Last week I posted a cityscape of Los Angeles. Well, the photo I posted had the sun coming up behind me so the sky had virtually no good color to it. One of the things I love about shooting in the Twilight time (right before the sunrises or right after it sets) is the colors you see in the sky. The pinks and magentas, as they fade toward blue. So I grabbed another photo the other day, but this time I took it at sunset because the sun set right in front of me. There’s not much in the way of clouds, but I like the sky color much better.
(click to see it larger)
Another Technique
I also used a layering technique that I always use when shooting city skylines. I’ll cover it in detail in the class I’m going to record for KelbyOne.com on shooting cityscapes, but basically it involves shooting two photos. I have the camera on a tripod and I shoot right after the sun goes down (or within 5-10 minutes) so I can catch that nice color in the sky. The problem is that it’s still so bright out that the lights in the buildings don’t really appear as bright yet. So I wait another 20 minutes and take another photo when it gets dark. From there, a little Photoshop layering magic and you’ve got the photo I have here.
I’m off on Spring Break with the kiddos this week so this may be my only post. It depends on how crazy they get 😉 Have a good one!
I love teaching and photography... In that order. I feel that enjoying photography, and photo editing can get WAY too complicated. So my personal mission (and favorite thing to do), is to create education that simplifies the process of taking great photos, and how to edit them to get the results you’ve always wanted.
Hello Matt, just registered on kelbyone, looking forward to your course on cityscapes.
I’ll try and shoot two pictures today and blend them together, see what I can get 😀
Matt, This is Great! I can see what you mean on the sky. I’m looking forward to your layer technique. I’ve tried doing it a couple of times, but I always end up with a slight halo around the buildings, trees and etc. Can’t wait to see your method. Is it the same as what you do with long exposures? Enjoy your time with the wife and Kiddos … they grow up fast!
Dennis
Hey Dennis – Its basically the same as I do with long exposures. A little bit of the Quick Selection tool and maybe some layer masking if needed. Nothing too crazy though. Just two layers on top of each other and paint in the sky from one photo and the buildings from the other.
Take care!
As a lifelong Angeleno, I am pretty sure that is a smog effect. cough cough
Good stuff Matt. I’m looking forward to a layering / blending class. Not only for cityscapes but landscapes as well ( to blend two bracketed images together; sky and ground along with sky and buildings).