Living in New York, you never do the touristy stuff. At least that’s how it is with me. So, I went to the Empire State Building for the first time (as far as I can remember). More pictures and words after the jump.

I did enjoy the trip, probably more because I wasn’t alone (I went with Conor and Librado Romero, photojournalist father and son). But I think I learned more about the city when I was outside of the building. I never noticed how sunlight spills through the gaps between buildings, and it creates a dramatic effect when shooting pictures, but not so much when you’re looking with the naked eye. This is probably because our brains aren’t limited to processing images from just one “exposure.” I expect that we “see” the shadows brighter and the highlights darker, just a composite image of when everything was properly exposed. If that makes any sense. Moving along, the sunset, combined with the bright white shirt of this lady, let me expose the picture dramatically enough:

But, I could see that some people were developing fond memories up at the top of the Empire State Building. Kind of fun to capture a moment, one which someone else won’t ever need a picture to remember.

Not a good picture, but you get the point.

As always, if you have pictures to share, send them over to ipark@wesleyan.edu