ankurpuri
Follow"Pumpkin-spiced-latte" sunset in Chicago was taken from Adler Planetarium.
"Pumpkin-spiced-latte" sunset in Chicago was taken from Adler Planetarium.
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Tanda4bama
July 25, 2016
viewbug.com/challenge/sailing-sailing-photo-challenge-by-tanda4bama Check out my new challenge.
Tanda4bama
July 25, 2016
viewbug.com/challenge/sailing-sailing-photo-challenge-by-tanda4bama Check out my new challenge.
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Behind The Lens
Location
The city of Chicago offers tremendous views of its skyline from every angle. This one happens to be from Adler Planetarium situated by the river front.Time
It was roughly 10 minutes after the sun had started to drop behind the skyscrapers throwing a marvelous orange glow all around. I wasn't carrying a tripod with me at the moment and I kept thinking I wish I could do a long exposure and even out the water, but I didn't wanna miss the opportunity to capture the beautiful warmth of the setting sun, and finally took this shot handheld - a few minutes before sunset.Lighting
Usually it's a good practice to shoot photos right before and after the sunset. And I happened to be at the right place, at the right time. The weather conditions turned ideal for this glow of warmth to wrap around the entire city.Equipment
I used a Nikon D800 with Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G lens for this photo.Inspiration
To be honest, I was actually shooting portraits that time - and as I turned around, I noticed a sail boat was quietly passing by. I couldn't resist the temptation to catch a white sail boat against the skyline with such a magnificent orange glow making it more dramatic!Editing
All my photos are shot in RAW, which enables me to utilize the full potential of Nikon D800's uncompressed files & prepare them based on my taste. This image was a single RAW shot at 85mm, f/5.6, 1/320s, ISO 400. I used the Luminosity masking technique to isolate my highlights and shadows in the image. I applied tonal corrections to specific selections(highlights & shadows) using LM. I altered specific mid tones using LM and darkened a bit to add more contrast without darkening the whole image. Similar curve was also applied to specific portion of highlights to retain maximum highlight details yet add some punch. The boat was also masked using LM to retain its brightness thereby adding depth to convey the distance from the skyline.In my camera bag
In my bag, you'll find my D800 with a nifty fifty (Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G) attached to it. It's how I visualize my shots, and it forces me to frame my subjects better by moving back and forth. Other than a rocket blower, lens pen, and ND filters; I also keep my trusty Nikkor 16-35mm lens with me at all times.Feedback
For skyline shots with interesting foreground features I recommend using a tripod. While I understand I wasn't carrying one at the time I took this shot, It's probably beneficial since you can do long exposures & blend multiple shots later in post if the camera is locked down. For example, you can do a long exposure(using ND filters) to even out the water in one shot, and a few other shots from -2 to +2 EV to capture an even wider dynamic range resulting in enough data to post process easily. Consider shooting in RAW and blending exposures using Luminosity masks, you can create realistic extended dynamic range photos without the bad results from popular HDR softwares.