A term coined by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, Manhattanhenge is a twice-yearly event when a sunset lines up with the Manhattan street grid, around 8PM on May 29/30 and July 12/13.

The idea to put Manhattanhenge in the broader space-time context (as a part of the sweeping Midtown skyline, and sandwiched between the before and after shots of same) was born out of my desire to differentiate from the common portrayal of this phenomenon, which is a closeup view of the setting sun’s disc, flanked by a pair (or more) of Manhattan buildings silhouetted by the sun’s overpowering rays.

I used a 12-24mm lens set to 12mm f/10 on a full-frame dslr. To get the building detail together with the sunset, I took a series of six bracketed exposures two f-stops apart from each other, at varying shutter speeds. These were HDR-processed into the final image.

A diagonal dash light spot directly above the Empire State Building is planet Venus. From my vantage point, Venus was in that position at 9PM. The length of the dash is the amount of the Earth’s rotation during my 30-second exposure.

You can now buy a variety of things with this image, ranging from a sleek acrylic print to a classic framed one, or even a duvet cover! In doing so, you will be supporting my photographic work.