Historic section in Philadelphia photo ops

My wife and I are planning on spending a few days, 3 or 4, in the "historic section" of Philadelphia shortly after Labor day. Not sure where to stay, or what to photograph. I am hoping to find some interesting architecture there, and will probably have a couple of hours in the early mornings to wander around near whatever hotel we select. I enjoy the morning light, and my wife is not an early riser, so it works for both of us, I can get in some time photographing while she sleeps. I sure would appreciate anyone opinions of accommodations there, the type of parking at the hotels, and does anyone in the city get excited when they see a 4x5 on a tripod. I mostly shoot with black and white, and do appreciate the way the morning light can create some great images if one happens to be in the right place at that time. Any help with specific locations would help make my short stay that much more productive.



Jim

Hi Jim,

Welcome to Philadelphia!

It depends on what you mean by "interesting architecture", there is a lot to see old colonial architectures in the Society Hill and Old City, and that is where other historical attractions are located such as Independence Hall and Liberty bells.

Walking around in Old City may be an interesting short excursion with a lot of old warehouses turned into apartments and condos. If you are in the area, you cannot miss the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, which I would assume a difficult challenge at this point.

If you go toward west a little to Rittenhouse Square area, there is a lot of nice building as well.

If you are interested in more industrial architectures, you may want to come a little north about a mile to our studio area. There is a lot of industrial buildings around here.

As for accommodations, just send me an e-mail. We can send you a list we prepared for workshop attendees.

Let me know if we can be any help to make your visit more enjoyable.

Warmly,
Tsuyoshi

jimt9839 said:

My wife and I are planning on spending a few days, 3 or 4, in the "historic section" of Philadelphia shortly after Labor day. Not sure where to stay, or what to photograph. I am hoping to find some interesting architecture there, and will probably have a couple of hours in the early mornings to wander around near whatever hotel we select. I enjoy the morning light, and my wife is not an early riser, so it works for both of us, I can get in some time photographing while she sleeps. I sure would appreciate anyone opinions of accommodations there, the type of parking at the hotels, and does anyone in the city get excited when they see a 4x5 on a tripod. I mostly shoot with black and white, and do appreciate the way the morning light can create some great images if one happens to be in the right place at that time. Any help with specific locations would help make my short stay that much more productive.



Jim

Click to expand...

You can walk across the Ben Franklin bridge via a pedestrian walkway. It offers many great photo opportunities as you get to walk above the buildings over a number of city blocks before you reach the river. Here are two shots from the walkway:

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=367332735&size=l
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=357313999&size=l

If you like Victorian cemeteries with interesting monuments, try visiting Laurel Hill cemetery on the banks of the Schuylkill river.

Philadelphia Historical areas.

jimt9839 said:

My wife and I are planning on spending a few days, 3 or 4, in the "historic section" of Philadelphia shortly after Labor day. Not sure where to stay, or what to photograph. I am hoping to find some interesting architecture there, and will probably have a couple of hours in the early mornings to wander around near whatever hotel we select. I enjoy the morning light, and my wife is not an early riser, so it works for both of us, I can get in some time photographing while she sleeps. I sure would appreciate anyone opinions of accommodations there, the type of parking at the hotels, and does anyone in the city get excited when they see a 4x5 on a tripod. I mostly shoot with black and white, and do appreciate the way the morning light can create some great images if one happens to be in the right place at that time. Any help with specific locations would help make my short stay that much more productive.



Jim

Click to expand...

Most people stay in the hotels around Market East and Reading Terminal Market, but most of the historical buildings are south and east of that. The streets south along the river (from 2nd Street up and down) will be probably less crowded than streets near Reading Terminal Market and the big hotels. Most of what the locals call Center City is very walkable, but I'd be careful about setting up a tripod in areas with a lot of foot traffic.

The usual things to see would be the Independence Square area (check with the National Park Service about tripods) and some of the Belgium block streets like Delancy below 3rd, and Efred's Alley (I'm not sure I spelled that right). Parking is hit or miss.

City Hall will be very near any hotels over Market East and there are some other buildings near it that might also be of interest.

I haven't had any problems taking pictures of bridges along the Schyulkill, but I haven't had my cameras on a tripod there, either. You might want to see about getting up to the Philadelphia art museum area for shots of Boat House Row (crowded on weekends, not so crowded on weekdays during the day). Parking is somewhat better than in Center City.

Most of the hotels have garages attached.

There is also a Holiday Inn at 4th and Arch Streets which would be within a few blocks of Independence Mall, Old Christ Church, Penn's Landing, the aforementioned Elfreth's Alley and the Ben Franklin Bridge. The east side of Broad Street to the Delaware River, north and south of Market Street, is probably the oldest part of the city, but going west from Broad and Market is also pretty old. Going west on the Ben Franklin Parkway takes you to the Art Museum area. Just a few blocks NE of the museum on Fairmount Street is the Eastern State Penitentiary (ca 1840) some of that can be toured. Further west of the Art Museum is Boathouse Row and Fairmount Park. That area has a number of significant old mansion-type houses and some cemeteries with amazing stuff. Some of that would be a rather long walk no matter where your hotel was (Fairmount Park goes on for miles) so you'd probably need to do some driving. Much of the "Center City" area (centered around City Hall which sits in a square at the interesection of Broad & Market) has a mix of buildings, some quite old (by US standards) occasionally juxtaposed against some 21st century creation. (I'm thinking Academy of Music vs Kimmel Center and the like.)

Caveat: I've not stayed in any Philly hotels, as I live close enough to commute.

And yes, to a resident of the far suburbs, Philly parking can be tedious, although in truth it's probably no worse than other major cities.

DaveT

Good Morning, Jim,

I recently spent a couple of weeks in Philadelphia. Most of my time was taken up with convention activities, but I was there long enough to agree with the observations above. The best thing about central Philadelphia is that it is extremely walkable; virtually all the well-known historic sites are within an area of a couple of square miles. Due to my schedule I did not take the tripod and view camera, but I'd certainly advise having a wide-angle (at least 90mm on 4 x 5) since, as in most cities, many subjects will require close work. Don't miss the U. S. S. New Jersey just a ferry trip across the Delaware from the foot of Walnut Street. Unfortunately a view camera and tripod are not practical there, but the ship itself is fascinating. (The last ferry return trip is, if I recall correctly, at 5:30, so plan for that.) Another don't miss is the Reading Terminal, adjacent to the Convention Center. It's not particularly photogenic, but has something for everyone's taste. The Metro system is OK, not up to Washington, D. C. standards, but still worth using.

On the negative side, Philadelphia tends to be an expensive location--especially for hotel costs.

Konical

Thank you all for taking the time to give me some great information. And yes, have found out the accommodation's are a bit pricey, but then they always are in a metropolitan area I guess. Am looking forward to seeing the City, and am sure there will be ample opportunities to make some nice photographs, if I can on do my part to record them properly.

Jim

You can try something like hotwire.com. Some of workshop attendees have been happy with what they found with it.

Another place is Comfort Inn on Delaware Ave. It is off a little, but very close to Old City.

Warmly,
Tsuyoshi

Also consider bed-and-breakfast places. They're oftentimes much cheaper, and ultimately far nicer accommodations than most hotels. I don't have any in particular in Philly to recommend, but do a google search for options.

One great view is from the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art looking into Center City.It is best for a late afternoon or early evening. You can use a tripod there. Another view is boathouse row. Photographed from across the river. This is an early evening shot. The boat houses are outlined with tiny lights . It ia quite unigue.

HowardDvorin