Blue hour in Boston
Boston has a lovely skyline, and I was lucky enough to be there last week and capture it during a stunning blue hour. Here are 4 HDR photos that illustrate the beauty of this magnificent skyline - enjoy!
I spent a night shooting in Boston last week - fun!
Boston is one of those cities that I rarely ever need to travel to. I have been a few times in my life, and once with a camera about 6 years ago, but I can't say I really got any good shots. I was pretty new to the whole photography thing, and in addition to my lack of skills, I didn't know where to go or know anyone there to shoot it with.
That changed last week when I had a 2 night visit to Boston. While work occupied me on night 1, I was free to go shoot on the 2nd night so I met up with local photographer and all around good guy Bob Lussier. Bob and I have been online friends for years but this was my first chance to meet him in person.
We met up at Fan Pier and shoot there through sunset and on into blue hour, both of which turned out to be pretty nice. There wasn't an amazing sunset, but the gorgeous skyline with the lights coming on during blue hour was pretty spectacular.
Since Bob and I both shoot with an Olympus OMD EM-1, he was kind enough to let me borrow his wide-angle lens, the new 7-14mm Pro lens for the Olympus line. I have been debating with myself as to whether or not I should get it, and this was my first chance to try it.
I loved it.
What a great lens. In fact, I never took it off once I got started (thanks again Bob!). In my old Nikon days a few years back, nearly all my shots were with the wide-angle, so when I converted to Olympus I made a concerted effort to diversify my shooting a bit, and ended up addicted to shooting with their 12-40mm Pro lens, which is also a wonderful lens and great for all around use. But I must say that putting on that wide angle sure reminds of the old days when I did that all the time.
So today's pics are all 3 exposure HDR photos taken with the wide angle lens during blue hour in Boston last week. That's another thing that I have been thinking about - HDR photography. I have gotten away from it over the last year, but for various reasons I have started processing in HDR again, and am loving it like I did when I first discovered it. Fun!
Ah, the joys of photography! Hope you enjoyed today's pics! Thanks for stopping by!
Sunset silhouettes
When you find yourself in a fabulous city like New York, and it's sunset, and you have your camera with you - it's time to fire away! (hey Jim, that's obvious!)
But sometimes you get home and think about the shots you didn't take. That's ok, and it does happen. But it's also rewarding when you decide to change your habits and do something you never really do, and it works out great. Here's 6 pics from Central Park where I changed things up and it worked out great. Have a look!
Sunset in Central Park
Last year, I made two trips to New York City, and both were great. Quite obviously, there is a lot to shoot there. I can imagine a million different things you could shoot in a city like that. But of course, I didn't have time for them all. :-)
One evening I made my way up to Central Park for the sunset. I started in the Strawberry Fields area, and then wandered over to the Bow Bridge and Bethesda Fountain. Thinking back on it, I know I left a lot of shots untaken.
Sadly, that happens quite a bit.
When I return from a trip, I am always excited to dump the images on to my hard drive and start reviewing them. It's sort of like Christmas morning when you are a kid. You have some idea of what's waiting for you, but you just have to see it to believe it.
But here's what else always happens to me - I review the images, and while I find plenty that I like, I also start to think of many other ideas I could have done, but just didn't think of at the time. It's fairly disappointing, really. And sad of course, because who knows when I may return?
Nonetheless, I did get a lot of shots that I liked, including today's photos. As sunset was happening and the sky was all beautiful, I was firing away quite happily.
But I decided to do things very differently than I used to do.
As recently as 6 months ago (which really isn't that long ago), I would have been doing wide angle shots in full-on HDR mode. In other words, I would have done everything possible to capture the full range of light in the scene - foreground, middle and background. Then in post, I would merge them to HDR in Photomatix and process it like my normal HDR shots - that is, with a fairly evenly lit scene, displaying many of the details across the entire shot.
But not this time.
