New York City - Gapstow Bridge

Our hotel was a few blocks from Times Square - which was just close enough to be convenient to the subway stop but far away enough to put some distance from the craziness. We did have to walk through there a few times, and it was as crowded, hectic and overstimulating as always (and filled with an oddly large amount of people dressed as Minnie Mouse). The best way to appreciate it was from the 40th floor of our hotel, which had a nice little rooftop terrace. From there we had this view looking towards the cacophony of chaos of the Times Square area.



And also a nice view looking back towards Hudson Yards. From here you can just make out some people hanging out over at the Edge.



After that I rode the subway north for a few stops and ended up at Central Park. I made the short walk over to the Gapstow Bridge, which was built in 1896. Fans of great cinema may recognize it from its appearances in Home Alone 2, as it is the spot where Kevin both meets and says goodbye to the Pigeon Lady.



There were no Pigeon Ladies there that night (just an occasional rat), but the views from the bridge are pretty spectacular.





From here you can see the Plaza Hotel, which was built in 1906 and is where Kevin stayed in Home Alone 2 and racked up a $967 room service bill (the bill is estimated to translate to $2,233 in today's money).



Even with a wide angle lens, it was hard to get pictures of the supertall skyscrapers reflected in the Pond. But here you can see the Central Park Tower, which is 1,550 tall and the second tallest building in New York City. But it is technically the tallest building in the city in terms of roof height, and has the tallest roof height of any building in the world outside of Asia. And it also claims the title of the tallest residential building in the world. Also from here you can see 111 West 57th Street (aka the Steinway Tower), which is the third tallest building in New York City. It's billed as the world's second tallest residential skyscraper and the world's most slender skyscraper.

New York City - The Vessel

Situated in the middle of the new Hudson Yards development is the Vessel, which can be described as a large interactive sculpture/tourist attraction. It is a series of interconnected staircases which climbs up to a height of about 16 stories. From the outside it looks like a giant honeycomb or a massive shawarma.



I paid the $20 entrance fee, and made my way to the top. And to be honest, it really wasn't worth the price. But that's just me, other people might find joy at climbing a bunch of stairs in order to reach a view that doesn't really show much of the city around it (there is an elevator but it is reserved for disabled visitors only).



Also a good portion of the Vessel was blocked off and closed, limiting visitors to just one section of the structure.



I quickly got my steps in for the day when I headed back down the stairs and then got this shot with a fisheye lens from the bottom.





From the Vessel you can take a quick walk along The High Line, an elevated park that was built on abandoned railroad tracks.





There are many pieces of art along the High Line, including this large aluminum sculpture of a pigeon. There were even a few actual pigeons walking around the base, which made me wonder if the real pigeons are even aware of this sculpture? Do they notice is as they scavenge for people's old french fries? Do they consider it their King?



And one last shot from the High Line. We were pleasantly surprised at how nice the fall colors were in New York during our visit.

New York City - The Edge

A few weeks back, Caroline and I celebrated our 12th anniversary by taking a little trip to New York City. It was a great trip - New York is an amazing place that is filled to the brim with things to see (and photograph). So it was well worth waking up at 3:30 in the morning so we could catch the first flight out of the airport.

Say what you will about the Little Rock airport, but one great thing is that you can occasionally catch it when it's not busy at all. That morning there was not a single person waiting in the TSA security line. I don't think I've ever been able to just walk through security like that before (thank you Clinton National!). Our flight took off at sunrise and then a few hours later deposited us at LaGuardia airport. And then after sitting through some traffic, we finally made it to our hotel. We dropped our bags off and were free to start exploring the city. Our hotel wasn't too far from the new Hudson Yards development, so we headed off that way first. Along the way we passed by this place which has taken so much of my money in the past:



And then we went to the observation deck called Edge, which sits on the 100th floor of the 30 Hudson Yards Building (I'm assuming they named it after the guitar player in U2). The Edge is billed as the highest skydeck in the Western Hemisphere, and has a 80 foot cantilevered outdoor terrace that stretches out 1,100 feet above the streets below. The views are pretty good from up there.



