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Midtown Blue Hour | by Rob Kroenert
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Midtown Blue Hour

I live in San Francisco, so New York City is a long way to go for a one-hour meeting. But what a great city to visit, even just for a quick work trip.

 

My meeting was Monday morning, which meant I needed to fly on Sunday. I left really early with the idea of getting to the city in time for blue hour photos. My hotel was close to the Empire State Building, so after dropping off my bag I headed right up to the observation deck on the 86th floor and made it there well before sunset.

 

Taking low-light shots from the Empire State Building’s observation deck is a little tricky. There are big crowds to deal with, of course, but the main problem is that tripods are prohibited. I tried some high-ISO handheld shots until it got pretty dark, then I switched to a variety of MacGyver-esque balancing acts that involved resting the camera on various ledges and awkwardly propping it into position with whatever miscellaneous objects I happened to have in my pockets. Turns out you can do a lot with a lens cap, an iPod, and a paperback book.

 

This is the view looking north, with the Chrysler Building on the far right.

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Taken on March 7, 2010