I opted for a completely different take on a sunset. I thought it would be different yet interesting to silhouette the majestic skyline and focus instead on the wonderful light in the sky. I wanted to mask the details and focus on the quality of the light and the colors.
In other words, I knew HDR was not going to be my approach when I took these. I knew that when I saw the sunset. I knew that when I set up the shots, and I knew that when I pressed the shutter button. And yes, I stuck with my decision when it was time to process these.
So even though you may leave a scene without getting everything you want, or you get home and realize some other creative things you could have done - it's still great to look back and think that you DID pick a different way of doing things, and stuck with it...and find that you rather like the results.
The skyline of Manhattan
Ah, New York City - what an impressive skyline! Today's post is a couple of photos shot from Brooklyn, while staring out at the most-photographed skyline in the world. Good times!
New York City is a pretty fun place to photograph!
If you follow me on social media, over the last couple of weeks you probably saw a few iPhone shots from NYC. I was there a couple of weeks back, and shot quite a bit while there. It was awesome. I hope to return.
The last time I was there was something like 5 years ago, and although I brought my camera and snapped a few, they weren't very good, and frankly I didn't know where to go. I just sort of wandered aimlessly and shot at this and that. There was no plan.
This time, I was much better organized, and frankly my camera skills are a lot better! Whenever I am heading somewhere, I compile a list of spots that I want to shoot, and at times even print out a map to plot my route, so as to maximize my time there. There's nothing worse than shooting something and walking 10 blocks, only to realize you ALSO wanted to shoot something that is 10 blocks behind you. That sucks.
One of my main targets on this trip was to get some shots of the Manhattan skyline, which is obviously rather impressive. I have seen a lot of shots over the years from a lot of locations, but my favorite has been the one above, which is lower Manhattan shot from Brooklyn. I love the look of those old pier pilings fading into the distance, with that impressive skyline rising behind it.
On this evening, I shot with my friend Mark Garbowski, who lives in NYC and has been a social media friend for years. It was great to finally meet up in person (which is something I recommend doing when you travel) and hang out with a like-minded photographer. Check out his work, well worth it!
And while we didn't get an amazing sunset, we did enjoy an amazing view, and it was a great night of photography. More to come from NYC over the coming weeks - just need to get some processing time!
And for those who are curious, these are both 3 exposure HDRs, shot with my lovely (and light!) Olympus OM-D EM-1. I have a review of the camera that I am writing, and hope to share it soon!
A view of Panama City
It's been a while since I shared a photo from Panama City, Panama!
I was cruising through my library and saw a couple of folders from my two Panama trips, and thought I would get in there and process a little something for ya! So, here it is. This is a partial view of the skyline from their old town area known as Casco Viejo.
I really find Panama City, Panama to be an interesting place. On the one hand you have Casco Viejo, which is their historic city center full of Spanish colonial architecture and some absolute poverty, and then just across the water (or around the edge of it, if you walk like I did) you have the gleaming, shiny new face of Panama City. There are so many skyscrapers that seem to just grow overnight. It's pretty impressive, actually.
But there is such a difference in these two sides of Panama. One is glitzy, tall, shiny and full of wealth (or so it seems), while the other is covered in stucco or plaster, about 2 stories high at the most, old but historic, and frankly very poor. It's almost hard to wrap your head around these differences. They are polar opposites but live as neighbors. Honestly, I bet it is hard for the older generation there to see the "new" Panama and wonder if it really is an improvement.
Either way, as a photographer and/or tourist, I recommend you see both and experience them for yourself. I think you will find it as interesting as I do.
Sunset in Amsterdam
Ah, lovely Amsterdam! What an interesting city!
I find Amsterdam to be very interesting. It's a study in contrasts, really. It's a city rich in history and culture, but it's better known as a party town. It has incredible museums, but people go there for it's relaxed views on things. The architecture is fabulous, and the old churches are beautiful. It's really a great place. More than many other towns, it wears these 2 hats equally well, I believe.
