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Tag: New York City

April 27, 2025

Here’s a Great Place to Snap a Photo of Manhattan’s Iconic Skyline at Sunset

A stunning view of the New York City skyline at sunset, with vibrant orange and blue hues in the sky, casting a warm glow over the city. The image captures the silhouette of skyscrapers and rooftops in the foreground.
You can frame a cool photo of New York City right from your seat on Amtrak. If your train is traveling at sunset, just look out your window. It’s a spectacular view. Here’s how to optimize that photographic opportunity.

It’s hard to miss this famous skyline as your Amtrak train nears or leaves the Big Apple. And sunset is a particularly special time. So, it warrants trying to take a photo or two…

The weather conditions have to be right. Plus, there’s only a six-minute stretch when the train is close enough and oriented correctly with its windows directly facing the east side of Manhattan. 

The Best Views of New York City
Then, take out your smartphone. Press it as close to the window as possible to avoid reflections from the inside of the train. (The fact that your phone’s lens effectively lies flat with the phone’s body will protect it from accidental bumps into the glass due to your train’s jerky movements.)

And then start snapping away.

A vibrant sunset over the New York City skyline, with a golden sun setting on the horizon, surrounded by buildings and the silhouette of bridges.

As much as I always want to zoom closer with my iPhone 15 Pro Max’s 2x or 5x lens to better frame the skyscrapers, the wider shots are better. I think you need that foreground in the shot to help tell the visual story. Plus, the train’s motion is less of a problem for your phone’s camera if you’re not zoomed in.

A stunning sunset view over New York City, with the skyline silhouetted against a vibrant orange sky and the setting sun casting warm light on the landscape.

Just Another Bonus for Taking the Train
Yes, it’s an amazing vista to take in, but you should temper your expectations for your photos. Remember, you’re shooting through glass, and the train is moving.

Still, it’s worth a shot.

A view of the New York City skyline at sunset framed by the iron structure of a bridge, with water in the foreground reflecting the warm colors of the sky.

I go for it whenever I’m on Amtrak’s Northeast Regional or Acela heading back to Connecticut from Washington, D.C. (These photos are from my recent trip.)
In the old days, it would be when I was heading out of New York City back to Boston. (So, I’ve been at this for a while.)

And yes, I do prefer taking the train vs. a plane between these destinations. It’s much more convenient and relaxing. (The door-to-door time comparison is similar after you bake in the extra hours spent at the airport.) But I digress…

Enjoy the Show
Sunset isn’t the only time to try to capture these photos of New York City. (Shooting directly at the sun can really confuse a camera and isn’t especially great for its sensors. But a few brief clicks shouldn’t play too much havoc with the electronics.)

A vibrant sunset view over the New York City skyline, with the sun casting an orange glow and city buildings silhouetted against the colorful sky, accompanied by a tree-lined highway below.

These magic sunset minutes always call out to me as the deep orange light bathes the landscape. 

It’s both unearthly and entirely natural.

And you’ve got one of the best vantage points of this city a photographer could hope for.

A scenic view of the New York City skyline at sunset, featuring a bridge crossing a river with skyscrapers in the background and vibrant orange hues in the sky.

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March 30, 2025

Searching for Silhouettes on a City Street at Sunrise

People walking in Baltimore's Harbor East neighborhood at sunrise

The orange glow of the sun that floods the landscape at sunrise or sunset is a great time to photograph silhouettes and shadows. Here’s how I maximize that opportunity.

If you’re lucky enough to be walking on a city street facing due east or west when the sun is low in the sky, it’s time to take out your camera. That’s when you can easily find magical silhouettes and the shadows of people bathed in sunlight.

Your eyes may only sense a blinding fog of bright orange. But your camera can likely peer through that optical interference and capture enough detail to be later optimized in post.

