wider, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty would be just a bit to the right. 

Looking down at the World Trade Center Site
Canon 60D, Tokina Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8, f/5, 1/50sec, 640ISO, 11mm

It is hard to capture the detail you can see up there. The reflections on the glass also present a challenge.  You can see some of the reflections in the third photo, but I was trying to capture the openness and crammed in feeling of the buildings below. I tried using my black coat to block reflections with limited success. 

Going up?
Canon 60D, Tokina Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8, f/4, 1/40sec, 16000ISO, 11mm

 There are a couple of things that fascinate me about the building. The first is the first 187', the area you see lit in green above, is the concrete base. No offices are located in that area, and no windows except at the four entrances, one of which you see above. The second is how much of the building's core is consumed with the support facilities, lots of elevators.

Wide Angle Wednesday, Downtown Phoenix

My family and I spent two weeks in sunny Phoenix, Arizona over the holidays. The ironic thing was the weather was colder in Phoenix than it was in New York City over the course of my vacation. 

My father-in-law came out to spend the holidays with my family, so one day we went to downtown Phoenix so I could show him my hometown city. These are just a few of the photos I took that day. It was interesting to see how much has changed there.

Hotel San Carlos
Canon 60D, Tokina Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/250sec, 200ISO, 11mm

The Hotel San Carlos open in 1928, which is ancient in Phoenician terms. I believe it was the first in Phoenix to feature air conditioning. I've always loved the fact that there was a pool on the rooftop.

Chase Tower
Canon 60D, Tokina Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/250sec, 200ISO, 11mm

Chase Tower is Phoenix's tallest building, it also happens to be Arizona's tallest building. Formally known as Valley Center (Valley National Bank), then Bank One Center, it was built in 1972 to a height of 40 stories, though the top occupied floor is 38. Having lived in NYC, 40 stories just seems so low, but these buildings still make one feel small.

Phoenix City Hall
Canon 60D, Tokina Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/500sec, 200ISO, 11mm

Phoenix City Hall was completed in 1994. It tops out at 20 stories tall.