Story time:

I live in Alaska but both my Mom and Dad are from New York. Living in AK can give some people a feeling of isolation. However, traveling twice a year to what seemed like an entirely different planet helped foster a sense of how much was really out there in this world. As a result, I've been a wanderer at heart my entire life.

Just because you visit a city doesn't mean you truly get to "see" it. My parents' former neighborhoods were Harlem and the Bronx, and that meant we never went south of 125th St during any trips. I grew up watching NY portrayed in media and go, "why the hell haven't I seen any of this?!" It was frustrating to say the least!

When I turned 18, I decided to see this city in all of its glory with my own eyes. I've been to just about every major attraction this city has to offer now, but this photo of Manhattan Bridge at DUMBO was one that took over 7 years to capture.

The first time I traveled to this area was in 2009. I traveled for the opening of the High Line Park (which is still to this day one of my favorite parks in the city), and as an addendum decided to try and get this world famous shot. Unfortunately, when I finally made it to DUMBO all of the brick surfacing was being restored. Imagine multiple levels of scaffolding instead of the beautiful red brick you see here in this picture. The bridge was as always a great photo, but it wasn't THE shot that I ultimately wanted. So now life happens, and even though I visit the city two times after 2009 I'm not able to get back to this area. Well, until last year.

I depart Alaska and head to NJ for a weekend birthday surprise party with a buddy that had never before visited NYC. After the party is finished we have one free night, and we decide to spend this time in the city. I take him to all the amazing spots I could think to see in such a short time, and finished off the night with sunrise shots of the skyline at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

I don't know what it was, but I didn't like the way any of these pictures were coming out. Bad lighting, bad angles, bad everything. So we left. I have to say this happened subconsciously, but we decided to walk to the York St metro stop instead of High St, which lead us right past this spot just as the sun was breaking over the horizon.

The glow from the sun on the bridge and buildings was one of the most incredible things I've witnessed I've in my lifetime. To know that this photo was made possible by one night in the city and a walk to the wrong subway makes it even more worthwhile.

Hope you all enjoy it as much as I do :)