There was this nice spot near the guardhouse where I always wanted to shoot City Hall. The thing is, I don’t think it’s allowed.. or so I thought.
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Category: Architecture
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Eastern State Penitentiary
Eastern State Penitentiary is a former state prison in the United States. It is located on Fairmount Avenue between 21st and 22nd Streets in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 5 blocks north of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
It was significant architecturally, influencing the design of 250 other prisons, and is a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
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Cathedral Basilica
After my recent trip to Philly, I now have this impression that it’s full of homeless people. The whole day, I’ve had around 8 guys who approached me asking for spare change. There was also this guy named “Spoon”, who offered me a “free” tour around City Hall. Not wanting to be rude, I went along. I admit though that he knew what he was talking about. I learned a lot during the 5-10 minute walk.
What we have here is the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. Read more about it here.
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Philly Hall
Today, I decided to venture out of the confines of NY. Disregarding the predicted dismal weather, I chose a place that’s accessible by public transportation & isn’t too vast that I’d need a vehicle (assuming I could drive one. lol). I went to the city of Philadelphia also known as the “City of Brotherly Love”. Below is the route I took while walking around the city. >=D
Shown here is the Philadelphia City Hall with One Liberty Place at the right side. The City Hall is the world’s tallest masonry building. Read more about it after the jump.
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Daguerreotyped
Taken on location at our weekly meetup.
The decision to render it this way was probably because I was watching Headbanger’s Ball reruns. 😀 \m/
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Time Warner
What do you do when you get out at the office at 6PM & notice that the sun is still high up in the sky. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?! Exactly.. SHOOT some stuff!!
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Going to Church
This is the LA Cathedral. I’m off to attend my cousin’s wedding. From the I-20 & surrounding streets, this structure doesn’t look impressive at all, but once inside, you get to see & feel the vastness of the complex. Here are some facts & numbers:
- Designed by Spanish Pritzker Prize architect Rafael Moneo.
- Features a series of acute and obtuse angles. There is an absence of right angles.
- Designed with protections from future earthquake structural damage. Every detail of construction was specified to last approximately five hundred years.
- The site of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is 5.6 acres (23,000 m²) bound by Temple Street, Grand Avenue, Hill Street and the Hollywood Freeway.
- The 12-story high building can accommodate 3,000+ worshippers.
- The site includes the cathedral proper, a 2.5 acre (10,000 m²) plaza, several gardens and waterfalls, the Cathedral Center (with the gift shop, the Galero Grill, conference center, and cathedral parish offices), and the cathedral rectory, the residence of Roger Mahony. The entire complex is 58,000 square feet (5,000 m²).
- The main sanctuary is 333 feet (100 m) long (purposely one foot longer than St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York).
- This is where Lea Salonga got married. 😉
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Nice View
Toting a camera most of the time makes you more aware of your surroundings. Like this one, taken while waiting on the lobby of a midtown building.
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Eiffel?
Thanks to the equinox, I got to visit Manhattan Bridge again. I didn’t even reach the halfway point, it was a bit breezy the time I got there so I settled for this “Eiffel-like” shot.
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Empire
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Exit Strategy
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Twin Bridges
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Manhattan Bridge
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Raoul Wallenberg Monument
detective 1988-1993
new york police department
rookie of the year
awarded by staten island
community board #1, 1987
medal of honor
awarded for extraordinary
bravery by nypd, 1995
killed in the line of duty
in the war against narcotics
on march 10, 1993
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Roadkill
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100UN
We went out for lunch and bypassed the usual route we normally take to “forage” for food. We ended up farther than usual and had a leisurely – albeit freezing – walk back to the office. Overshadowed by Trump World Tower, here’s a unique structure called 100 United Nations Plaza Tower. Info from Emporis
– This black and brown-clad building rises vertically to the upper floors, where its north and south facades taper shaply to form a top wedge.
– To break away even further from the customary, there are balconies protruding as horizontal “ribs”, going around the corners of the building — also on the lower portion of the tapering top — as well as bulging from the mid-facade.
– On the east side of the building, there is a lush plaza with a fountain.
– Entrance to 100 United Nations Plaza is through a garden plaza dramatically landscaped with handsome fountains.
– Very prominent on the East Side skyline in Midtown until overshadowed by Trump World Tower, completed in 2001.
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Turrets
Ate quite a lot this lunch and since it’s such a fine day, decided to walk around the back alleys of Gotham. Here’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral as viewed from the Villard House.
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Flatiron
I found myself agape, admiring a skyscraper — the prow of the Flatiron Building, to be particular, ploughing up through the traffic of Broadway and Fifth Avenue in the late-afternoon light. – H.G. Wells (1906)
My sentiments exactly.
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Blackwell
Today’s expedition brought me to a lighthouse at Roosevelt Island’s northern tip. Here’s a brief history of the lighthouse I got from lighthousefriends.com:
This 50-foot-tall, gray gneiss, Gothic-style lighthouse was built in 1872. It is not an official Coast Guard lighthouse, but it was commissioned by the city. The lighthouse’s purpose was to “effectually light†the nearby New York City Insane Asylum for boats navigating the treacherous Hell Gate waters. It was designed by architect James Renwick, Jr., whose other works include Smallpox Hospital and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Inmate labor was probably used in the city-run project, but to elaborate much on its construction is to explore legend.
