49.6

Opening of the New York masterclass, click on:
MASTERCLASS 2012
My aerial workshops, click on:
THE NEW YORK WORKSHOP
My website, click on:
THE SOUTHERN ROUTE
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From the series "Black cosmos of New York"
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You know, I like titles. I craft them with care to enhance the pleasure, mine first of all (how selfish I am…) and why not yours. Title is icing on the cake, when all the work is done and the only thing you have to do is to groom the photo for the cattle fair, er, sorry, for 500px. This title came when I saw, from the chopper, the Empire State building straight as an arrow. As well, from here you see right through Manhattan, widthwise. You pierce the big apple, right? Yep, my imagination may get carried away sometimes…
So, let's come back to the photo. You hover here over the Hudson river while you see in the background the East river. You're right: this photo compresses exactly 2 miles (3.2 km, checked on google map). If you go forward, you look first at the neighborhood of Hell's kitchen, then Garment district, Koreatown, Midtown South, and to finish, in the background, Murray Hill. In the middle, the Empire State Building (Art Deco, Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, 1931), with on the left the 34th street and on the other side the 33rd street. I think you have recognized the Madison Square Garden, the big podgy circus (Modernism, Charles Luckman, 1968). The "New Yorker" sign is from the hotel of the same name (Art Deco, Sugarman & Berger, 1929), which sign is normally red, so you understand I'm using here a red filter… Damned, one of my secrets!
This photo is a bit dark, and technically limited, but I like it. First I've found quickly in it an atmosphere pleasing me. I didn't get this mood on many photos. Usually, with buildings, I prefer to think and play with the balance of volumes, with the reading lines and the dynamism by the positioning of shapes between each others. Here, it was at the end of the trip; the pilot was driving harder the rotors. This photo was spontaneous, almost involuntary. In the darkroom, its mood felt just right before I even try to polish the result. I liked this raw energy, the direct impact of New York city. Even some skyscrapers are blurred, but it didn't matter. The storytelling by the emotions is of prime importance. No emotion, no story; no story, no good photo.