Cityscape

All posts tagged Cityscape

San Francisco from Berkeley hills

Posted by Snob on October 18, 2019
Posted in: Cityscapes, Landscape, Travel. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

With my upcoming trip to Sydney and the subsequent holiday madness I decided to make a quick run down to the San Francisco Bay Area. Of course I have captured the city on many occasions over the years but there has been one vantage point I have always wanted to capture. I just could never find the time to plan this excursion and I didn’t have the right equipment until several years ago.

To capture the city from the Berkeley hills, here’s what you will need.

  • Time – to research and explore the Grizzly Peak area and roads around the campus and hills. There are many great vantage points to choose from.
  • Weather – you will need clear skies and good visibility. The bay area is usually hazy or foggy and not ideal for this long of a distance.
  • A long lens – you will need a fairly long lens. In this case I used the Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L lens. 200mm probably won’t cut it as your subject is just too far.
  • Tripod – you will need a very sturdy, heavy duty tripod. I used a full size manfrotto with a gimbal mount. Even with that, I still had to contend with wind shake. Keep the tripod as low to the ground as possible.
  • Patience – take your time. Something is bound to test your resolve or patience.

Overall it was a good outing. I got some good shots and will likely be going back again before year end to retake a couple of the shots.

Have you captured the city? What’s your favorite vantage point?

Train hopping in Chicago

Posted by Snob on February 26, 2019
Posted in: canon 5D mark III, Cityscapes, Travel. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Since we’re on the subject of trains, I decided to go back through the archives and look for other instances I photographed trains. Here are some of my favorites from my last trip to Chicago. It was very foggy and drizzling all day so I bought a day pass for the CTA metro and spent my day jumping from one line to another. It was a great relaxing way to see the city and capture some it’s character and grit. I love this city. I also love the utilitarian look of the CTA trains.

This shot was taken with the Canon 5D Mark III. To capture the motion blur, use shutter priority mode and slow your shutter down just so you can freeze your subject. Use AI Servo AF and the center spot/zone. Set to high speed burst, acquire focus, track your subject and take your shots in bursts of 2-3 shots. Motion blur action shots are one of my favorite types of photography.

Chasing Sunsets in Chicago

Posted by Snob on December 9, 2018
Posted in: Architecture, Cityscapes, Landscape, Travel. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Downtown Chicago at Sunset, South View

October was a very busy month. With two major trips planned including one from my bucket list, I was hard pressed to find a quiet moment to write about my exploits. The last time I was in Chicago was around 7 to 8 years ago. It was some time in the spring. I did quite a bit of photography on that trip with my original 7D. I had just started figuring out what my Chasing Sunsets series would look like. Unfortunately as my workflow and archival processes evolved in their infancy, I lost the RAW image files. As a matter of fact, I am unable to locate photos from that trip. Needless to say, I was extremely frustrated when a major magazine catalogue contacted me asking for high quality skyline and cityscape prints of iconic American cities, especially Chicago.

Low cloud cover over Chicago.

Since then I have been meaning to get back out to Chicago just to photograph it at Sunset for my limited edition collection. Early October presented my only opportunity to accomplish this before winter and the end of the year. I searched extensively for a hotel, apartment, condo, and property with a decent view of the skyline. My main plan was to capture the city from the Observatory which extends out into the lake and offers a clear unobstructed panoramic view of the city. However as always with the weather in Chicago, it was severely overcast all day Saturday, my only full day in Chicago for this trip. This was especially frustrating. I was prepared to weather the rain for my shot but the low cloud deck covered half of the skyline all day.

Waiting and hoping for the rain and clouds to reveal the Chicago.

So after exploring he city up close via the CTA metro system, I resigned to my hotel room and hoped the cloud deck would lift just enough to clear the sears tower around sunset so I can get my shot of the skyline. Finally just before the sun set, Chicago revealed herself. At this point I had already had a couple glasses of wine to calm my nerves and ease my frustrations at the prospect of making the trip to Chicago from Sacramento and still not being able to capture the skyline.

