New York Central Park — Autumn Canopy from Above
33,066.10 ¥
Central Park’s tree canopy in peak autumn colour photographed from directly overhead — the patchwork of red oaks, yellow ginkgos, and orange maples creating a colour mosaic bordered by the Manhattan grid’s stone and glass.
Description
Central Park in October provides one of urban aerial photography’s most satisfying subjects — the park’s designed landscape, with its deliberately varied tree species chosen by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux for precisely this seasonal colour effect, produces a colour mosaic that is maximally legible from directly above. This photograph was made at 180 metres from a directly overhead position, the camera looking straight down to eliminate all perspective distortion and create a pure planimetric view of the canopy colour. The paths, the Reservoir, and the Great Lawn are visible as geometric interruptions in the canopy, while the Manhattan grid buildings surrounding the park create a sharp boundary between the organic park geometry and the orthogonal urban grid. The autumn colour at peak — typically mid-October — includes the deep red of the native oaks, the pure yellow of the ginkgos, and the orange-red of the maples, all distinguishable by their colour signature.
