testmeat photoblog

this is the view looking east from the tallest building in the western hemisphere - the one world trade center. it only opened last year and reaches a height of 1776 feet which was deliberately chosen to mirror the year the united states became independent (cos y'know - murica). it is an amazing building and as i never saw the original world trade center it was a unique perspective on the city for me. it was also a really difficult place from which to take photos. to start with i didn't have my tripod with me as i read (from their official faq) that it wasn't permitted, so i had to try and balance my camera on my bag and shirt at a good angle. trying to focus was another big challenge, this was where i was grateful i had a camera with live view so i could switch to that, zoom in and get better precision. but by far the biggest annoyance was that it was so bright on the inside of the 100th floor that all the lights were reflecting off the inside of the windows. every time the lens wasn't flat against the glass i had to try and block the lights that were coming in from the open angle. and that's when i could get to the glass past all of the bloody tourists, although i don't think i can complain about them seeing as i was a bloody tourist too. all in all i felt pretty exhausted by the end of my visit, but still in awe of the amazing view.

here's the original