Glistening in the Sun Photo

Photographer’s Note

It doesn't matter how many times you've been to New York you stand in awe at this impressive piece of architecture - "The Empire State Building".I took a quick walk down fifth ave in the late morning and caught it in its splender glistening in the sun.

A tourist attraction recognized by all but here is a list of facts that may contain a few unknowns:

Architect: Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates

Excavation: Began on January 22, 1930

Construction: Commenced March 17, 1930. Framework rose at a rate of 4 ? stories per week.

Cornerstone: Original laid by Alfred E. Smith on September 17, 1930. The 50th Anniversary addition laid May, 1981.

Total Time: One year and 45 days including Sundays and holidays. (Ahead of schedule).

Man-Hours: 7,000,000

Cost: $40,948,900 (including land)

Building Alone: $24,718,000 (the onset of the Depression halved the anticipated cost of the building.)

Area of Site: 79,288 square feet (7,240 meters) or about two acres. East to west, 424 feet (129 meters), north to south, 187 feet (56.9 meters.)

Foundation: 55 feet (16.7 meters) below ground

Total Height: 1,454 feet (1,453 feet, 8 9/16th inches) or 443.2 meters to top of lightning rod.

To 86th Floor Observatory: 1,050 feet (320 meters)
To 102nd Floor Tower:
1,224 feet (373 meters)
102nd Floor to Tip:
230 feet
Height of Antenna: 204 feet

Floors: 102

Steps: 1,860 from street level to 102nd floor

Volume: 37 million cubic feet

Weight: 365,000 tons

Windows: 6,500

Street Level Access: Five entrances on 33rd Street, Fifth Avenue and 34th Street.

Elevators: 73, including six freight elevators, operating at speeds from 600 to 1,400 feet per minute. The total enclosed in several miles of elevator shaft. (It is possible to ride from lobby to 80th floor in 45 seconds)

shirgold, dospordostres, worldcitizen, dlevy23, Manamo, Silke, josepmarin, ChrisJ, doubay, scobert has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

dlevy23 (2018) 2007-07-17 8:13

Great photo, nice low POV, it is always hard to take a picture of a skycraper and make it fit on your shot. You did a great job. Nice colors and composition.

Daniel

pascal-harbi (991) 2007-07-17 10:35

Hi David,
I'm really impressed by the perspective you've chosen. The way the light is falling on the columns on th right side, and the way they appear,... as well the little sun reflection on the top of the tower make it a great shot. (Maybe a even smaller F-stop would have improved it's shape in a star-like sun reflection)
Well done, greetings from Switzerland!
Pascal

serp2000 (9707) 2007-07-17 10:48

Wow! So detailed information
Privet, David,
this is a beatiful work.Have you ever to the high floors here? I like photo!
Best wishes from Russia,
Serghei

UnTrained (0) 2007-07-17 14:17

Hi David,
large capture! I like the POV and the sunny spot is the right final. Well balanced light and the distortion is here adding the height.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

Cormac (26455) 2007-07-17 14:47

Impressive shot of this incredible building, managing to get the whole thing into the frame! I also had a lot of fun reading through the statistics on the building, which is somewhat mindboggling. Great work!

worldcitizen (2305) 2007-07-17 16:27

Hello David,
I know how difficult it is to capture an entire skyscraper. There is never enough space, and the lighting has to be just right, but you did a great job. I like the POV, and the way the sun is glistening off of the very top corner of the facde.

dospordostres (1127) 2007-07-17 17:00

Hi David,
You are right, a view of the Empire State is always awesome, and you offer us a great one here. Thanks also for the note with a lot of interesting information.
Regards,
Daniel

shirgold (2439) 2007-07-18 2:22

Hi Dave,
An impressive and powerful view of this amazing piece of work!
I like the way you got the sun reflection in the image.
Great work and TFS - Shir

cessy (13647) 2007-07-20 23:40

Hallo David,
great cityscape !! awesome buildings, very nicely captured
you placed the most shinny one in the middle surrounded by darker ones, make it more stands out. last night just saw the kingkong on top of this building, in movie (after so many years .. finally I decided to watch it ..hehehe..)

jmcl (14149) 2007-07-24 19:04

Hi David,

Very nice .. I love how you used the foreground buildings to frame it .. I love the way the light hits it .. really interesting sky .. you have really captured the awesome scale of the place.

take care,

John

Silke (3023) 2007-07-26 3:48

WOW!
Superb details, stunning POV and composition
TFS
silke
:)

josepmarin (34099) 2007-08-20 12:22

Hi David,
Do you know? I have been there up three times, and I wait to return some day. It is a wonderful building, and your POV and your setting increase its elegance with a great perspective towards the sky.
Since the destruction of the Twin Towers, in which observatory also I was in 1999, the Empire State has turned into the icon of NYC.
I like how you show it to us in this nice photo, and how its higher windows shine.
Excellent work, and an interesting and very informative note.
Friendly regards,
Josep

Stepan (27175) 2007-08-21 12:06

It doesn't matter how many times you've seen it on TE, you still enjoy to re-discover it.
I like the pov you chose, including the "small" building on the right. That enhances the higness and the "depth" of the compo.
Well done.
Stéphane

ChrisJ (70443) 2007-09-17 8:26

Hi David

I like the diminishing linear perspective & upward view on the imposing skyscraper. Fantastic sharpness, with excellent, soft, muted colours. Tfs!

doubay (5043) 2007-09-18 7:23

Hi David!
What can one say? It’s just a magnificent piece or architecture. I think, it’s a really privilege to live in a city with buildings like this. And you captured it in a really excellent way.
Regards
Andreas

scobert (5333) 2008-02-07 18:57

Hello David,
My wife and I were in the "Big Apple" this summer (me for the first time) and much to her surprise, I loved this city. I am a westerner and used to the wide open spaces of the American West and she was shocked that I felt right at home here. I was blown away by the sheer size and scale of the skyscrapers. This is a great shot of this grand skyscaper with exquisite sharpness and composition! Beautiful work!
Stan

Photo Information

Copyright: David White (Davidwh) (3654)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-05-16
Categories: Daily Life, Architecture, Decisive Moment
Camera: Nikon D70s, Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED DX AF-S, Tiffen 67mm Circular Polarizer
Exposure: f/11, 1/400 seconds
More Photo Info: view
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2007-07-17 8:07