| Actual Image
The Big Apple (48)
scobert
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1636 W: 16 N: 1867]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-s-g.gif) (5327) | The view from the observatory on top of the Empire State Building has to be the greatest view of any great city on Earth. This vantage point offers a stunning and fantastic 360 degree view of New York City's (The Big Apple's) incredible skyline. The view just blew this "hick" from Colorado away! People from all over the world were as awed as I was. It is a big hassle going through all of the security and red tape to get up to this vantage point, but well worth the effort! Be prepared for long lines, hassles and crowds. My wife and I were here on a Sunday evening, the "slowest" time to visit the top of the Empire State Building, but it still required patience to go through the cumbersome process of getting to the top.
I was aiming my digicam to the northeast toward the Chrysler Building (the pyramid shaped top on the far upper right). This was the most challenging photograph that I have ever taken. It pushed me to the limits of my photographic skills and the capabilities of my Nikon Coolpix 5000 digicam. I had to take many frames to get a small handful of decent images. Several factors were working against my endeavors. No tripods of any usable size are allowed period, end of subject. Several people used tiny little tripods but the .7 meter outcrop rendered these low clearance tripods useless. The crowds were difficult to deal with and the very hazy lighting was not that great. Digicams are generally not very good past iso 200 for long exposures and I set the iso at 200 to be safe.
I braced my camera firmly against the wire mesh (see WS photo) and steadied the camera the best that I could. I recommend that if you take night shots from this site that you purchase a large flexible "Gorilla Pod" and wrap it around the wires. I believe that security will allow them. Also hold on to your hats for there are some very strong winds up here. This photo suffers a bit from the long exposure (noise) and the slight camera shake (I had the vibration reduction turned on) but this was the very best that I could do under the circumstances. |
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