Walking the Brooklyn Bridge

Posted on by Stacy P. Fischer

(14 photos) I think most people walk across the Brooklyn Bridge in about an hour. Me? It took over three. Despite the mid-afternoon sun, it was a photographer’s paradise! Take a walk with me as I show you what I saw as I meandered the 1.3-mile route. All photos from the Fuji X100T.

I began my walk from Brooklyn, and I have to admit, despite directions from very helpful passersby, it took me 20 minutes to find the entrance to the pedestrian walkway. Warning: it’s not very well marked. But as I finally began my trek, seeing the east span of the Manhattan Bridge in the distance was a great beginning.

Beginning of Brooklyn Bridge walkway from Brooklyn side

The approach is far from pretty, but with my focus on the east span ahead, I hardly noticed.

Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian walkway from Brooklyn with top of One World Trade Center just coming into view.

And then I spied the iconic through-the-buildings shot of the Manhattan Bridge!

Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian walkway

10 minutes more and wow! There is a dedicated bicycle lane on the bridge, but it’s difficult to fully pay attention when your mouth is hanging down to your feet and all you can do is stare at the scene unfolding in front of you.

Bicyclist on Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian walkway

I was fortunate that the walkway wasn’t crowded, but there were just enough pedestrians to make the walk interesting.

Brooklyn Bridge east span from pedestrian walkway

Of course, all who cross the bridge aim to get this shot of one of the spans. It took some waiting, but it was worth it!

East span Brooklyn Bridge from pedestrian walkway

I also waited to get this shot with the sun star.

East Span of Brooklyn Bridge with sun flare.

And there are plenty of opportunities to take photos of others taking photos!

Brooklyn Bridge west span from pedestrian walkway

This shot happened too quickly for me to move to behind the photographer; she was capturing the Manhattan skyline behind the “jumper” 🙂

Brooklyn Bridge Fun

Brooklyn Bridge west span from pedestrian walkway

The view looking back toward Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Bridge east span looking toward Brooklyn

A jog in the walkway presents a wonderful photographic vantage point to shoot the traffic on the bridge. My aim was to capture a NYC taxi at just the right moment in the frame. This wasn’t exactly the frame I wanted, but it was close and there were others waiting to take my place, so on I went.

Brooklyn Bridge traffic

Guided bicycle crossings of the bridge are popular among tourists.

Bicyclists on Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian walkway

And much to my surprise, the bridge sports “love locks.” If I had known about these locks, I would have brought one to leave with a simple, but well-known, message: I ❤️NY!

Love locks on the Brooklyn Bridge

 Next on my bucket list: Crossing it at night!

54 thoughts on “Walking the Brooklyn Bridge”

  1. There is just something about a bridge that fills me with excitement (have you been to Pittsburgh? More bridges than all other cities in the world but one).
    Anyway, this is a wonderful photo essay and I’m so glad you shared the “approach” shots.

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    • The last time I was in Pittsburgh was over a decade ago, long before I had a true appreciation or interest in the art of photography. I had no idea about the bridge fact, though. I do love shooting them, so now I’ll definitely have to go back 🙂 Thanks, Laurie!

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  2. Wonderful walk over Brooklyn Bridge, Stacy. The number of times I have been to the city and yet I have never thought about walking over it.

    Great photos which bring the whole scene alive. I look forward to seeing your night-time shots.

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  4. Great post, Stacy. I really liked your images. I also recall the entrance as being hard to find, but I din’t take the approach you did. It was a hidden stairwell underneath the Brooklyn side of the bridge. Hopefully I can find it again next month when I head back up there.

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    • Ooh, I know that stairwell. I just took it when I crossed the bridge yesterday to get to Jane’s Carousel 🙂 I can see why you want to concentrate on Brooklyn during your September visit. So many great vistas to shoot. I didn’t have time to get to Brooklyn Bridge Park and certainly want to shoot there at sunset at a minimum! Thanks, Robin 🙂

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  5. Oh I love this bridge. I never got to go on it. By far the pedestrians have the best advantage point to look at the bridge. Thanks for leading up to the bridge. Beautiful photos and the one from down low just terrific 🙂

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    • Thanks, Kaz! And, well, you just HAVE to come back! And seems you’re not alone in liking the one from down low 🙂 This was one I waited for, camera on the bridge, remote in my hand, poised for some unsuspecting passerby to do exactly as this young woman did (and that her outfit/accessories were so colorful was just awesome!!).

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    • I would love that! I’m still working on my travel plans, but I’ll let you know as soon as things are firmed up (which depends on my husband’s plans). I did get to return this week on a quick overnight trip, but managed to work in a sunrise walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn. That was a quicker walk because I wanted to get over to Brooklyn to shoot the skyline from the waterfront. It was wonderful! I’m glad you liked the post – it was fun putting it together as a timeline 🙂 Thanks, Leanne!

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  10. Wow bridge-sister, these are truly fabulous shots. The one from down low and the two with a single person coming towards you are all especially fabulous. I can only imagine how great it would be at night!

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  14. Oh Stacy I can tell you had a lot of fun. I did that once (many years ago) on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fran. It was a gorgeous sunny day. I only had a kodak 110mm film camera (yes it was that long ago. I had a blast.

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    • Oh, Cee, I don’t know why I didn’t think about being able to do this on my absolute favorite bridge! Thanks for making me realize I could do this – I actually have the opportunity to go back to San Francisco in the fall and now I definitely know at least one trek I’m going to add to my schedule 😀 Thanks for that!

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  15. A great trek Stacy, I love how you managed to carve out fabulous scenes in, and out, of the crowds. I have to say though I find the approach sort of pretty . . . . Can’t wait to see your night shots!

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    • That’s what taking three hours did, Patti 😉 As for the “prettiness” of the approach, I defer to a NYC dweller 🙂 Missed the night shots this last go round, but did get some sunrise shots of the skyline from the bridge!

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  17. Stunning shots of the magnificent bridge, Stacy. Emily Warren Roebling stepped in the project when her husband got ill as the “first woman field engineer” and was the first to cross the bridge. 🙂 Love this bridge!

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    • Yes! But I was really lucky the day I went. I’ve seen photos of the bridge just being packed – usually on nice weekends and on holidays. It was the middle of the week and earlier in the morning, so perhaps that was the key. I really did have plenty of space to move around and shoot, and the people really can add fun elements to the photos 😀

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  20. Thanks for the photo tour – and the images are spectacular. This is something I want to do some time when I am in NYC. I think my kids would enjoy it too. It’s good to know that the pedestrian access point is tricky to identify. I will have to do my research on that before we go.

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