Waiting…

The hotel room offered unobstructed views through glass walls floor-to-ceiling. It was the perfect backup scenario. I immediately went to work, sorting through the various obstacles and challenges, such as water droplets on the hotel room window, ghosting, reflections and distortions. I shot primarily with the Canon 5DsR and EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens. My trusty Manfrotto travel tripod handled the task with ease. All’s well that ends well. I shot through the sunset keeping the room as dark as possible to avoid reflections. I tracked down every light source inside the room and masked it with dark socks, towels, scarves, and garments. You’d be surprised just how many point light sources you can find in a dark hotel room.

My view upon arrival. Terrible weather.

After the sunset I went down to the bar in the lobby for a some dinner and a celebratory drink. I eventually ran into an engineer from Apple who had just landed from China. He happened to have his camera with him and really wanted to capture the skyline as well. So after a few more drinks, and with clear skies, we teamed up and headed out to the Observatory at midnight…

…to be continued.

Los Angeles Skyline from Hollywood Hills

Posted by Snob on June 5, 2017
Posted in: Architecture, Canon 7D Mark II, Cityscapes, Landscape, Los Angeles, Travel. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

City of Angels from Hollywood Hills

Last weekend I took a quick trip down to LA for the weekend to vacation with family for the Memorial Day weekend. It was a nice escape. My brother picked out a villa in the Hollywood Hills for us to stay. One of the nice things about this particular home was the unobstructed view of the Downtown LA Skyline. Perched at the top of the hill, with three levels and a rooftop terrace, it was only too easy. After everyone had finally retired for the night, I grabbed my camera and stepped out into the cool evening breeze. The LA smog was a bit of a challenge but nothing too challenging. I have captured the city from various other vantage points you can read more about here.

I traveled light for this trip. I brought just my go-to-in-a-pinch camera, the Canon 7D Mark II and Canon EF-S 17-55mm. Fortunately my brother also has the same setup but he also brought his Canon EF 100-400mm L II lens. Without it, this shot wouldn’t have been possible. This panoramic was taken at 400mm. The hills are quite far from Downtown LA.

This is a rough draft of the panorama. I’m undecided if this shot should make it to limited edition print. If it does, it will require some editing. Do you have any favorite angles on the city to share? Thanks for stopping by.

Save

Chasing Sunsets in Los Angeles – Baldwin Park

Posted by Snob on May 29, 2016
Posted in: Canon 7D Mark II, Cityscapes, Landscape, Los Angeles, Travel. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

2016_LASunset_BaldwinPark2

Los Angeles after sunset via Baldwin Park

There is no greater collection of madness, crazy beauty, love, broken hearts, passions, aspirations, shattered dreams and angels with broken wings. Every time I photograph this city I feel like I am drowning in raw poetry of everything it is to be human. Los Angeles! What would the world be without you? Never stop dreaming…

2016_LASunset_BaldwinPark1

Los Angeles sunset via Baldwin Park

Not long ago I took a quick trip down to Los Angeles to visit friends and family. Of course I had to plan a photo excursion while down there. I have photographed Los Angeles before and posted about that exploit here: Los Angeles Sunset – Griffith Observatory and here: Los Angeles after sunset.

2016_LASunset_BaldwinPark3

The Baldwin Hills stairs

This is one of the views I have been hunting for a while now. I did a fair amount of research and realized that it has not been photographed that much. Why? Well, I sure did find out. Shooting from this location is a two-man job. Your first challenge is that the park closes at sunset, so while this view is accessible by car, you must leave before sunset, park on the street (limited, 2 hour parking) at the base of the hill, then haul yourself and your gear up what seems like an eternity of stairs, all the way to the top (see photo to the right), over 400 feet high. This is not for the faint of heart. If you have any heart or health conditions, do not attempt this!

Once at the top and you have caught your breath, you will be taken by the view, from Santa Monica and the Pacific all the way to Downtown Los Angeles. However your next big challenge will be the wind (and maybe a few snakes). You will never be able to get a clean shot no matter the time of day.

