I made a spontaneous date with dusk last weekend.

As I was driving home after taking photos in Manhattan all day, making my way to the Long Island Expressway, Gantry Plaza State Park started to call. I made my first trip with my camera to this park in Long Island City on a sunny morning last summer, when I met its expansive view of the midtown skyline across the East River. Last Saturday, I once again unfolded my tripod on one of its piers, but this time to re-capture the same view in a new light: sundown.

In photography parlance, that time is called the "the golden hour,” when evening’s advances subdue the harsh afternoon sun. I snapped away as dusk slowly projected her varying light off skyscrapers: the iconic Empire State and Chrysler buildings, the Citicorp Center with its slanted pinnacle, and the slender residential tower 432 Park Avenue, the newest comer to this eastern profile of the city.

As my date gradually wrapped herself around the city, the buildings appeared first as silhouettes, then eventually asserted their gleaming lights, ultimately piercing her as she slipped into dark.