Capturing the Best of NYC – Workshop Recap!

The Iconic Locations We Visited

Little Island – This creative spot used to be an old pier, and now it's a fun park where families enjoy events and live music. For photographers, the best approach is shooting from a distance to frame the unique architecture against the NYC or New Jersey skyline.

Central Park always delivers, and we made the most of the early morning light around Bethesda Fountain and Bow Bridge. There's something special about having these famous spots mostly to ourselves before the city wakes up.

The Vessel was so much fun to photograph! We shot it from every angle imaginable. The tight shots reminded us of an M.C. Escher drawing.

Manhattanhenge was absolutely packed! Only the tallest folks in our group could get their cameras above the crowds, but the rest of us still captured this amazing phenomenon right on 42nd Street near Times Square. Traffic was crazy, but everyone came away with some fun images.

Brooklyn Bridge at sunrise – We had to get up pretty early for this one, but it was worth it. We caught the bridge during that beautiful blue hour, then explored different angles by shooting it from below too.

Manhattan skyline from Brooklyn – We spent a late afternoon through twilight photographing the skyline. The changing light kept giving us new opportunities for different shots.

We wrapped up at the World Trade Center and the stunning Oculus building.

Photo Techniques Used

• Blue Hour/Night Photography – Shooting when the city lights come on creates some really magical images
• Exposure Bracketing – This technique helped us capture scenes where both the bright sky and darker buildings were well exposed
• Neutral Density (ND) Filters – These allowed us to do long exposures to smooth out the rivers framing the city.
• Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) – Moving the camera deliberately for some creative, artistic shots
• Panning – Following cyclists in Central Park was a blast and created some dynamic motion shots

NYC offers something for every photographer – from incredible architecture to peaceful park scenes – and it was such a pleasure experiencing it with a great group of photographers!

Enjoy some shots of the group on our NYC Student Showcase but check back as we post the students photos soon!