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Krakatil

Houston skyscrapers

Canon EOS REBEL T3i

settings

ISO 200 Shutter 1/40 Focal Length 50/1

upload_date

Aug, 2016

Views

172

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Behind The Lens

Location

This picture was shot in Downtown Houston one Sunday morning. Free parking on Sundays! I was thinking about shooting some downtown for a long time, and also to put my poor man's wide angle lens to test. I started from a historic Sam Houston park, then drifted into those stone jungles and found it interesting. There are a couple of other pictures from that day on my page.

Time

I set my alarm clock and got up early before my family had a chance to rise and mess my plans. This photo was taken at 8:30 in the morning, July 31st this year, Sunday, as I mentioned. You have all the downtown for yourself at this hour!

Lighting

The bright day made reflections in glass walls crisp and clear, just as I wanted, and because it was still early morning, long shadows added some air.

Equipment

I used my Canon EOS Rebel T3i with a cheap, all-manual Opteka 6.5mm lens (some claim that contrary to the markings it is 8mm). Put my camera lens-up on a sidewalk pavement. I forgot to take remote with me and had to practically lay down to remove myself from the view while releasing the shutter. Still had a piece of my head in the frame, cropped it out later.

Inspiration

High-rise buildings and wide angle lens go well together, don't they? And the reflections in the convex glass wall of the corner building add another, cylindrical wide-angle lens, so I decided that all that together can make a good shot.

Editing

That "Opteka 6.5 mm" lens has strong chromatic aberrations and noticeable vignetting, and I corrected them using Lightroom. Unfortunately, chromatic correction also deleted nice pink color of the plane's belly (Southwest Airlines), and I noticed it only after posting the picture. Putting that pink back is on my list. Although that plane is just a few pixel big, it adds a nice accent to the sky.

In my camera bag

Being a self-taught, eventual shooter hobbyist running on economy budget, I do not have much of equipment to worry about. Surely, Canon T3i with its 18-55 kit lens. That lens is amazing, lightweight and sharp, just look at the optical tests. The rest varies depending on the circumstances: 50mm/1.8 if it's getting dark, Canon's 55-250mm if I want to shoot birds or squirrels... Tripod sometimes... you know that. Or just take my compact Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS40, it works just fine and fits in a (big) pocket.

Feedback

Making "similar" pictures sounds boring. Be original, improvise, just enjoy yourself instead of copying others!

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Krakatil

Krakatil

Houston skyscrapers

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow Krakatil

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