New York City Photography?

Tomorrow I'm going to New York City and I'm bringing my Nikon d3100. Do you guys have any tips for shooting in New York City? I'm going to go on top of the Empire State Building (I believe at night) will i need a tripod to capture good pictures? I will also be taking pictures of Times Square. Any tips?

I would take a tripod for balance sake. With a tripod you will get a good steady picture and i also recommend taking pictures of landscapes in central park because it is beautiful! Central park goes on for miles but every piece of it is beautiful! Tips: when your are on the empire state building ry tilting your camera downwards… It gives the picture an amazing illusion. (from experience)

If you plan on shooting at night you'll definitely need a tripod. Your camera will have to be in Manual Mode with the AF on the body and lens switched to the "Off" position. Set your camera to its highest resolution - 4608 x 3072 and use ISO 200 or lower. Set your lens to infinity For exposures of 30 seconds or less you can use your camera's self-timer to release the shutter. For exposure longer than 30 seconds you'll need to use the "B" (Bulb) setting on your shutter speed dial and the Nikon Remote Control MC-DC2.

I use and recommend this site for low-light exposures:
http://www.calculator.org/...osure.aspx

I used the Scene 'Distant view of city skyline or floodlit buildings' and ISO 200 for these pictures:

100mm @ f11 with an exposure of 30 seconds.

200mm @ f11 with an exposure of 30 seconds.

There was no editing done to either picture.

You might want to try using the Scene 'Skyline 10 minutes after sunset, neon lights, stage lighting, spotlighting', especially if you have a nice sunset or in Times Square where there's a lot of neon.