Blue hour flux Photo

Photographer’s Note

Blue hour flux

First: I’d like to thank you all for your warm words last week that accompanied my return to TE!

City: Rotterdam – Quarter: Kop van Zuid – Street: Wilhelminaplein.

The Kop van Zuid is a massive urban restructuring project which converted the old harbour area on the South bank of the Maas (with its defunct ports, warehouses and railway heads) into a integrated living , shopping and commercial service quarter. It’s comparable with the Docklands in London and the waterfront re-developments in Barcelona and New York.

The project is steadily approaching completion (although the recession might slow this down).
Displayed here is the Maastoren, when it’s completed it will be 165 m high (44 stories, the highest tower in the Netherlands). Architects: Dam & Partners. A part of the Koningshaven (the King’s harbour) was drained to accommodate its construction.

There was fierce opposition to the project in the quarter, mainly because of the integrated 600 car garage at the bottom level of the tower and the extra traffic/congestion which would be the result. People found this parking facility perverse since the tower is adjacent to a major subway and tram hub: Wilhelminaplein station . Eventually it became a court case and the judge ruled in favor of project developer OVG, the owner of the tower.
More info about the tower is here (sorry, only in Dutch).

Have a great start of the week!

The PCS3 work flow: I altered the saturation, contrast, curves and levels for the whole pic and some elements separately, using different layers, USM-ed, added a frame and resized, enhanced the edges on a 68 % transparent layer, merged the layers and did a gentle USM (0,6px, 32%) again.

exif data
Camera Manufacturer : Canon
Camera Model : Canon EOS 30D
Exposure time [s] : 1/100
F-Number : 5.6
ISO speed ratings : 320
Date taken : 2009:02:14 18:25:14
Exposure bias value : -4/3
Metering mode : Evaluative, Multi-segment (5)
Exposure mode : Av-priority
Focal length [mm] : 53 mm (35 mm equiv)
Colour space : sRGB

isabela_sor, jhm, Bartleby, andante, lucasgalodoido, UlfE, danos, Rinie_Hoff, Isabelle has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

isabela_sor (41881) 2009-02-15 9:03 [Comment]

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Bartleby (4634) 2009-02-15 11:29

Hi Bert,
a beautiful blue hour city shot! I like the contrast between motion and stillness. The various hues are subtle and the whole scene very balanced. Good job for me.

Philippe

andante (7092) 2009-02-15 14:38

Hi Bert, glad to see you again on TE. About the photo, lovely combination of still subject and subject in motion. As well as nice combination of lights. The blue hour provides the perfect setting for this image. Nicely capture,
Have a great week,
TFS,
E

lucasgalodoido (16537) 2009-02-15 19:00

Hi Bert,
very interesting motion picture, and the blue hour was very nice. I´d like of the colors contrast too. Great job, my friend.
Regards,
Lucas

jhm (81637) 2009-02-16 0:35

Hoi Bert,

Nu komt u even op mijn vroeger leven de bouw, een van de mooiste beroepen dat men kan vinden, iets nieuws creëeren, het mooiste dat er bestaat.
Twee mooie resultaten heb u hier neergezet, natuurlijk het fantastisch gebouw maar ook de tram in de voorgrond, nochtans met F/5 dergelijk resultaat is goed.
Goede composition, scherpte en helderheid zijn mooi. Bedankt.

Groeten uit een zwaar bewolkt Vlaanderen, +5° C
John

brevbrev14 (370) 2009-02-16 2:28

Ciao Bert! :))
very good shot of blue hour
the slw time gives a lot od dynamism to the image
great contrast between the blue and the orange of the artificial lights
good one!
HAVE A GREAT START OF WEEK! :))))))))
ciao

Valeria

Rinie_Hoff (9332) 2009-02-16 5:12

Hey Bert!
Low light shooting....I wish I could afford a D700 but have to wait till a new one is released ;-)) The noise is so much less in the D700 than in the D200.

Did you know that the building lights shine in my living at the back site? There was a lot of objection against the building on the Noordereiland as well, because it takes away a lot of sun!

I love the blur of the tram, and the combination of warm, yellow lights and the night blue of the sky.

See you tomorrow, Rinie

UlfE (8835) 2009-02-16 10:55

Hi Bert,

Excellent capture of the hectic life of the city not only heavy traffic but also city in rapid transformation. Wonderful colours and really fine composition. TFS and have nice week!

Cheers,

Ulf

danos (31562) 2009-02-16 13:03

Hello Bert,
nice nocturne shot with the blue sky to be an asset to the composition.I like the sharpness and the clarity of the buildings instant of the difficult lighting conditions. The blur foreground adds dynamism in the scene.Well done.

Regards,Danos

Isabelle (9014) 2009-03-03 9:37

Bert, my dear, I haven´t seen this image of yours before! Still time to say how poetic it is. Somehow it reminds me of downtown Sampa, the guy screaming "beware your butts" while you were shooting the Cha Viaduct :))

lovely. it goes to my favs.