The 13 Best Places to Take Pictures in New York City

New York City has to be one of the most photographer friendly cities in the world. With loads of unique buildings, its epic skyline, and stunning bridges NYC is a must visit for photographers. With so much to see my friend Phil Martin (@phil.martin) and I (@someguy) headed to NYC capture some of the most iconic photo spots in the city. Since both of us love using Instagram we had to visit the best spots to photograph in New York City.

If you haven’t taken a trip to this incredible city be sure to stop at all of these epic sights, it is full of photo ops!

Here is my list of the best places to take pictures in NYC:

Top of the Rock

Empire State Building Lit Up Blue for Autism Awareness Day

Top of the Rock has to be one of the best skyline views of New York. The only downside is that tickets are $26 and often require a wait. We rushed to get there before sunset but sadly the first available tickets were 2 hours later, so I recommend buying tickets online.

In addition to the view of the Empire State Building and One World Trade Center you can get a great view of Central Park from the north side of the building.

9th Street Path Station Tunnel

Tunnel to the 9th Street Path Station

With its dirty but clean looks and it’s unique ceiling pipework the 9th street Path tunnel speaks for itself. If you head down to the platform you’ll see a great view of the stairs and pipes as well.

World Trade Center Path Station (The Oculus)

One of the newest additions to NYC the Calatrava-designed Path station at the World Trade Center is pure beauty. Dubbed the Oculus, its unique design was chosen so that sun rays would hit the World Trade Center footprints every September for the autumnal equinox.

Fulton Center Skylight

Skylight in the Fulton Center

When Fulton Center opened up hundreds of photos of its unique skylight flooded my Instagram feed. If you want additional angles you’ll have to pay to get into the subway system.

The Vessel in Hudson Yards

One of the newest additions to New York City is the Vessel in Hudson Yards. The incredibly unique structure is a series of stairs that loops around to an incredible height.

Flatiron Building

The Flatiron building is probably one of New York City’s most iconic buildings due to its unique triangular shape. We visited on a rainy overcast day but there’s plenty of cool shrubbery to frame your shots.

Dumbo Manhattan Bridge View

The Manhattan Bridge from Water Street

On Water/Washington street in Dumbo you’ll get an epic view of the Manhattan Bridge along with the Empire State Building in the background. Just be sure to watch out for cars that occasionally drive down this street’s unique cobblestone road.

You can also walk a block up to the coast and see the New York City skyline from Pebble Beach.

Tudor City Bridge

The bridge above 42nd street in Tudor city allows for some epic views of NYC traffic and a great view of the Chrysler building. It’s even better in the summer when the trees have bloomed.

This is a great spot to shoot day or night, plus if you show up at night parking is usually easy.

Radio City Music Hall

About a block from Top of the Rock be sure to stop by Radio City Music Hall and see its iconic signage. The reflections are especially beautiful when the streets are wet from rain.

Times Square

I couldn’t make a list about New York City without including Times Square. Granted it’s a packed tourist mess but it’s still the most popular Instagram spot in the world.

Ironically I didn’t take any photos in Times Square but I’m sure you are familiar with what it looks like.

Aerial Photos From a Helicopter

Flying from a helicopter can give you a unique perspective of the big apple! There are plenty of companies that do heli rides around the city but I used FlyNYON on their 15 minute doors off flight. If you have some extra cash I think it’s well worth the experience.

If you do book a flight I recommend bringing two camera bodies since they don’t let you switch lenses during the flight.

George Washington Bridge

George Washington bridge at night

There are plenty of cool angles you can capture of the George Washington bridge as it spans over the Hudson river.

Anything with One World Trade Center

You can see One World Trade Center just about anywhere in lower Manhattan. It’s fun to line up streets in your shots of this massive building.

The photo above was taken through a puddle outside of the Fulton Center.

Let us know some of your favorite spots in NYC to photography in the comments!

There are also plenty of places not included on this list that are worth checking out such as Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the George Washington Bridge.

If you want to see more places to NYC check out my friend Drew’s list of New York City spots or this list of NYC locations on Letsimage.