10 iconic New York Photo Spots to photograph during your next Trip
New York is a remarkable place for photographers. I could have spent hours photographing the diverse architecture during my last trip which I planned around some of New York’s most iconic photo spots. And so you don’t have to spend hours finding them, I reveal them in this blog post.
- About my trip to New York
- The Best Photo Spots in New York
- Radio City Music Hall
- Top of the Rock at the Rockefeller Center
- National September 11 Memorial and Museum
- Dumbo - Manhattan Bridge View
- Columbia University Campus
- Manhattan Skyline View from Dumbo, Brooklyn
- Bow Bridge aka Marriage Bridge in Central Park
- Empire State Building
- Abandoned Immigration Hospital at Ellis Island
- Statute of Liberty at Liberty Island
- Summary
About my trip to New York
I spent about 10 days in New York City in September 2017. During that stay I had some of the best Photo Spots in New York City on my bucket list. I stayed at the hotel in Manhattan so I could reach the most photo spots in this blog post by foot.
In this blog post, I’ll show you the highlights and best known photo spots in New York City. I tried to mainly highlight places you can see and photograph without queuing up. One exception where you have to wait is the Top of the Rock, for example.
The Best Photo Spots in New York
In September 2017, the iPhone 7 was the most current iPhone model. I had an iPhone 7 Plus. The bigger screen size is just great for editing photos.
Radio City Music Hall
The facade of the Radio City Music Hall is definitely one of the best places to take photos in New York City during the day and the night. What I liked most here are the vintage style neon lights that will look great from many different angles. This legendary New York institution is known for its facade, which transforms into a great photo spot during both the day and the night. The vintage-style neon lights on the facade are a true highlight and a must-visit photo spot.
Radio City Music Call in New York City
If you want to fit the entire facade into the frame, it’s probably a good idea to take the photo from the opposite side of the street. But you can also get a great photo by just looking up and using a wide lens. For the photo above, I used a Moment Wide attachable lens. To learn more, head to the Moment attachable Wide lens for iPhone review I've published earlier in my blog.
To compose the photo, I used the rule of thirds in a creative way: the line of the roof starts in the upper-left corner and goes all the way through the upper third of the photo, and would meet the edge of the frame at the upper of the two lines of the thirds grid.
Top of the Rock at the Rockefeller Center
Top of the Rock are three observation decks at the Rockefeller Center in the heart of New York City. It’s definitely the most breathtaking photo spot. From the Top of the Rock, you get an impressive 360-degree view of New York City.
I’ve been there twice. Once during the daytime and once at night. I recommend going there at nighttime and use Night Mode of ProCamera App to capture the stunning night view of the New York skyline.
New York at Night as seen from the Top of the Rock
Top of the Rock is a very touristic location. To avoid the queue, book your tickets in advance or be there early. For my first visit I was among the first people but still had to wait for almost an hour to go up. For my nighttime visit, I booked my tickets in advance. That saved me half an hour of waiting.
National September 11 Memorial and Museum
I’ve had a bit of mixed feelings, calling this an iconic photo spot in New York. But I decided to share the photo of the memorial as a way of keeping the memory of the 9-11 tragedy alive. Mainly as a reminder to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.
9-11 Memorial
To save the location of the 9/11 memorial, please head either to Google Maps or Apple Maps.
Dumbo - Manhattan Bridge View
The iconic view of the Manhattan Bridge view is easily accessible. You’ll find it in Brooklyn. I recommend visiting it after strolling across the Brooklyn Bridge, during which you will be rewarded with spectacular views of the New York City skyline. At the end of the Brooklyn Bridge (if you started in Manhattan), there is a pedestrian ramp on the right-hand side. Proceed down the ramp and keep walking until you reach the intersection of Washington Street and Water Street. By looking left, you’ll see the iconic Manhattan Bridge View.
The iconic Manhattan Bridge View
There are three things to mind at this iconic photo spot. First, all the selfie-takers will run into your photo (and sometimes even into you). Second, mind how the bridge perfectly aligns with the street and intersection of Washington and Water Street from which I took the photo.
Third, look how the Empire State Building in the distance aligns perfectly with the center of the pillar of the bridge. So in this photo you’ll see two of the three essential photo composition techniques: The facades of the buildings form a frame for the bridge, and the pillar is a frame within a frame for the Empire State Building. Moreover, the facades also form a series of leading lines in the photo pointing to the main subject, the bridge.
To get the buildings and the bridge perfectly straight, you may want to check my post about perspective corrections apps for iPhone to ensure the bridge and the buildings are upright.
Once you’re done here, grab yourself a snack and something to drink at the store to your right and continue towards the sea for one more iconic photo spot - and before you go there, be sure to read about how to take a long exposure with iPhone. You want to use this knowledge there.
