ANGELA B. PAN

The city that never sleeps offers so many amazing places to photograph. Whether you like architecture, interiors, or street photography, New York City is home to so many possible photo opportunities. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the possibilities, my biggest tip is to not plan so much in a day and take your time at each location. Each place is stunning and unique in its own way. It would be a shame to rush and miss some amazing experiences and photos. This probably means you should extend your stay now because NYC is honestly one of the best cities in the world.

So here’s my list of the 15 best places to photograph in New York City:

Central Park

A visit to New York is not complete without a stop at Central Park, and it is HUGE. This particular image was captured in Bethesda Terrace in Central Park and is just one part of the 1.3 miles long park that spreads across 51 city blocks. There’s also an ice skating rink, zoo, views of the city and so much more. If anything, grab some takeout and have a nice picnic on a park bench. There’s no other place in the city like it.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Close to Central Park is the Metropolitan Museum of Art also known as the Met. A place where celebrities dress up in wild costumes for the Met Gala once a year and where you can see one-of-a-kind art. One of the largest fine art museums in the world, The Met offers many fantastic photo opportunities inside the museum.

Times Square

How can there be a list of places to photograph without Times Square? It’s a must-see when visiting the big apple, especially at night. It’s like the whole city lights up. I like to go after it rains. The reflections that are found can make your images really pop with color.

Or experience Times Square in a totally different way by visiting a rooftop. I created this from a hotel rooftop bar in Times Square. There are plenty of them, depending on what view you want to get but it can be absolutely breathtaking.

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Before the National Museum of African American History and Culture opened, the National Museum of American Indian used to be the museum in Washington DC that was rated with the best food. It is also the only reason why I’d ever been to the museum. For the food. Try the fry bread! Yummm.

But over the weekend last week, Andrew and I found ourselves in the city with some time to kill. Luckily, I’ve started to get into this habit where I’ll bring my camera wherever I go. I used to leave it home and only take it out whenever I knew I was shooting. Lately, I’ll take it out whenever I know I’ll be out of the house for a while. You never know when a photo opportunity will hit! So I had my camera in hand and we headed over to the National Mall. By luck would have it, the parking spot we found was closest to the National Museum of American Indian, so we decided to go in.

Man, was I really missing out by heading straight to the cafeteria and not looking around. The architecture inside and out is beautiful and the exhibits were interesting. We didn’t get to see it all but enough so that I’d want to come back and spend more time here. I feel like a majority of the time, I was just looking up. I was excited to go to the top floor and check out what the ceiling looked like from every level. Is that weird? It sort of reminds me so much of the New York City Oculus.

Anyways, if this was brand new to me, I’m sure there are many more interiors that I’m missing out on in DC. Looking forward to checking out more. If you have any recommendations, let me know!

My second time visiting the Oculus and it’s just was just as amazing as the first time. But this second time, I got to see way more of it. The first time I visited, everything was still under construction. Andrew and I were only able to see a little hallway from the train station to the main part. The main part was still behind closed doors and under wraps. It’s crazy because we were super impressed by that little hallway. Never had I imagined that this main part would be so awesome. But I think the best part about the whole thing is that the “main part” that I keep referring to is a mall now. How freaking amazing would it be to do your everyday shopping here. I feel like I wouldn’t even be able to get anything done. I’d just want to stand in the middle and take pictures the whole time.

I love how it’s just so white and clean. Super modern looking but it makes me wonder what it’d be like to stand there during a really nice sunset or something like that. Would you be able to see the colors come through the windows? Similar to how the Washington National Cathedral looks in the early morning light when the light peaks through and you can see the color reflections all over the walls. I think that’d be so awesome. If any New Yorkers are reading this, please try this and let me know the results. If you can see something really cool, I’d probably spend a week in the same spot just waiting for a cool sunset/sunrise.

My camera settings for this image was f/10 at 1/30th of a second ISO 100. Like I said before, all those windows on top are so great for letting in light. A really low ISO is all you need to capture a really cool shot like this.

Going back through my older images, I found this one from a trip to New York. I love going to New York. Mostly for eating, but it also has some great places to shoot. For example the Oculus. This place is incredible! I can’t believe it’s now a shopping mall. Anyways, I LOVE the lines and how clean everything looks. It kind looks like it’s something from outer space, doesn’t it? I know I must have gotten really low for this image. I can tell by the reflections on the floor, but other than that, I don’t remember anything else about it. I don’t even remember shooting it. But that’s the fun part about revisiting old images. It’s like seeing pictures with fresh, new eyes. I don’t know if this would of been as successful if I started editing it right when I shot it. Sometimes I like to let images simmer. For this one however, it simmered so long that I forgot about it! Oh well. Thank you reliable hard drives for keeping this beauty safe.

I’ve always wanted to spend an extended amount of time in New York. It’s such a happening city that theres no way that I’d be able to see and do everything that I want to do in a weekend, which is normally how long I visit. Can you believe I still haven’t visited MoMa? That’s one place I’d like to go to next time I travel to the big apple. What other places should I visit while I’m there? Museums, photography hot spots, food? Other than the fried pizza restaurant. OMG!

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