Taking pictures in the most photographed city in the world

With New York City being the USA’s most populous city and the most photographed city in the world, it is no doubt that this influential metropolis has a seemingly endless amount of things and places to photograph. On my most recent trip to New York City, I got to see some new places that are worthwhile spots for picture taking.

First on the list is the Vessel designed by British architect Thomas Heatherwick.

Located in Hudson Yards in Manhattan, Vessel is 150-feet-tall and is 16 floors of connected staircases.

The pieces were manufactured in Italy and then shipped to the United States.

The unique copper-colored architecture of Vessel makes it a standout building in the surrounding area.

At the time of its opening in March 2019, Hudson Yards, the owner of Vessel, declared ownership of all pictures and videos taken of the structure. After facing criticism, the policy has been modified so that people would have ownership of photos taken. Thankfully, you can now take photos without any issues.

The second place that I visited was The World Trade Center Transportation Hub.

The main station house is known as the Oculus. This hub was made to replace the PATH train station that was destroyed during the 9/11 terrorist attack and is meant to be a symbolic representation of strength and resilience. The Oculus hosts 12 subway lines, the World Trade Center PATH station, and a part of the Westfield World Trade Center mall.

Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the Oculus boasts impressive architecture consisting of white metal ribs that interconnect high up in the air.

Looking up at the white-ribbed architecture from the inside, you can see One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the USA.

This is another picture of looking up from the inside from a horizontal point of view. It’s interesting to see the architecture from different perspectives.

Lastly, I visited Grand Central Terminal at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. This is an architecturally impressive transportation hub that also hosts 60 shops, 35 places to eat, and a calendar of events (however, events are currently on pause due to COVID-19).

I visited here past 10 p.m., so it was a quiet time to photograph the world-famous historic landmark.

The ceiling of the Main Concourse is the celestial ceiling, which includes the 12 zodiac constellations.

Also, the Main Concourse has chandeliers that weigh 2,500 lbs. and are illuminated with 132 light bulbs encompassed by carved oak leaves.

The Grand Central Terminal Clock is valued between 10 and 20 million dollars and has four convex opal glass faces. The clock is set by the atomic clock in the U.S. Naval Observatory in Bethesda, Maryland and is accurate within the bounds of 1 second every 20 billion years.

“Meet me at the clock” has become a well-known phrase among New Yorker’s that refers to this impressive clock. And remember, do not refer to Grand Central Terminal as “Grand Central Station”, as that refers to the US Post Office down the street or the subway station below. (I learned that while doing research to write this blog… The more you know!)

Overall, these are three impressive locations in the city that you can spend a lot of time getting pictures at. I hope you find inspiration to photograph these spots during your time in New York City too!