Top of the Rock Rocks!
Hey everybody. So i’m back in Florida after a couple of days hanging out in New York – and all went very well. The shot above is a view from the “Top of The Rock” observatory at the top of Rockerfeller Center in NYC. For the longest time I have been wanting a shot of this vantage point, and just quite wasn’t able to make it work. The biggest problems that I thought i’d have up there were winds and the fact that you cant shoot with a tripod. The Top of The Rock website does have a form that you can fill out to request some time as a Photo Shoot.. but I filled it out several weeks ago and have YET to hear a response from them. I figured “OK.. well.. I can understand a Tripod for safety.. but can they stop a Magic Arm?”
The Magic Arm is the Bogen 244N Variable Friction Arm. Basically its these two sections that move all over the place while ‘loose’ and when you tighten the center section, the entire arm locks down, allowing you to place your light or camera anywhere you’d like.
I had the arm connected to a Impact Super Clamp on one end. On the other end, I placed a metal stud and threaded my Really Right Stuff BH40 head. This was able to hold my D700, Battery Grip, with a 14-24 with no problem. Aside from that, a cable release took care of all of the shooting. All it took at that point was to get there with enough time (I was there about an hour or so before sunset.. got the ticket beforehand). I walked around until I saw the shot I wanted. When an opening came up, I stood in front of the area, tightened the clamp around the railing and I was good to go!
TIP: There are TWO levels at Top Of The Rock. The first level has a big glass barrier. Go up some steps and you’ll see another level that will get you slightly above those to shoot your pictures.
This is one of the shots of the group. I haven’t really gone through all of them (2 cards worth) but as soon as I get something good there (hopefully) I will share them as well. The biggest win for me here was getting turned on to the Magic Arm tho.. I’d safely say this one should be in your bag of tricks!
Click here to see the Magic Arm by Itself.
You dont HAVE to use a expensive head tho: Click here to get a camera kit with the magic arm – Just be sure to Add the Super Clamp To it!
Taz Tally in Acrobat
In addition to using PDFs for final print and Web output, PDF and Acrobat are excellent proofing tools, as well. PDF documents can be used for composite content proofs, color-separated proofs, color-managed soft proofs, and for printing color-simulation proofs. This issue we cover composite and color-separated proofs, next issue soft and color-simulation proofs…
Read More of Taz’s Tutorial Here
Contest Time
Go to the Contact page, select the Layers Blog drop-down, then fill in your name, email address and answer to this week’s following question. Remember, the contest will end Thursday 5PM,. and the winner will be announced Friday morning.
The Contest Question:Who wrote the review for the FusionCharts program for Dreamweaver?
The Prize:
A copy of my just released (So new it’s not even up on the website) Dreamweaver CS4 for Beginners DVD!
Sweet shot!
Not only impressed with your shot you took RC, but was impressed with the clamp you used in the shots. It was small enough to carry and strong enough to hold camera gear and more versatile that it looked while firmly attching to the odd shaped railings …..thinking if I go again I might need to pick one up….thanks
hey!
thx for sharing! i’m currently in ny and was wondering how to make sone good shots without a tripod.
) abs get the cramp and the arm.
definitely will head to b&h (third time in 3 days
really like your shot!
two questions: is it windy up there?
is the way with the cramp and the arm still illegal ir do they tolerate it?