Being in my mid-forties and interested in the photography aspect of cities, I love going there, but obviously not for the party. I enjoy seeing all the canals, museums, and architecture - and then photographing the heck out if it.
On my trip there last year, I wandered around while sunset and blue hour were approaching, as I was looking for a nice vantage point to get some shots that I hadn't seen before. I was on the fringes of the Red Light District when I saw a little alley sort of thing that appeared to end at some water. I wandered down that alley and was confronted with this wonderful view.
Since sunset was upon me, I fired away for a bit and then waited for blue hour too, since I always love to get nice reflections at that time of day, and the water was really still here due to very limited boat traffic in the canal.
That's one thing about HDR photography - while it's great most of the time, I find that it really excels during sunset and blue hour. It just does so much more to a photograph than a single exposure can give you.
Walking the Cinta Costera
Panama City, Panama is a very interesting city!
Have you ever been to Panama? Have you considered it? It's definitely an interesting and beautiful place, though I will admit I am more of a Europhile than anything else. Having said that, I will say that my trips to Panama over the years (I think it's 4 trips total at this point) have been fun, educational, and have given me the chance to take a lot of great photos that I am proud of.
One thing that really surprised me on my first visit was the skyline. In one word: WOW!
When you are driving around there (and I recommend you hire a driver - no way am I crazy enough to drive myself there!) the first thing you see is this massive skyline which seems to sprout out of nowhere. The other thing you notice is the abject poverty which exists side by side with such obvious display of wealth. It's interesting, like I said.
There is also a coastal strand with a walking/biking path which winds its way along the shoreline, between the water and the skyline. It's called the Cinta Costera, and on my last visit I decided to head out and wander along the strand for a while. I went through a fish market and ended up at their old town area known as Casco Viejo. It was crazy hot and humid, but it was great to see the city on foot. I grabbed this shot near the beginning of my walk.
The San Antonio skyline
I love to shoot skylines - aren't they beautiful?
I think that given the chance, just about everyone enjoys taking a photo of some city's skyline. They are just interesting, and beautiful. I tend to be biased towards things like that because I just love architecture. But I'm sure others feel the same way.
I was invited down to San Antonio recently to shoot the skyline from atop the roof of a condo building. The agents in charge of selling the condo opted to go for a social media approach in getting the word out on the condo, and as such invited a bunch of Texas-based photographers down to San Antonio to shoot away. We did.
It was a great event, with about 20 photographers all hanging out in the condo, and then taking off to the roof around sunset and through blue hour. We shot like crazy. I have a load of photos still to process from that night, but wanted to toss out these first two for now.
And by the way, if you want to have a look at the condo, you can do so on its website, which is here: http://lacascada.kuperexclusive.com/
#SAskyline #SAcityscape
Staring down on Nashville
What's your favorite skyline to shoot? It's hard to beat this view of Nashville! I love standing up here and firing away!
I love shooting city skylines, and doubly so when they are fronted by a body of water. I live in Austin, TX and our skyline is a perfect example of this. We have a river running right in front of it, and it's awesome. Add in some twinkly lights during blue hour, and I am one heck of a happy guy!!
But of course Nashville, TN has this as well (one of the many similarities between these two cities) and whenever I visit I love to get up here on the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge and fire away! It's incredible to stand up here, looking down on a beautiful skyline, and watching the clouds pass and the river roll by. Great fun!
I caught this shot on one of my visits there a while back, and try to get up here on every visit to shoot it again. So, I have a lot of shots from this spot but they all seem to be slightly different. It looks like I might make it to Nashville again before the year ends, so it's pretty likely I will be standing here again soon! Pray for good clouds for me, will ya??
By the way, this was a sunrise shot. I love shooting early and getting in my creativity first thing in the morning!
