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.