When editing these photos, I find it ideal to focus on deepening the silhouette effect in a targeted fashion. I accomplish that using Adobe Lightroom with the AI-powered Masking/Objects tool. That allows me to easily select the silhouetted images in the foreground to darken them further without affecting the rest of the photo.

Here are a few examples.

Baltimore, Maryland’s Harbor East (2025)
I snapped this sunrise shot as two men walked to work by the marina.
Two men walk to work in Baltimore's Harbor East neighborhood at sunrise

Facing East at Grand Central Terminal (2012)
Though not technically a street, the Main Concourse at Grand Central channeled the morning’s rays onto New York City commuters as they rushed to their jobs. (I think some of these folks may already be late, as you can tell from the clock.)
Commuters rush through Grand Central Terminal in the morning

Facing West on a Street in Barcelona (2008)
These two women were enjoying their sunset stroll.
Two women walk on a street in Barcelona at sunset

Morning Stretch in Hong Kong (2005)
I captured this quiet moment as I explored the neighborhood during a work trip. Even if the sun isn’t in the perfect position, a shaded space with a bright background can offer your camera a similar silhouette effect.
Man's morning stretch in Hong Kong
The Power of a Good Silhouette
Whether you have your smartphone or a mirrorless camera to compose your photo (I used my Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS200D for my Baltimore pictures), sunrise and sunset are perfect times to capture the landscape.

If you can frame the bright sun in your shot, that’s great. But for me, I’m often more interested in the dark shadows.

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July 2, 2023

I Time Traveled to 1979 and into the Film Set of The Crowded Room at Rockefeller Center

I accidentally ended up walking through a scene from “The Crowded Room” on Apple TV+ right before filming began. Here’s what happened.

I walked quickly to work in New York City last summer. The day was July 5th, and I experienced something of a spatial anomaly. Before I knew it, I was suddenly transported in time back to 1979.

I knew the year was really 2022, but reality started to warp around me pretty quickly as I crossed through Rockefeller Center.

I Entered a Time Bubble
To the right, I noticed a film crew and a group of actors hanging out between takes next to the famous ice-skating rink landmark. The extras were all dressed in hideous outfits from the 1970s. I didn’t immediately think much about it. (I grew up in New York.)

I turned my gaze forward and approached a woman in black wearing a headset and clutching a clipboard. She seemed very 2022.

As I passed her and took an immediate left to walk west on 50th street towards Radio City Music Hall, I sensed a small commotion behind me and vaguely heard something about the street now being closed to pedestrians. I kept walking.

I looked ahead and was stunned by what I saw. The entire street had been reversed four decades. It was as if I had walked through a time bubble and popped out in the 1970s.

The cars…the signs…the people. All transformed.
Even Radio City Music Hall had signage promoting an upcoming Frank Sinatra performance.

Had my mind been somehow captured, and I was relocated into another season of “WandaVision?”

I Crashed a Scene from “The Crowded Room”
Not exactly. In fact, I was walking through a scene of “The Crowded Room,” starring Tom Holland on Apple TV+.
I had inadvertently slipped through right before a street scene was to be filmed. All of the extras were in place, and it was as if I were an extra too.

For the next two minutes, I walked through 1979, appreciating all of the design work that had been done to bring this famous street back to another era. And then there were the dozens of extras, all seemingly transported here from the ‘70s. That actually felt really weird and slightly destabilizing.

It’s interesting how easily it is to disrupt your sense of normal, even if you know what’s going on.

Return to Reality
As I approached Sixth Avenue, I saw another crew person in black holding back other versions of me wanting to take the same trip back in time. They were too late.

I popped out of the time bubble and reentered 2022. I heard people yelling behind me to ‘stand by’ and ‘take your places.’

I didn’t look back. I had my moment back in 1979, and I was satisfied.

And no, I didn’t brush past Tom Holland or any other movie stars. (That might have actually ruined my immersion into the past.)

It was just another New York moment:
July 5, 2022 at 8:40am.

You never know what you’ll see on the streets of New York City.

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