This week for "Get Pushed" Michael Elliott challenged me to: "shoot a wide view cityscape in vivid color featuring architecture rather than people."
I expected this to be trickier than it looks, and I was right... I have a thing about camera tilt, and even getting up in a high-ish spot it was a struggle... plus i'm not loving the light... but regardless, I've found this to be an excellent exercise...
Love to get some critique on these shots, especially from a technical perspective... I know these are nothing special, but if ever I get somewhere with a great city view, I don't want to blow it! Plus i hope to have at least one or two more opportunities to work on this challenge this week...
Great job Northy! I love the perspective, depth and shapes. And nice color too. My only points for future try to get a wide angle lens, don't be locked into to the straight on shot - go for a wild pov for interest and pizzaz and try shooting more towards blue hour rather than bright sun. But in any case, as is I love it and you did fabulous!
taken yesterday from inside (hence the light spots)... it was raining and the light was dull as ditchwater... i find i really need to be up high to get a sweeping view without cutting anything off... and without getting a whole lotta people in (altho' with a tripod and an ND i could prolly make most of 'em disappear ;p)
@northy - the flickr shot is cool. I'm impressed with how well you handled the challenge. I was out after work in the City tonight shooting for your challenge to me. I took like 200 shots. I think I got some good ones, but am going thru now.
Very nice shot. You might try to add some cyan and/or saturation, to give the sky more character. Also, adding contrtast can make the clouds stand out more, although you would need to be careful with that, as it might overdo the buildings. One of the neat things about Photoshop (and PS Elements, which is what I use) is that you can experiment a lot, and then go back to what you had. Actually, most photo processing programs allow that. But this is still a very nice photo :-)
@michaelelliott ba haaa! i took a humongous bunch of test shots on monday... several dozen yesterday and i have no idea how many i took today... but like i said, i'd like to be competent at this... really hoping to be able to get out for some night shots downtown - but those opportunities come to me few and far between, so i'm glad to have the practice!
@northy - Cities are transformed at blue hour into the evening so I shoot most of my cityscapes then, unless I go for early morning sunrise light. But middle of day I avoid like the plague as light just too harsh. Also with cityscapes look for reflections and use anything to create an interesting pov/angle.
@foxinsox47 tx!!! but how does one add a bit of cyan? i did boost saturation and contrast a fair bit - i'll play around with adding more... i think that the colours in toronto are actually comparatively dull to begin with... at least, it always feels that way to me...
This is good too but I prefer the other one which better meets your brief. It suffers a bit from a split personality! - is it an architectural or a busy street shot? Still like it though!
I think I like this one better, there is more going on and more interesting to the eye. Not that I am any expert or even a novice at city scapes...this may not be exactly what the challenge was looking for, but I like it.
Both shots are great but I prefer this one. The other shot looked a little static where this one shows a busy city. Plus, I like the red and blue in this shot. Not technical but I hate when I ask for critiques and everyone just tells me it is beautiful! Lol
taken yesterday from inside (hence the light spots)... it was raining and the light was dull as ditchwater... i find i really need to be up high to get a sweeping view without cutting anything off... and without getting a whole lotta people in (altho' with a tripod and an ND i could prolly make most of 'em disappear ;p)