Photographer Michael Ip gives his account of the first moments of the downtown Manhattan blackout caused by Hurricane Sandy.

"Hurricane Sandy's winds started to pick up strength around 8 p.m. when I decided to venture outside my Union Square apartment to take some photographs. I wanted to see if I could capture any of the damage caused by Sandy. I barely even made it across the street when the power went out. At that moment I ran up the stairs to my 12th floor apartment and grabbed my tripod. My intent was to illustrate how eerie an electricity-less Union Square (and surrounding areas) is."

Most of these images were shot at 15 second exposures, which would account for the streaking lights..

Michael Ip is a freelance photojournalist and photo editor based in New York City. To see more of Michael's work, visit www.mikeip.com.