As a photographer, I’ve grown to appreciate the cyclic nature of the seasons and the different scenes they bring to land- and cityscapes. In my part of the world, autumn arrives in mid-late October. When it does, many photographers begin hunting for the changing foliage and the perfectly still lake for a phenomenal mirrored reflection photo of the vibrant leaves. I confess that I’ve been on the hunt for such a lake in NJ, and think I may have found one…
In truth, though, the last two weeks of October mean something even more dramatic…an ever changing but always spectacular sunrise. No two sunrises are the same, and for those that brave early mornings, a sunrise almost always impresses. So why is this time of year special? It’s when the rising sun ascends into the sky from behind midtown Manhattan.
While in middle school, I learned that the seasons change periodically due to the Earth’s tilt on it’s rotational axis (thanks Mr. Buschi!). In the northern hemisphere’s summer, the north pole tilts toward the sun and the sunlight directly blasts the norther hemisphere for longer each day and thus heats up the atmosphere. In the northern hemisphere’s winter, the Earth is on the opposite side of the sun compared to summer, so the north pole tilts away from the sun and the sunlight reaches the northern hemisphere on a shallower angle and for shorter time periods, thus the cooler temps in winter. These inclinations are opposite in the southern hemisphere, hence why June-August is winter and December-February is summer there.
As the Earth orbits the sun, the location of sunrise on the horizon from a specific location shifts. As we enter summer, the sunrise moves north on the eastern horizon, and as we enter winter, it shifts southwards. Well, late October and mid February is when the sunrise shifts to behind midtown when viewing it from an overlook on a ridge a few miles from where I live. These times of the year, as we enter and exit winter, are when I wake up earlier than usual to get up there for sunrise, and each one is always unique. Sometimes there are layers of clouds creating dramatic and colorful skies, other times there are no clouds that create a beautiful gradient of color on the horizon, and on rare occasions there is a layer of fog that catches the shadows of the buildings.
Yesterday was one of the days where a light layer of early morning fog/mist caught the rising sun’s light and the shadows of the skyscrapers in Manhattan. It was one of the best sunrises I’ve seen in my five years of hunting them on the New York skyline. Autumn doesn’t just bring the colorful leaves to the trees, it also brings some extravagant and unique sunrises to Manhattan.