Despite a discouraging forecast, New Yorkers turned out in droves for what may be America's most celebrated sunset, Manhattanhenge. Our Andy Dallos staked out a spot on 42nd Street on both Tuesday and Wednesday in the hopes of photographing the street grid/sunset alignment. Cloud cover did not permit anyone to get the perfect shot (our NBC colleague Anthony Quintano got the closest I saw), it certainly wasn't for lack of trying. If Andy hadn't taken photographic proof of the red sky red carpet paparazzi these past two days (instead of going home to his family), I'm not sure anyone would believe it.
Our next shot at it is in July, on the other side of the solstice.
Lots more after the jump, PLUS a bonus DIY camera-phone tripod tip!
I mean, look at these people above. You'd think there was a movie star lying in the road! Below, the NYPD has to be called in to remove orange cones from the middle of the street, placed there by seekers of the 'henge, trying to nail the dead split.
Bonus photo tip! If you care about such things, you've no doubt read a number of clever tricks to hold your camera steady in low-light/long exposure situations - lean against a tree or a telephone pole, pull against the camera strap around your neck... But this guy's got a novel approach we hadn't seen before. It's an eight-binder-clip street sign post mounting configuration for an iPhone (with non-scuff cardboard insert!). No motion blur as long as no one bonks the sign.