The legendary mysteries are the names of Asylum inmate(s?) John McCarthy and Thomas Maxey and whether these two names refer to one person, two people or even existent people. Supposedly, before the lighthouse was built, McCarthy (or Maxey), fearing a British invasion, was constructing a four-foot-high clay fort on this site. Asylum officials let him finish the fort because, during his adrenaline-rushed work, he reclaimed significant areas of marsh. (They even gave him old Civil War cannons as encouragement.) When the city wanted to build the Lighthouse, officials bribed or persuaded McCarthy either to give up or to demolish the fort.
Whether McCarthy complied or not is the choice of the storyteller, but the fort did come down. Then, supposedly, another Asylum patient was summoned to build the Lighthouse. This inmate styled himself “Thomas Maxey, Esq., architect, mason, carpenter, civil engineer, philosopher, and philanthropist.†The lighthouse was built, though adherence to Renwick’s blueprint is questionable. Despite Thomas Maxey’s supposed labor, John McCarthy’s name was credited on a plaque that remained at the Lighthouse’s base until its mysterious disappearance in the 1960s:
This work
was done by
John McCarty
who built the light
house from the bottom to the
top all ye who do pass by may
pray for his soul when he dies.The Lighthouse was decommissioned in the 1940s, designated a city landmark in 1975, and partially restored the following year. In 1998 an anonymous grant of $120,000 funded complete restoration (including internal lamps).
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Show’s Over
This was taken a few hours ago at the East River Park. My face’s still kinda numb. I guess this is what botox feels. lol. I’m too lazy, here’s a clip from Wikipedia.
East River Park, part of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, is a public park located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The park stretches along the East River from Montgomery Street up to 12th Street. The southern entrance boasts good views of the Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge. The amphitheater, built in 1941 just south of Grand Street, has been reconstructed and is often used for public performances. The park includes football, baseball and soccer fields, tennis, basketball and handball courts, a running track and bike paths including the East River Greenway. Fishing is another popular activity. The park is bisected by the Williamsburg Bridge.
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Brooklyn Brownstone
I guess it’s a rare opportunity to chance upon clear & blue skies this winter. And when it comes, you’ve got to mash that shutter like crazy. It’s been overcast for a few days now & it’s a good thing I’ve a few shots of Brooklyn Heights from last Sunday.
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Ash Wednesday
A woman approached me this morning while getting off the bus and asked me what was the purpose of the black smudge on my forehead. So, the indoctrination from my catholic school education kicked into gear and I explained to her briefly what Ash Wednesday was. Her puzzled expression eventually cleared up and she told me, “Oh, I thought it was some Pakistani ritual or something like that..”
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Eyes to the Sky
Strolling around the financial district amidst the canyons of concrete, one couldn’t help but feel amazed and stand rapt in awe. This is me gazing up from the middle of One Chase Manhattan Plaza.
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Higop
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Cloverfield
Cold days like this make you want to cower in the warmth of your bed or in our case, surf movies in our local theater. We were planning to watch Cloverfield but got tickets for Mad Money instead to qualify for the “early bird” rate (yeah, we’re cheapskates). It was a good thing that the former didn’t go first, lest we suffered dizziness & headaches throughout the day – my temples are still throbbing while writing this. I mean, really, it was a poor judgement on our part not to read about the movie before hand. Honestly, it was crap. The remedy for our headache may have been the next movie, Meet the Spartans, which was totally hilarious. I highly recommend this.
The nightscape pano above was taken at DUMBO last December. On the movie Cloverfield, they obliterated the Brooklyn Bridge. Watching a monster rampage around Manhattan feels kind of weird because the setting is so familiar. It makes you wonder what to do if you were in their (the characters) place. It still doesn’t change the fact that the “shaky camera” style sucked big time.
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Tudor
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Pipes
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Brooklyn’s Eiffel Tower
Today’s travels brought me back to Coney Island. I’ve always wanted to get a shot of the sunset with no crowd so now was the best time. The weather was crisp & clear but the only thing going against me was the freezing temperature. Properly layered clothing nearly eliminated that issue. Since I got there a bit early and the sun was still up, I just walked around aimlessly, looking for a nice scene to shoot. What surprised me was in spite of the bitter temps, there were still a handful of people there doing their thing. Strolling along the boardwalk, jogging, fishing, tourists (like me) taking pictures and there were also 2 photogs stalking the sunset. (both had “L-type” lenses..) I’ll be posting those sunset shots in later posts. Today’s shot is taken from the west end of West 8 subway station. This is the Parachute Jump which was originally an amusement park ride where you get hoisted up 190 feet into the air and dropped down using guy-wired parachutes. It was opened in the 1939 New York World’s Fair & has since been closed on 1968.