Columbia University Campus
The Columbia University Campus is just one of the many movie locations to see and photograph in New York. A number of movies were filmed here, like Ghostbusters (1984), Spider-Man (2002) or The Day after Tomorrow (2004).
In Ghostbusters (1984) you can see the statue right after the opening title and the movie starts inside the Library.
The Opening Scene of Ghostbusters (1984) was filmed at the New York Public Library
To see many of your favorite movie locations, I recommend booking one of the Movie Locations Sightseeing Tours. They’ll take you to many iconic locations. Reserve an entire day if plan going on a movie location tour.
Manhattan Skyline View from Dumbo, Brooklyn
From the riverbank you’ll get another iconic photo spot in New York. You’ll see the skyline of the city with the Brooklyn ridge in front. If you visit during a slightly cloudy day, this is a great opportunity to take a long exposure that will flatten the water and create a stunning sky in your photo.
So, have you downloaded the Slow Shutter Cam App and read the blog post I mentioned in the previous chapter? Good, now let’s take a moving clouds photo of the Manhattan Skyline!
A long exposure of the New York Skyline as seen from Dumbo
For this photo, I chose an exposure time of 56 seconds. The result is a beautifully flattened sea and blurry, moving clouds. To capture a 56-second-long exposure, you’ll definitely need a tripod, e.g. the Rollei #1 carbon traveler tripod, I reviewed in the blog.
From a compositional view, this photo is another good example of using the rule of thirds in a creative way. I placed the main subjects, which are the bridge and the skyline, in the lower third of the photo, creating a lot of negative space in the upper two thirds for the moving clouds.
So the best time to visit this photo spot is during a slightly cloudy day. But I believe that it will also look great in the evening or at night.
Bow Bridge aka Marriage Bridge in Central Park
The bow bridge was opened in 1862 and is widely considered as a masterpiece of Victorian design. This bridge is definitely one of the most iconic and well-known Instagrammable photo spots in the Central Park and even probably in New York City.
Firstly, it’s a movie location. It appears in Spiderman 3 (2007), uptown Girls (2003), Enchanted (2007) and it even briefly appears in Highlander (1986). Secondly, because it’s allegedly a place where the most proposals in the Central Park take place.
The contrast of the white bridge and the green surroundings make it a great spot to photograph in New York.
Bow Bridge aka Marriage Bridge in the Central Park
The best time to visit this Instagram spot is early Morning during Weekdays - unless you want to capture proposals. Then the best time is probably on weekends during spring time when everything blossoms.
Empire State Building
Strolling through New York City, you’ll find dozens of angles and perspectives to take a great photo of the
Empire State Building. By using this photo, I’d just wanted to highlight the framing composition technique I recommend using. Find a spot with a good view towards the Empire State Building and use the surrounding buildings for framing it.
The Empire State Building captured using an architectural frame
For the Empire State Building, there is no best time to photograph it. It’s a great photo spot 24h a day, 365 days a year.
Abandoned Immigration Hospital at Ellis Island
I’ll tell you a little secret: Since I discovered a dozen handwritten letters from a distant ancestor, I started to research and build my family tree. So I just had to go to Ellis Island and visit the Immigration Museum to learn about the immigration process back then. That was so informative, and guess what: I was even able to solve a family mystery there.
But there’s one more thing I recommend visiting and photographing on Ellis Island. It’s the abandoned immigration hospital. So if you ever wanted to see a lost place legally, this is your chance.
Morgue at the abandoned Immigration Hospital at Ellis Island
In the image above, you can see the morgue of the abandoned immigration hospital on Ellis Island. That’s just one photo spot you’ll see during the guided tour.
I found this tour informative and saw a number of photo spots there. I’ve dedicated an entire blog post to the hard hat tour of Ellis Island.
Statute of Liberty at Liberty Island
Don’t get me wrong: Liberty Island is a place worth visiting, but you’ll get the best photos of the Statue of Liberty either from the ferry boat while approaching Liberty Island or when leaving Ellis Island.
A few minutes after the ferry boat leaves Ellis Island, you get a great photo spot for photographing the Statue of Liberty with the New York skyline in the Background.
Statue of Liberty as seen from Ellis Island
One thing I did in Lightroom Mobile was to give the water a slightly blue tone using selective adjustments. To learn how to achieve that, please look at my blog post about how to change the color of water in Lightroom mobile.
Summary
The architecture and the diverse buildings and facades you’ll find in New York are almost a guarantee for great photos. Just look around.
Because of the architecture, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to practice one or more of the essential photo composition techniques; e.g. by looking for leading lines or architectural frames.
New York City is also a great place to experiment with and for taking long exposure photos to flatten the sea or to try and capture moving clouds. To learn more about long exposure photography with iPhone and which apps you can use, please visit my blog post about how to take a long exposure photo with iPhone.
