San Diego Skyline

[rpcrowe]

Three images of the San Diego Skyline from the Coronado Ferry Landing early evening in April with the setting sun reflecting from the buildings. Canon 5D2 with 70-200mm f/4L IS lens
1.

2.

3.

[Shadowman]

Nice, did you use a cpl on these?

[Wavelength]

Lovely scenery......

[rpcrowe]

Nice, did you use a cpl on these?

No, I didn't use a CPL. Had one with me but dcided that I didn't really need to use it. I bracketed my exposure and on some of the shots selected the darkest of the exposures and then opened up the shadows along the waterline a bit.

This area is quite unique in that the buildings reflect different colors as the sun is setting. There was a heavy marine layer coming in and that is why the sky seems dark.

I was hoping to get scattered colors of the sunset reflected against the clouds in back of the buildings but, that didn't happen o any great extent.

As they say in the carnivals, "You Pays Your Money and You Takes Your Chances"

Two image shot earlier when I first arrived for the shoot!

[Shadowman]

Richard,
Thanks for follow up and nice supporting images.

[rpcrowe]

I have shot this area before when the light was better and there was no haze...

[IzzieK]

Nice architecture shots! What special effect was that on the first batch of #3. That must be a good timely shot...

[Donald]

Beautiful cityscapes, Richard.

I might have gone for a little less water in each, but that's just personal preference in terms of composition. Your handling of the light is wonderful.

[mugge]

Richard, just my two cents worth. Just great.
Cheers Ole

[bje07]

I prefer the last two ones, as they are more colorful, but nice subjects well done.

[rpcrowe]

Thanks all...

Izzie... no special effects - I simply bracketed the exposures and chose the darker of the trio. There was a bit of a haze which made the images look a little different.

Donald... I have quite a few shots with less water such as the one below. In the ones that I posted previously, I chose to include the expanse of water to capture the reflections of the sun off the buildings. This one is virtually full frame, only cropping a tad off the sides when I leveled the shot in Camera Raw...



Ole and Jean... Thanks.

Jean... I also prefer the brighter more colorful versions but, that is just how the sun impacts the buildings in the evening. This shot that I posted is a bit brighter and more colorful...

The very best time of yer to shoot this skyline is in Mid-December because, the "magic hour" comes a lot earlier during those shorter days and it hits while many of the offices in the buildings across the bay are still open and the lights in the windows still on. That makes the buildings seem much more "alive". The only problem is that we often have rain and fog at that time of year. It's about a 50-mile drive to Coronado where I shoot from and I hate to make that drive only to realize that the weather is too bad to shoot...

I live about 20-miles inland from the coast and about 40-miles North of where I shot this from. I also live at 1400-feet altitude. My micro climate is totally different from where I shot these. I just have to decide to shoot, cross my fingers and drive down, hoping for the best...

[DanK]

Very nice shots. of the bunch, I like your earlier ones better: better lighting, less haze, and less water.

Re a CPL: Like you, I don't use one for shots like this because I always want to capture the reflections, not suppress them.

[rpcrowe]

Dan, as opposed to studio lighting or even portrait lighting outdoors, there is no control over the lighting of a landscape/cityscape except choosing the time of year, time of day/night and shooting position. Here's another one with less water showing...

[DanK]

Dan, as opposed to studio lighting or even portrait lighting outdoors, there is no control over the lighting of a landscape/cityscape except choosing the time of year, time of day/night and shooting position. Here's another one with less water showing...

Right. I understand. What I meant was "you waited until the light was better."

[Barbara Ponder]

Nice set with great handling of the light!

[rpcrowe]

I fond this image that I had forgotten... I shot this with my 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II lens and a CPL. The lens was actually too long to get the views that I wanted so I switched to the 70-200mm f/4L IS lens. When I switched, I decided that I did not want a CPL for the rest of the shots that evening...