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Fork
Before arriving here, I’ve read a bit about the city and it’s said to be very diverse. A great way to experience this feeling is when you get off at an unfamiliar subway station. I feel that each station in every borough feels different, from the surroundings, the culture, the people.. etc. Well, I got that feeling again when I got out of the Wall St. station today. I’ve been planning to go there for a while now but I also have been putting it off. I was supposed to go after the downtown skyscrapers but when I saw the ominous tower of Trinity Church and the graveyard, I stayed put & spent 3-4 hours circling the area. It was a bit early so there weren’t that many people around. That, and the frigid climate worked well to keep most of the tourists away, as noticed on the photo above which was pretty much desolate.
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Snaky Road
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Toho
Well, after about a week long hiatus I’m back again. I’ll just be doing the usual retro posting of the previous days I’ve missed.
Here’s a lighthouse overlooking Lake Tohopekaliga (Lake Toho, West Lake or Toho for short) near Kissimmee Park in Osceola county.
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Regurgitating Steel
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Soldiers & Sailors
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Steel Embrace
What visit to NY wouldn’t be complete without visiting or gazing at the Brooklyn Bridge? It’s just so pretty to look at. It’s like a gothic eye candy. lol. This bridge is one of the oldest steel suspension bridge and used to hold the record for being the longest. The seeming mediocrity of this shot is spawned from thousands of shots taken at this spot. (Manhattan side) Try googling it and you’ll see what I mean. Basically everyone who has been here with a camera shoots the exact same thing.
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St. Paul’s Chapel
Why so somber a photo for today? Did my day suck? Of course not.. Was the weather bad? Not really, not if 55°F on a winter day makes you feel bad. Nah, nothing horrible happened. I just felt like posting this one for today. A gloomy photo to complement this fine day I had. What happened? Nothing major.. I was just part of the live audience today at a David Letterman taping. Woohoo!!!
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Ford
New York’s best building of the 1960s, the Ford Foundation Building was built for the country’s largest philanthropic organization. Supported by an exposed steel structure, the building takes the form of a glass box enclosing an interior atrium which rises the full height of the building to a skylight. Offices are located around this central court with a view into the atrium garden which also serves as a public space. The layout of buildings around atrium spaces or winter gardens would later become popularized in the shopping mall and numerous skyscrapers of the 1980s.
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The Alley
Wherever I May Roam. That’s a Metallica song that I dig. It’s today’s topic. The itch to shoot definitely pushes you to wander around or you’ll end up shooting the same thing over and over again. A good comfortable shoe is a must for the habitual stroll around the city. Explore corners unfamiliar to you. Experiment. Who knows what you might see. The street you’re traversing might be boring as hell but turn a corner, climb a flight of stairs and boom! Just be careful you don’t get mugged. Keep a pepper spray just to be cautious. hehe..
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Woolworth
There’s nothing worth watching on the boob tube now especially since all the writers are still on strike. Haven’t watched Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert for quite a while. But they’ll be coming back next week! Goody.. Some late night talk show hosts got back on air this week too. And to top of the new year, I got tickets to see David Letterman! Sa-weeet!!
My recent wanderings brought me downtown to City Hall, this is the Woolworth Building. Neo-Gothic, Art Deco building constructed by Cass Gilbert from 1911-1913. It was the tallest building in the world for 17 years until the construction of 40 Wall Street. Read more about it.
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Launch Pad
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Brick-a-brac
Ahh.. fisheye.. this is fun.. For a full-frame glass, it still looks good on a crop sensor.. lol.
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Break of Dawn
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Coney Island Subway
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BP Grill & Cafe
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Brooklyn Bridge
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Layers
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Norway spruce
This year’s tree is an 85-foot Norway spruce from the Shelton, Connecticut yard of Joseph and Judith Riunyaks, according to Connecticut Post.
The tree is topped by a 9.5-foot, 550-pound Swarovski Star with more then 25,000 crystals and 1 million facets — the largest ever for a Rock Center tree.
The November 28 tree-lighting ceremony, is scheduled to air live on NBC from 7 to 9 p.m. and is open to anyone in the public willing to brave the crowds and the traffic to take in the celebrity-studded show. Ahem, that would be us.
The tree will stay in the plaza until January 8, lit daily from 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.; all day on Christmas and 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.
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Portal
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Manhattan Pano
I again recently got to test how steady my grip was. A single shot just wouldn’t cut it so I just stitched 4-5 not-so-sharp exposures in a pano to minimize the blur. 🙂
- Shot hand held on the “Rock” with only the ledge to steady my grip. (I guess tripods aren’t allowed, except for the “official photographer” who’ll sell you a shot for a not so reasonable price.)
- Freezing winds buffeted my gloveless hands.
- The widest I could go was 3.5
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Light Speed
Have you been to Top of the Rock? If you do, you’ll know what this is. This is what you see while waiting in line to buy the tickets.
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Westin
This is the Westin in Times Square, the striking colors are brought about by multicolored glass skin contrastingly striped to evoke the movement of traffic on uptown and crosstown streets.