Peacock Dominates the Blue Hour Sky by taffy

Peacock Dominates the Blue Hour Sky

For non-US or non-TV familiar folks, this is the NBC broadcast building in Chicago, with the 'peacock' logo in the crown below the pole at the top of the building. Looking west toward Lake Michigan, I took this shot from the Crown (where the past few postings have come from). Thank you for your visits/views/favs. And for putting my Milky Way over Kona shot in Top Twenty this week. Very grateful!
ks
So nice. I have stayed at the Hyatt many times and on the rare occasions when I had a view it was of the NBC building.
October 8th, 2016  
Outstanding image Taffy!
October 8th, 2016  
Another gorgeous shot from the Crown!
October 8th, 2016  
Superb
October 8th, 2016  
You make Chicago look good from this elevation! Love the light, the clouds, the POV.
October 8th, 2016  
Love it! Fav.
October 8th, 2016  
Such a crisp image, with wonderful lighting.
October 8th, 2016  
A glorious city captured.
October 8th, 2016  
Wonderful view...
October 8th, 2016  
Oh, very cool shot. It took me a minute to locate the logo, but now easily seen. Your tags are excellent! :)
October 8th, 2016  
Nice capture!
October 8th, 2016  
PS. I just really love how Chicago has all this water around it, in the midst of the skyscrapers and high-rises. The tiny sailboat and river cruisers, against the urban jungle are so neat.
October 8th, 2016  
Greta shot
October 8th, 2016  
Great image. I hadn't realised there was so much water so close to the city!
October 8th, 2016  
What a view! Great capture.
October 8th, 2016  
Great view and image :) fav
October 8th, 2016  
Another fabulous image Taffy! So much to look at! Keep them coming! Saw a raccoon last night on Louise's back step and the chance of an eagle shot at their friend's house! Fingers crossed! Lunenburg like a chocolate box - so pretty! We were wishing you and Junko were here with us! Fav for you wonderful scene!
October 8th, 2016  
Really great. Do you use a tripod for this type of shot?
October 8th, 2016  
Beautiful image :)
October 8th, 2016  
wonderful capture -
October 8th, 2016  
excellent capture
October 8th, 2016  
Breath taking view and a magnificent capture. Fav.
October 8th, 2016  
Btw the trip back eas very smooth. We had a scare at Munich Airport. When we had passed throigh security one of the group was missing. We learnt he had been held up by the security people. When all was over the 'stupid' guy forgot a penknife in his trouser pocket. It was a souvenir he had bought earlier.
October 8th, 2016  
Excellent capture...love the pov, composition
October 8th, 2016  
Another wonderful shot Taffy/ I love these city shots you manage to get such great detail and colours
October 8th, 2016  
Another fab capture, love the light and all the detail, fav.
October 8th, 2016  
Wonderful time of day and a beautiful capture.
October 8th, 2016  
@jamibann Chicago is on Lake Michigan's shore, so the city spans over 35 miles of shoreline. The city founders/designers created an ordinance that does not allow construction on the east (lake) side of Lake Shore Drive so it's all parkland that goes from the city's far south side to the near north suburb's beginnings. It is one of the aspects that makes Chicago such a beautiful city. The view I took was sort of direct middle of the city proper and the metropolitan area that goes almost equal mileage north and south. Someday, I hope you can visit!
October 8th, 2016  
@sangwann Oh my! What an experience for him. That happened to me once when traveling with my husband who had left a scissors in his dop kit and he'd packed his kit in my carry-on! So I was stopped and had no idea what they were talking about when they kept referring to sharp scissors. Very embarrassing!
October 8th, 2016  
@pamknowler I'd love to be there as well! I know you'll have a wonderful time and can't wait to see all your photos. I hope you have more color there than we have on the island. It's rather disappointingly green at the moment and VERY windy! So even with the sun out, the idea of going out for a photo walk is not that appealing. I'm huddled on the couch in a fleece instead, working on the computer and contemplating spending the day returning long-delayed phone calls!
October 8th, 2016  
@rosiekerr I agree -- Chicago is so special because of the lake and the river. I would imagine it will become similar as the area near the Mississippi continues to develop in your home town. Too bad about missing CAF this year -- but we should definitely plan another time!
October 8th, 2016  
Such detail and depth of field...fav
October 8th, 2016  
What a view!!
October 8th, 2016  
super cityscape. fav from me
October 8th, 2016  
@nickspicsnz Thanks Nick! For nightscapes, I do usually use a tripod for longer exposure (usually 100 ISO, f7.1 - f22 depending on the lightbursts I'm trying to get - the tighter the aperture, the better the burst), and then exposure from 5 to 20 seconds. But for this, since it was a reception, I really couldn't do long exposures and had to do handheld. So what I did is rest the camera on the ledge (it was strapped around my neck of course), and put the shutter on 2 second delay. Then, I set up brackets for 3 shots for 2 reasons. One was to hope that one of the 3 would be clear (not shake). The other was if they were all clear, I could use HDR to balance sky and dark spots and have better detail. Then, I just held the camera as tightly as I could on the ledge's edge, didn't breath, and clicked. The ledge worked pretty well as a tripod-substitute. And the longest shutter speed was about 2 seconds.
October 8th, 2016  
Fabulous night cityscape. One day I will be in a city and will be able to capture such a scene. Thankfully I am able to learn from the likes of you how best to get a decent cityscape.
October 8th, 2016  
Fabulous capture. Fav!! 😃
October 8th, 2016  
Another wonderful city scape, fabulous details and light / fav
October 8th, 2016  
Wow a stunning photograph, it makes me wonder if you were up high to take this scene a fav
October 8th, 2016  
Wow wonderful cityscape!
October 8th, 2016  
Absolutely brilliant DOF and very clever to get all those buildings so well defined! fav
October 8th, 2016  
Super cityscape and excellent lighting drawing your eye right to the centre of the picture.
October 8th, 2016  
I love the straight lines of the streets and the wavy lines in the sky. The lighting is wonderful too.
October 9th, 2016  
What a great vantage point Taffy, gives a whole new view over your city. Having read your method description above only increases my admiration of your photographic skills.
October 9th, 2016  
@taffy Thanks very much for the comprehensive information and very kind of you to take the time to share your knowledge.
October 9th, 2016  
@nickspicsnz Glad it was useful -- I learned so much from friends on the site that it's always good to continue to 'pay it forward.' You'll do the same I'm sure.
October 9th, 2016  
Awesome picture and perspective. Congratulations on making the Trending Page. Well deserved.
October 9th, 2016  
Another excellent cityscape shot.
October 9th, 2016  
very impressive
October 9th, 2016  
A very iconic shot well done
October 9th, 2016  
A wonderful glow of lights against the blue hour sky.
October 10th, 2016  
You're in your element with this sort of shot... and it shows. I find this has a rather peaceful feeling which is a little odd given that it is a bustling metropolis!
October 10th, 2016  
outstanding shot ... fav
October 11th, 2016  
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