Took shots yesterday of probably the most peculiar sun-related phenomena in Manhattan, where the setting sun lines up perpendicularly with the street grid. Sunsets are always pretty gorgeous times to take pictures, but this event in particular is pretty special because you can view it setting over Jersey and it's framed perfectly by tall buildings.
Our little group set up around Herald Square looking down 33rd St., which gave a pretty cool perspective because of the pedestrian walkway that took over that section of Broadway this past year. Theres a little island that looks straight down the grid that makes it look like you're in the middle of the street, even though you're perfectly safe from cars.
As 8 o'clock rolled around a big group of photographers, amateur and pro alike, started to congregate around us. Mike had already set up by this point as you can see in the above picture (taken by my indispensable assistant Alia). He took an eight minute long exposure of the whole event with his neutral density filter on, which looked pretty sweet in camera when it finished processing. I'm sure he'll make it look even sweeter in post and put it up somewhere soon.
My favorite pictures from the actual moment of the sunset don't seem to be of the sun itself setting, they're more the ones where pedestrians blocked the sun itself and got this very cool silhouette and rim light on them. One guy in particular stopped during a light right in the middle of the street and began dancing in front of the sun, which yielded some really nice frames.
All in all it was a great day. Great shooting, great company, and later great artichoke pizza. Can't wait to get another crack at shooting this on July 11th as well. Because the street grid isn't oriented perfectly East-West, it happens twice in periods roughly equal in time from the solstice. Should be fun!
