New York and Boston photo locations

mooseontheloose · May 14, 2018

I’ll be heading back to Canada this summer and I’ve budgeted some extra time at the end of my trip to see new places and revisit old ones, since I will be flying in and out of Toronto, instead of my usual Vancouver. Initially I was planning on Quebec and Montreal, but I feel more inspired by Boston and New York, so will do that instead. I’ve been to New York before (just over 21 years ago, wow, that makes me feel old) and I did many, many of the touristy things then, so feel like I could skip visiting most of the famous sites this time. I wasn’t a (serious) photographer then, so want to have more of a photo-focused trip this time with maybe the equivalent of a day given to going to museums or exhibitions. I’m quite interested in photographing the iconic bridges, not just the Brooklyn Bridge, but also Manhattan and Williamsburg. I’ll probably stay in Brooklyn to have easy access to the bridges in the morning and evening. I also realized that if I switched my dates around a bit, I could be in New York for the 9/11 tribute lighting. Based on images I’ve seen, I’m assuming that photographing it from the Brooklyn side would be best, but I’d be interested in other suggestions or advice, especially on how early I would need to set up to get good shots (I imagine it will be packed with photographers). I’ll probably be in NY for 5-6 days total (with one day trip out of the city).

I’ll also head to Boston for 4 days, 2 for the city and 2 for day trips (in all likelihood, for Plimoth Plantation and Old Sturbridge Village) - I’ll be renting a car for the day trips. I’ve never been to Boston before and I know there’s a lot of history associated with it, but I’ll have limited time to take it all in. That said, I still want to have a more photo-friendly trip, rather than spend time inside museums.

Basically I’m open to suggestions for either city about interesting places to photograph, using a tripod (mostly for dusk/night shots) and I guess safety issues in certain areas, especially as I will be travelling solo as usual.

keenmaster486 · May 14, 2018

Lexington and Concord area. Tons of historic places and buildings.... Lexington Green, Concord bridge... Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is very beautiful.

In Boston, there is a ton of history too. Very beautiful old churches as well. But the Boston Commons + public garden is very beautiful. What time of the year exactly will you be there?

mooseontheloose · May 14, 2018

I’ll be there early to mid-September. Sleepy Hollow will be my day trip out of New York. I have a few days to play around with, depending on how much time I want to shave off of Toronto at the very end of my trip. Just trying to put a rough plan together before I book my tickets.

guangong · May 14, 2018

You will not recognize NYC since your last visit. Much of the Lower East Side is now very upscale. The Village about NYU has become a part of the campus and the rest very upscale and expensive. Ditto the Bowery. If you took photos of these areas 21 years ago, comparisons might be interesting.
My own interest not so much in the monumental as in smaller scale subjects that reflect some of a place’s character. Right now I have the Murray Hill area in mind, a rather elite residential area that has escaped the redevelopment wrecking ball. I also like bars, restaurants, and shop windows.
Yet, bridges would make interesting subjects, especially if photographed during different times of the day.
A museum worth checking out is J P Morgan.
Have fun!

removed account4 · May 14, 2018

hi rachelle

what sort of photograph were you interested in doing in boston ? architectural stuff, historic stuff or people stuff or touristy stuff ?

