Crying for the Moon (Part 1)

Last week we had perfect weather conditions for shooting cityscape images here in Dubai. The air was calm, crisp and clear and an incredibly bright full moon lit up the scene. I visited Jumeirah Islands again, since I always wanted to shoot a particular version of the view I presented in my post from October 17. I had already tried to take pictures including the rocks in the foreground on several occasions, but it never worked out. This night, however, the full moon finally allowed for taking the picture in a way I had always wanted it.

32mm, f9, 30s, ISO 200

Steps of post-processing the RAW format image:

Lightroom

• Temperature: 3300K
• Tint: +12
• Exposure: 0,00
• Recovery: 100
• Fill Lights: 20
• Blacks: 6
• Brightness: +50
• Contrast: +25
• Clarity: +20
• Vibrance: +20
• Saturation: 0
• Export to Photoshop

Photoshop

• Apply Healing Brush
• Smart Sharpen Filter (Amount: 40%, Radius 1.3px)
• Save as TIF

CaptureNX2

• Apply U-Point to the foreground (Brightness: +10)
• Convert to sRGB with perception based rendering intent
• Save as JPG

Photoshop

• Insert watermark
• Save as JPG

Cheers,
Sebastian

Indigo Sunset

Today's picture was taken from my office at sunset. It was a foggy morning that day so I had taken my camera to work, because I would love to get a shot of skyscrapers sticking out of the fog. Well, the skies cleared just before I reached the office so I turned to taking pictures of the sunset instead.

I recently purchased a set of Graduated Neutral Density (GND) filters from Lee Filters, specifically designed for use with my Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 wideangle lens. I look forward to using these in landscape photography, but also want to test their limits in architectural photography. I used a 0.6 GND filter in this pic and I think it worked out well.

If you have questions or would like to hear more details about GND filters and how they work please feel free to drop me a comment.


Here's the photo:

14mm, f13, 8s, ISO 400, Lee 0.6 GND filter

I only now realise I was using ISO 400. Whooops.... should have been ISO 200, of course.

Post-processing included the following steps:

Lightroom

• Temperature: 4200K
• Tint: +7
• Exposure: 0.00
• Recovery: 0
• Fill Lights: 20
• Blacks: 7
• Brightness: +50
• Contrast: +25
• Clarity: +20
• Vibrance: +10
• Saturation: 0
• Export to Photoshop

Photoshop

• Apply Lens Correction Filter: Custom --> Vertical Perspective +2
• Apply Spot Healing Brush
• Apply Smart-Sharpen Filter: Amount 40%, Radius 1.3px
• Save as TIF

CaptureNX2

• Apply U-Points: Slightly increase the saturation of bronze glow on medium left tower and of green lights at the base of central tower
• Convert to sRGB with perception based rendering intent
• Save as JPG

Photoshop

• Insert watermark
• Save as JPG

Cheers,
Sebastian

Jumeirah Islands

Weather conditions are crucial for shots of the Dubai skyline. Other cities in the world might be picturesque in various conditions, but in Dubai all we have for most of the year is a slight shroud of mist and sand. Usually it is not even really noticeable, but once you take your camera and point it at the horizon frustration begins.

However, sometimes, just a few days per year in total, the skies clear off and it is literally possible to identify individually lit windows of Burj Khalifa from a distance as far as 20km. Recently there were two of these nights and I managed to go on a hunt for good skyline shots. The second night was perfect and I got the chance to shoot this wonderfully clear image:

66mm, f13, 30s, ISO 200

Once again I've learnt: No matter how good your equipment may be, if you want to shoot a nice picture of a land- or a cityscape it all depends pretty much on the weather.

Post-processing included the following steps:

Lightroom

• Temperature: 3000K
• Tint: +8
• Exposure: 0,00
• Recovery: 30
• Fill Lights: 0
• Blacks: 6
• Brightness: +50
• Contrast: +25
• Clarity: +10
• Vibrance: 0
• Saturation: 0
• Export to Photoshop

 Photoshop

• Apply Healing Brush
• Smart Sharpen Filter (Amount: 40%, Radius 1.3px)
• Save as TIF

CaptureNX2

• Apply U-Point to the blue-lit tower (Brightness: -10)
• Convert to sRGB with perception based rendering intent
• Save as JPG

Photoshop

• Insert watermark
• Save as JPG

Cheers,
Sebastian