Some photography tips are technical, involving settings on your camera or post-processing software.  Others involve craft, such as compositional methods.  Still others involve locations.  It has long been an open secret that the best time to shoot in downtown Manhattan is very early on a Sunday morning.  This is true both for still shots and video – almost any advertisement or commercial that shows the Wall Street area was shot on an early Sunday morning.  As the area has traditionally been completely commercial for decades, there is usually almost nobody on the streets at that time except for photographers.  The last weekend in May, I woke at 4 am to do just that, and did see very few people except for other photogs, some fishermen hanging out in Battery Park, plus a few cops and private security people.  That might be changing, as more buildings in the area convert to residences.  Somebody walked out of this doorway about 7 seconds after I shot this bracket.  This building, at 20 Exchange Place, is undergoing a restoration as parts of it are converted to residential use.

And here’s a bonus compositional tip: narrow streets with tall buildings look cool shot on a wide-angle lens in portrait (vertical) mode.

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