john

== added later ==

you might check out the freedom trail ( Dead Link Removed ) you don't need to do the guided
tour but wander yourself. it will take you to some historic graveyards and through beacon hill and the north end
and to bunker hill monument .. you can wander through the public garden to the back bay which
has the largest collection of brownstone rowhouses in the states, and check out the commonwealth avenue "mall"
which is a long park that runs in the middle of commonwealth ave .. every block ends with a "tall building"
or a church there's public sculpture grass and trees ... over the top you will see "the high spine" which is
where the skyscrapers are built ( planning term boston invented when they started building stuff ) and you
can go to the top of the handcock tower to the observatory ... you can get a tour of the trinity church in copley square
and wander around the public library. the library and church are bragged about often as being the best in the states.
hh richardson built the church and mckim meed and white built the library .. and depending on what day you go
they might be broadcasting a radio program from the library .. you can also go to the top of the prudential center
to the restaurant to have a snack ( it turns to give you panoramic views of the city )
across the charles river you can head over to cambridge and somerville ( i wouldn't drive, the T is your friend )
check out the musical subway station in kendal square with installations by paul matisse so you can make music while
you wait ... you can check out harvard square ( its the center of the universe, honest ) and MIT ... and wander
around the streets of cambridge ... central and davis square are highlights too ... kind of grungy and davis square
has a restored vintage diner ( 1941 semi streamlined worcester lunch car ) if you go to union square somerville
you can have a bite to eat at buddy's truck stop, a diner from the 1920s ) ... if you want you can take a small boat
to the harbor islands, there's lots of them and lots of stuff to see... there's also the leather district near south station
its a warhouse district where they'd work on leather products huge warehouses that stretch for 1/4 mile, and chinatown ...
if you get "bored" with boston as the others have suggested concord, lexington, arlington .. nashua NH and
southeast of boston you can drive to cape cod and hang out in provincetown where the plgrams landed before
they made it to plimouth ... and south of boston about IDK 40minuts you can go to the later mill
in pawtucket ri, where the US industrial revolution was born.

Nodda Duma · May 14, 2018

I second the Lexington and Concord area. There are some nice 18th century neighborhoods there as well.

I’m only an hour from Boston if you’d like to see southern New Hampshire. There’s examples of New England countryside and farm homes (Hollis) as well as industrial revolution era millyards (Nashua) around here.

mooseontheloose · May 14, 2018

@jnanian - Wow thanks John! That's a ton of information to go through, but sounds like a good way to explore the city. I'll have to sit down with that explanation and google maps to get a clear sense of the plan.

@Nodda Duma - Jason, I didn't realise you were so close! It would be very fun to meet the man revitalising the dry plate industry (still waiting for mine to arrive). And both Hollis and Nashua seem to have some interesting old buildings that would be fun to photograph. I might have to scratch another day off Toronto...

Nodda Duma · May 14, 2018

mooseontheloose said:
@Nodda Duma - Jason, I didn't realise you were so close! It would be very fun to meet the man revitalising the dry plate industry (still waiting for mine to arrive). And both Hollis and Nashua seem to have some interesting old buildings that would be fun to photograph. I might have to scratch another day off Toronto...

Let me know ... Sounds like it'd be a great excuse to take a day off from work!

By the way, in Boston your best bet is to hit the freedom trail (I'm sure you already know that).

winger · May 14, 2018

I second the Freedom Trail (on your own, no guide really needed). It'll hit many of the high points and some pretty scenic spots, too. The MFA is good if the weather is bad. Personally, I would substitute Cape Ann, Gloucester, Newburyport, or something else up the coast in place of either Plimoth Plantation or Sturbridge.

removed account4 · May 14, 2018

mooseontheloose said:
@jnanian - Wow thanks John! That's a ton of information to go through, but sounds like a good way to explore the city. I'll have to sit down with that explanation and google maps to get a clear sense of the plan.

glad i could help!
im in RI, if you are interestd in some rust belt / abandonned mills / haunted graveyard stuff
i can point you in the right direction, but it seems off your path

btw the freedom trail i linked to has a map ... not sure if it is still a brick stripe in the sidewalk its pretty ez ...

mooseontheloose · May 14, 2018

jnanian said:
glad i could help!
im in RI, if you are interestd in some rust belt / abandonned mills / haunted graveyard stuff
i can point you in the right direction, but it seems off your path

btw the freedom trail i linked to has a map ... not sure if it is still a brick stripe in the sidewalk its pretty ez ...

Maybe not! I had no idea where Rhode Island was - I guess I always thought it was closer to New York. There's just too many things to see and do!

