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As Night Approaches
As Night Approaches
freakin_hilarious


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Free Study 2008-06 (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
Location: Chicago, IL from the top of the Sears Tower
Date: Jun 16, 2008
Aperture: f/3.5
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/6 sec
Galleries: Cityscape, High Dynamic Range (HDR)
Date Uploaded: Jun 24, 2008

 Took a road trip to Chicago with the wife and baby. It was a blast! We decided to get a new lens for the trip (and beyond), and the 10-22mm was the winner. We knew we mainly wanted some cool urban landscape shots, so it was a no-brainer in the end. I gotta say, this lens is unbelievably sharp! We got a ton of great pics around the city, and a bunch more from the top of the Sears Tower. It was tough choosing just one! I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that this will be my best Free Study score of the year.

Oh, yeah...Just in case you missed it, that's the almost full moon up there.

This shot was taken shortly after sunset. I really liked the fact that the sky was still light and the buildings were still fairly lit, yet all those beautiful orange lights were glowing already. I like the orange/blue complementary color aspect of the shot that I ended up with.

Shot hand held with me leaning over the railing and resting the hood against the glass.

This is easily one of the most DPC friendly images I've ever entered, so I'm hoping for a high score. We'll see how it goes!

Shot in RAW: adjusted white balance, auto tone/exposure settings in Lightroom. Exported to TIFF, slight NI, lightly tone-mapped in Photomatix.

PS:
NIed version stacked on top of the tone-mapped version in lighten mode to bring back the brightness of the sky
Slight Rotate
Crop
Slight vignette enhancement
Dodge/Burn (mostly in the sky)
Cloned out a couple of boats in the lake that looked like tiny specs at this size
Cloned out what I think was a little gunk on the window that I was shooting through (right side, just above horizon)
Curves
Selective Color (brought up the blacks a touch)
Hue/Sat (additional saturation, shifted the color toward red a touch)
Resize
USM (300/.3/0)
Save for web (with all that detail, still got 78%)

Thanks for the comments, votes, and favs everyone! I'm certainly pleased with the outcome. :)

Statistics
Place: 11 out of 473
Avg (all users): 6.8849
Avg (commenters): 7.8889
Avg (participants): 6.7767
Avg (non-participants): 7.1944
Views since voting: 3196
Views during voting: 246
Votes: 139
Comments: 15
Favorites: 9 (view)

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AuthorThread
Panasonic DMC-FZ30
 07/08/2008 04:25:07 PM
Wow! awesome detail in this well done on the amazing clarity
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D80
Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5- 5.6G ED DX
 07/08/2008 12:34:28 PM
thats a sweet chitown shot-it could be a poster
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D700
Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
 07/08/2008 07:36:58 AM
Fabulous cityscape, one of the best I've ever seen. Great work, Nathan.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D810
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G ED VR
 07/08/2008 07:21:43 AM
This is one heck of a cityscape shot. Fantastic & excellent technique!! Congrats on the excellent placing.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 07/08/2008 12:31:31 AM
This is a gorgeous cityscape! Very well done in exposure, comp, processing, etc, and yes, isn't that lens a blast??! Congrats on the awesome score and placement in a FS! Very worthy shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Canon EOS-30D
Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
 07/07/2008 09:43:40 PM
Night photography at its best! No suggestion to change or improve anything.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 07/06/2008 02:08:51 AM
What a wonderful vantage point... nice processing also 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark III
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L IS USM
 07/05/2008 12:03:56 PM
i love how you added the ocean in the top half, really adds to the shot, adn contrasts well against the orange lights of the city
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC for Canon
 07/04/2008 07:30:27 PM
Wow, that's an amazing contrast between a city falling into darkness, with lights ablaze, and the ocean and sky, still so full of the day's last light.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D700
Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
 07/02/2008 02:50:20 PM
Nothing in the current "urban landscape" challenge is as good as this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-300D Rebel
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
 07/02/2008 10:40:58 AM
What I really love about this is the orange/golden glow from the city. It gives the shot such warmth and depth all adding to the mood. Very appealing image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D300
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED
 07/01/2008 09:59:16 PM
cool shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark III
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM
 07/01/2008 10:13:55 AM
Beautiful detail and perspective...no blown areas...well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon Z8
Nikon NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8
 07/01/2008 09:02:35 AM
Great view and I love all the pinpoints of light.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D800
Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
 07/01/2008 12:38:09 AM
This really stood out to me...I love these wide angle city views as you might see in my own portfolio...is this NYC? 10 from me in any case, good luck
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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