Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Behind The Shot: Tribute In Light


As you know, NYC is known for its spectacular skylines. When it comes to photography, there is no other place like NY. New York City is an unparalleled photographic location.

For many people, a beautiful landscape image serves as an escape to a peaceful place away from the noise, congestion and stress of civilization. As I’ve mentioned many times before, photography has been an excellent therapeutic outlet for me. For several years, I've been trying to capture a good picture of the Tribute in Light in Manhattan, (lights aiming skyward in two column as a remembrance of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks).

In 2016, I captured the Tribute in Light from Brooklyn Bridge Park, the DUMBO neighborhood near the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn. There were hundreds of photographers lined up in a small park along the water between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridge. I was happy with one of the final images of the New York City skyline that night.

The following year, I took the afternoon off work, and headed to New York City to try capture the Tribute in Light from the Exchange Place Waterfront in Jersey City, New Jersey. This was a once a year photo opportunity, the 16th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

I arrived early in the evening, there was still plenty of daylight to find a good spot and setup my gear. To my surprise, as you can see in the image posted at the bottom, only a handful number of photographers were lined up at the Exchange Place Waterfront waiting for the blue hour.

As soon as the Tribute of Light illuminated the NYC skyline, I took dozens of images hoping to capture at least a couple of good pictures, then catch the PATH train back to Manhattan. I didn't want to miss my Greyhound bus back to Philadelphia.

The bus ride took two hours each way. Once I arrived home that night, I selected a couple of images for post-processing editing to give my images a crisper vibrant look. The final image was edited using Adobe Photoshop Elements with the Topaz Adjust filter applied. I am quite happy with the final result.

The trip was all worth it, and I had tons of fun! Enjoy!


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