Alan Edward Klein · May 14, 2018

If you're staying in Brooklyn, you might hop over to the Brooklyn Museum a block from Grand Army Plaza. There's parking lot there. You can cover everything there in less than a day and it has the second largest Egyptian section after the Met Museum. It's also is next to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, Prospect Park and Brooklyn Zoo which you can walked to in a few minutes from the Museum. I wouldn't hang out necessarily in Prospect Park after dark. But NYC is a lot safer than it was 21 years ago and the people are great. Have a terrific time.
https://goo.gl/maps/hAQmDpzwwqr

If you're looking for sunrises and sunset, I found a terrific APP called TPE or The Photographer Ephemeris. It will show where the sun and moon rises and sets so you can plan your photo shoot.
Dead Link Removed

removed account4 · May 14, 2018

i know what you mean !
its just south of boston about an hour ... but the old mills and haunted cemetaries well, they are a bit further !
( near purgatory and sodom ! ) ..
people always confuse RHODE island with LONG island .. couple ez ways to remember the difference
RI has clear clam chowder, not the red tomato-ee stuff ...
RI= birthplace of religous freedom ( and insisted bill of rights be included in the us constitution .. oops ! )
oh, and long island is a .. 100 mile by 3mile island where captain kangaroo lived, rhode island is a tiny state where talking heads were from ...

if you are ever south/west ( or east depending on how you get to NA ) again .. drop me a PM ill give you teh 5¢ tour !

mooseontheloose · May 14, 2018

So I thought Sodom and Purgatory was a joke, until I researched them and of course they are real places! As my students would say, O-M-G!

TheFlyingCamera · May 14, 2018

If you're hanging in Brooklyn, take the subway out to Coney Island for some real serious street photography. Watch out who you're pointing the camera at though - there are Russian mobsters in the area and they don't take kindly to being photographed. But if you're in the amusement park proper or the boardwalk on the beach, you're probably fine.

mooseontheloose · May 15, 2018

TheFlyingCamera said:
If you're hanging in Brooklyn, take the subway out to Coney Island for some real serious street photography. Watch out who you're pointing the camera at though - there are Russian mobsters in the area and they don't take kindly to being photographed. But if you're in the amusement park proper or the boardwalk on the beach, you're probably fine.

Actually, I was thinking of heading down to Coney Island to do just that! (minus the Russians of course).

Poisson Du Jour · May 15, 2018

mooseontheloose said:
So I thought Sodom and Purgatory was a joke, until I researched them and of course they are real places! As my students would say, O-M-G!

Really? Then your next reading should be Dante's Inferno: Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso

removed account4 · May 15, 2018

mooseontheloose said:
So I thought Sodom and Purgatory was a joke, until I researched them and of course they are real places! As my students would say, O-M-G!

yep ... lots of mill towns with interesting names 'round here ...

guangong · May 15, 2018

jnanian said:
yep ... lots of mill towns with interesting names 'round here ...

Jnanian, browse H L Mencken America Language Supplement Two, Place Names. Sodom and Purgatory are pretty tame.

Mooseontheloose, I second a trip to Brooklyn Art Museum. New management at Met Art has promoted Met Museum as must see tourist attraction and now crowded with disinterested hord who only want selfie to show friends they have been there.
Among the more interesting sites to visit are parts of streets that have been blocked of with tables and chairs by mayors Bloomberg and deBlasio. Mainly used by homeless, you can watch a lot of drug deals going on, although I would use caution taking pictures. I haven’t tried to take pictures of these activities myself.

removed account4 · May 15, 2018

guangong said:
Jnanian, browse H L Mencken America Language Supplement Two, Place Names. Sodom and Purgatory are pretty tame.

never said they weren't tame ... i said they were "interesting"
'round these parts every 3000 yards was another port, farm or mill village typically
with either a local ( narragansett ) name, or something else .. like moscow or galilee
or the devil's foot .. or ..

New York and Boston photo locations

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