The overlook offers views of Lower Manhattan, the Hudson River, the Empire State Building, and Midtown Manhattan.





You also get a good view of two of the city's newest skyscrapers from here - One Vanderbilt (the 4th tallest building in NY) and 270 Park Avenue (the 6th tallest). They both seem to tower over the Chrysler Building.



And the view of the One World Trade Center tower, the tallest building in NYC. We'd get a much closer look at it later in the trip.



There seems to be a strong competition between all of the Observation Decks now for customers, and each offers various other attractions to see beside the views. At some you can do skywalks, or recreate famous photographs (like at Top of the Rock), or have influencer-friendly spaces (like at One Vanderbilt). Here at the Edge, there is this random hallway filled with plastic bananas. I can see how this would appeal (or a-peel) to certain tourists.

Northern Exposure

As a parent, I'm trying really hard to not be on my phone so much around the kids. I don't want my children to grow up thinking that I value looking at my phone more than interacting with them, or that they need to compete for my attention. I think it serves as a healthy and positive example that I hope they emulate as they grow up.

That being said, I'm really glad I was looking at my phone Tuesday night. I got a text message from my friend Zack and immediately opened it up to see a picture he sent, which was the view from his house. The sky overhead had turned bright red by the Northern Lights. Somehow (the official scientific reason is beyond me), the lights were again visible this far south. So I showed the picture to Jonah and we ran out of the house to see them as well. But we had no luck, since we're in the middle of a city and there's all that pesky light pollution.

So we decided to immediately drive away from the city and to find a good spot to see the lights. I grabbed the camera gear and we jumped in the car and started driving to the north. I thought of an old abandoned church that is about an hour away. It would be an interesting element to put in the foreground, and also be dark enough for us to see the Northern Lights. I was worried that by the time we got there, the lights would have faded out and we would have made the drive for nothing.

But all that worrying was for nothing. When we got to the church, the sky above it was a deep red. Not only were the Northern Lights out, but we could easily see them in person (and not just through a camera). It was incredible. It is absolutely crazy that the Northern Lights were visible this far south, and that we were lucky enough to see them.



The next night, it was predicted that the Northern Lights would be visible again (and possibly even brighter than the night before). So we headed back out again, this time driving to the east towards the Delta. We eventually stopped by a set of silos, and went out to look at the sky. But other than the stars and a few planes, the sky was empty. We lingered for a bit waiting for something to happen, and I got a few pictures of the silos just for fun.



To pass the time until the Northern Lights would possibly be visible again, we drove off again. I stopped at this old rice dryer, and set up the camera. The Lights were out, but really faint. You couldn't see them with the naked eye, and they just barely showed up on a long exposure. Which was a little disappointing after the vivid and vibrant colors of the night before, but it was still cool to capture it with the camera.

Blanchard Springs

Last weekend, I made a quick visit to the Ozarks with my nephew Isaac so we could take a few senior portraits. We decided to drive over to Blanchard Springs, which is an incredibly scenic area that would hopefully make for some nice pictures. There were a few flaws in the plan, unfortunately. Most of the recreation area at Blanchard was closed because of flood damage. And it was also really cold and windy that day.

A good chunk of the area around Blanchard was indeed closed, and the road to the campground area was gated shut. But we did end up walking around the gate for a just a few steps, because the closed road actually ended up being a nice little background for some pictures. Because there hadn't been any traffic, there was a nice collection of fallen leaves along both sides of the pavement.



Luckily the trail to the springs was still open, so we headed over there next. 



It was past peak color there at Blanchard, and a lot of trees had already lost their leaves. The wind that day was also blowing a lot of the leaves away.







One of the great things about Blanchard Springs is that it's one of the few places in Arkansas where you can find waterfalls running year-round. We headed below the old stone dam, which was designed so that it has a waterfall running down below it at all times.





Nearby are the ruins of an old mill (which was built in 1900). It's a great backdrop for portraits and landscape photos, with the creek flowing right past the stone walls. We got a few more pictures before it was time to retreat back to the warm car and head back home.