GGaba

Magic hour

Hdr photo taken at autumn sunset when the city lights is allready on but there is still some sunlight.

Hdr photo taken at autumn sunset when the city lights is allready on but there is still some sunlight.
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Canon EOS 60D

settings

ISO 100 Shutter 5/1 Focal Length 50/1

upload_date

Nov, 2015

Views

220

Likes

Awards

Staff Winter Selection 2015

Superb Composition

Absolute Masterpiece

Outstanding Creativity

Top Choice

Superior Skill

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Behind The Lens

Location

In Budapest from the side of Gellért montain. There is a couple of roads and small fortifications on the mountain, when you look around you can find a lot various cityscapes from there.

Time

Its made right after sunset in an august day. End of summer beginning of the autumn.

Lighting

I was hunting for that that short part of the golden hour when there is still some natural light but the city lights already switched on. That's my favorite light condition to capture a cityscape.

Equipment

Canon 60d with an old manual lens connected via m42/EOS adapter. The lens was a rexagon auto 28mm f2.8. I used a tripod because the picture is HDR from 3 long exposures.

Inspiration

The sunset in the city is beautiful, especially when the lights already turned on. I grew up in this city so I know its beauties and the good vantage points for photos but I was going to photo an other part of the city. When on the way there I saw this image I had to wait there a leave the other photo for an other time. When I took the photo I think I didn't actually recognize the shadows of the bridge structure and the chandelier on the water, I just found the whole image pleasing. Later the detail of this shadows became my favorite part of this photo.

Editing

I took 3 raw images 0.6, 4 and 30 seconds. I corrected the white balance in lightroom and exported to photomatics HDR where I fused the images then re imported the fused TIF to lightroom where I significantly lightened the shadows and decreased a little the clarity of the image because found the fused image a little bit crisp and too dark in the shadows.

In my camera bag

This bag is almost always on me! If I find something worth tho photo I take the shot. Canon 60d, electric-viewfinder magnifier, Canon ef 50mm 1.8, Sigma 17-50 F2.8, Vintage manual lenses: Jupiter-11 135mm f4, Zeiss Jenna flektogon 35mm F/2.8 vintage Zeiss mini tripod, Long strap and lens cleaning kit. Most of the time I carry a laptop to but not only for video or photo purposes.

Feedback

Check the weather, find time with clouds if possible, otherwise the sky is empty. For some photos empty sky is nice but for landscapes usually better if the wether is cloudy but there is visible some empty sky as well. Find your spot and go there before sunset. Make some images before the magic hour comes and make a lot when it's present, find the right composition. Try to find that short window when there is both, natural and artificial light is present. Use exposition compensation and make 3 or more images from a fixed tripod to find the right exposition or to make HDR image later. Experiment with lenses specially with the fixed focal lens with depth of field display. You can get cheap and good fix manual lenses if you doesn't mind the lack of auto-focus which is unnecessary for this kind of photography.

See more amazing photos, follow GGaba

GGaba

GGaba

Magic hour

Hdr photo taken at autumn sunset when the city lights is allready on but there is still some sunlight.

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow GGaba

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