2016_LASunset_BaldwinPark4

7D Mark II on HDR time lapse duty

The wind was a big problem so I immediately set out to find a solution, a compromise position that offered a buffer from the constant wind. I settled in for the sunset. It was about 5pm. I setup the 7D Mark II to capture an HDR time lapse of the sunset. With that going, I started setting up the 5DsR and EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II for detailed panorama captures. The haze over the city is a very big problem and requires considerable editing and post processing. The two panoramas above are actually crops from a single 50 megapixel image wide shot at 70mm.

I stayed through sunset, was finally packed up and heading down the stairs by 10pm. Going down the stairs was just as painful if not more than going up. I honestly did not think I had it in me when I started before sunset, but I had come too far to turn around. My camera kit alone weights over 30lbs. I suppose I just discovered new limits of my endurance…LOL.

I hope you enjoyed this view too. I will post the final shots as soon as I get around to processing and editing them. They will most definitely make it to limited edition print. Next time you see a good clean shot of a view, hopefully you can pause and think how much effort it took that photographer to get that shot.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Chasing Sunsets in Miami – Virginia Key

Posted by Snob on May 19, 2016
Posted in: Architecture, Cityscapes, Landscape, Travel. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

2016_MiamiKeysSunset

Miami Skyline at sunset via Virginia Key

This was the location from which I should have shot the fireworks the previous night. I posted about it here: New Year’s Eve in Miami. This was my backup shot but got overlooked because I felt the distribution of buildings in the skyline was uneven. As it tuned out this was one of the most beautiful sunset shots I’ve taken yet. Miami is so wild and unpredictable. That makes for fleeting but frequent beauty. You just need a little patience and a very keen eye. I love how Miami somehow always managed to show purple hues. If Purple isn’t the official color of Miami, it most certainly should be. What a gorgeous city full of gorgeous people!

2016_MiamiKeysSunset_Detail

100% crop from the panoramic

I shot this with the 50.6 Megapixel Canon 5DsR and EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens. The final panorama has tons of detail that may never be fully appreciated. You can see some of the detail in the 100% crop on the right. This shot will be available in limited edition fine art canvas print but I may reserve half of the edition for large art and commercial installations.

Have you visited or photographed Miami? What were your favorite perspectives on this crazy, wild city?

New Year’s Eve in Miami

Posted by Snob on May 11, 2016
Posted in: Architecture, Cityscapes, Events, Landscape, Travel. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

2016_NewYearsEve_Miami

Well this is how my year started off – chasing the sunset. I had a unique opportunity to make the trip to Miami, Florida for the new year. So I jumped on the last flight I could across the country to Miami. I did miss the sunset however. So I proceeded to plan B.

As with most destinations I travel to, I began studying the local maps and topology. Because of the limited time and long journey, I put extra emphasis on my research. I settled on a harbor area on the keys just across from the front face of the Miami skyline. I liked the relatively unobstructed view. After checking with local staff at the venue and confirming it was okay for me to setup my camera equipment, I went to work. This perhaps wasn’t the best location to photograph the fireworks. As it turned out, the Miami International Airport departure route flies right above the center of the skyline. This meant that the fireworks will not be anywhere close to the center of the frame as I hoped. I only realized this hours into my shoot and could not move as I was already hours into a time lapse sequence that was to last most of the night through the fireworks. Bummer! I suppose I need to factor air traffic into my research.

All that aside, it turned out to be a very productive shoot. I shot a time lapse with the Canon 7D Mark II and 17-55mm f/2.8 lens. This is now standard practice most of the time. While that was going, I started taking frames for a very detailed ultra high resolution panoramic of the skyline and waterfront with the 50 megapixel Canon 5DsR and EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens. The final result is breathtaking. It is at least three times wider than the shot above, and you can count Christmas tree ornaments on the trees in the apartments. As it turned out my first pass ended up being my shot of choice. The 5DsR is the perfect camera for this sort of photography.

This shot made it to my collection of limited edition large format prints and I cannot wait to print and share the first one!