This sunset photo was taken a couple of weeks ago and was one of those sunsets that is the bane of photographers, coming as a complete surprise!
About an hour before the sunset, a lot of cloud formed and appeared to remove any chance of a good show, so instead of heading out, I stayed at home. Then, in the last couple of minutes before the sun set, it broke through a gap in the clouds and created this incredible display!
All I had time to do was grab my bag and head up to the roof of my apartment building. I had about two minutes to capture this panoramic image looking west from Coal Harbour, and then the colour was gone again, and it was just another cloudy evening.
On the left is the Qube building, and in the distance the UBC peninsula. The matching twin of my apartment building is directly opposite. In the foreground on the right is the Coal Harbour Marina, with Stanley Park, the Lions Gate Bridge, and the north shore mountains beyond.
I'm a British software developer and photographer living in Vancouver, BC. I mainly photograph landscapes, cityscapes, night scenes, and water.
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Oh, such a great capture, especially given that you almost missed it! I love the sense of spectacular natural beauty, in the midst of city life. Glad you had your bag handy and a good vista only an elevator ride away.
Wow! Wonderful last minute sunset and what a view from your apartment block! This photo took me whizzing back to a wonderful trip we had to BC about 15 years ago and reminded me how beautiful it was - I think I have to start planning a return trip!!...fav
Gorgeous Alexis. You take fantastic landscapes.... Can I ask what panoramic head you use? I normally use I Panosauras, but I find it quite large and clunky, plus it takes a bit to set up.. Fav
beautiful cityscape and awesome sunset. the colours are so delicious to the eyes. blimey that building right in the centre, hey? :-)
i have to investigate my apartment building and see if i can easily get my step ladder so i can go up the roof. :-) the situation you described about the sunset was exactly what we had yesterday. only i didn't have my camera with me.
@jyokota Thank you very much! I always try and make sure my camera and at least one charged battery is in my bag at all times for just such times. And fortunately the elevator let me up -- at dawn it usually doesn't accept my keycard, so I have to walk up a *lot* of stairs to get to the roof!
@longexposure Thanks James! I don't actually use a panoramic head of any kind at the moment! For most of my panoramic photos, I don't have any foreground objects (as is the case here), so I don't have to worry about the parallax concerns that a non-panoramic head gives.
In situations where I do have parallax issues, then I manually reposition the camera to stay over the nodal point of the lens -- it's a bit of hassle but works OK. I did that in this shot, where the planks would be very prone to parallax issues: http://365project.org/abirkill/365/2013-11-17
A panoramic head is definitely on my 'to-buy' list though, but so are a lot of things! When I do, it'll almost certainly be the Nodal Ninja 3 Mark II, as I doubt I can justify the Ultimate M2!
@summerfield Thank you! I'm very fortunate to live in a building with an resident-accessible roof (or observation deck, as it's called!) -- looking at the buildings around me, almost none of them have railings around the roof, so no doubt access isn't permitted. It's a great spot to take photos from, or just go up and admire a 360 degree view of the city!
Fav
i have to investigate my apartment building and see if i can easily get my step ladder so i can go up the roof. :-) the situation you described about the sunset was exactly what we had yesterday. only i didn't have my camera with me.
as always, alexis, excellent shot!
@longexposure Thanks James! I don't actually use a panoramic head of any kind at the moment! For most of my panoramic photos, I don't have any foreground objects (as is the case here), so I don't have to worry about the parallax concerns that a non-panoramic head gives.
In situations where I do have parallax issues, then I manually reposition the camera to stay over the nodal point of the lens -- it's a bit of hassle but works OK. I did that in this shot, where the planks would be very prone to parallax issues: http://365project.org/abirkill/365/2013-11-17
A panoramic head is definitely on my 'to-buy' list though, but so are a lot of things! When I do, it'll almost certainly be the Nodal Ninja 3 Mark II, as I doubt I can justify the Ultimate M2!
@summerfield Thank you! I'm very fortunate to live in a building with an resident-accessible roof (or observation deck, as it's called!) -- looking at the buildings around me, almost none of them have railings around the roof, so no doubt access isn't permitted. It's a great spot to take photos from, or just go up and admire a 360 degree view of the city!