Austin reflected
Like any photographer in his home town, I have a handful of “go to” spots that I love to shoot from. In my experience, you start out hitting as many spots as possible when you are new to photography (and the list of places you want to get to in your hometown never stops growing) but over time you develop a fondness for a few key spots. This is one of mine. I go back as often as I can.
The Colorado River runs through Austin, and we dam it up in several spots to form lakes. This section is called Lady Bird Lake, but was previously known as Town Lake (and that’s what old-timers like me still call it). As you can see, this section runs right next to the downtown skyline, which is why I like it. I love shooting reflections, especially in HDR, and this is the best place for it in town.
You can find all my favorite spots around Austin here on my list. Enjoy!
Sunset in Austin
I love the Austin skyline. I think it’s very photogenic, especially when you are on the banks of Lady Bird Lake and get the reflections and lights twinkling in the water. Normally I am aiming my camera to the larger part of the skyline, which is out of frame to the right. You can see that pic here.
But in this instance, the sunset was producing some nice color out West which was in this direction, so I swung the camera around and aimed this way for a shot. This probably makes Austin seem small, but the town has grown a lot over the years, and people keep coming here.
As a result, the skyline is vastly different from what it was just a few short years ago. But in my opinion, the skyline has actually improved as these new buildings have gone up. If nothing else, it’s more stuff to aim a camera at!
Blue hour on the Austin skyline
I may be a little biased, but I think the Austin skyline is pretty awesome. Anytime I can get a skyline with a river in front of it (hello, Nashville!) then I am pretty happy, especially during sunset or blue hour. Everything just seems so calm and peaceful...but in reality, I am firing brackets like a madman!
I grabbed this one a few weeks back when I was out with my friends Andy and Kay (and Kay’s wife - they were in town from Germany). Glad we were able to show them a nice view of Austin!
Last light in Nashville
Are you a sunset or sunrise type of person? I tend to prefer shooting at sunrise, but lately have been getting more sunsets - which is fine with me, especially when they look like this!
This was an incredible sunset that I shot in Nashville, TN. My plan that day was to shoot sunset from the nearby Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge (which is the bridge you see off to the left) but at the last moment I opted to walk down along the shoreline and see if I could find a nice spot to capture both the sunset and some nice reflections of the skyline in the Cumberland River. I found a great spot. :-)
Blue hour on the Portland skyline
Portland, OR is a beautiful town, or at least the parts of it that I saw are beautiful. I met a bunch of other photographers up there for a photo weekend, and the first evening out we hit this spot to shoot the skyline. I am not sure how many pics I took in this area, but it’s a lot! One of my favorite things to shoot is skylines and reflections, specifically during blue hour. So in this case, I got both. :-)
The Panama City skyline
Here’s another Panama shot for this week - this time it’s the skyline from their old town known as Casco Viejo. The skyline there is stunning. I have heard it described as the Dubai of Central America. Though I haven’t been to Dubai, I think that is a fitting description. The skyscrapers here just seem to rise out of nowhere, and there are a bunch of them. It’s impressive to see in person, and fun to photograph!
On each of my visits, there always seems to be rain clouds hanging around, which in my opinion are helpful since they add some more interest to the sky. Of course, I have been rained on there too, and that's no fun. But it never seems to last too long, so I can get back out and shoot all the cool stuff in this interesting city.
Painting the Nashville skyline
Here’s another shot from the incredible sunset I witnessed recently up in Nashville, TN. Talk about a colorful sunset - it was just amazing. I love shooting at sunset, and when you get rewarded with stuff like this, it’s just that much more special.
What’s your favorite time to shoot? Sunrise? Sunset? Something else?
By the way, I shot this one with my favorite lens, the Nikon 14-24 wide angle lens. Shooting landscapes and cityscapes (or skylines) like this one with a wide angle lens can really make a huge impact. You can just get so much in the frame!
That lens is an incredible piece of glass, and I just posted a review of it. You can find that review here: http://www.nomadicpursuits.com/nikon-14-24-review/