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The Rocks


The Rocks
Photo Information
Copyright: John Plumb (JPlumb) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 855 W: 204 N: 1036] (3119)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-01-05
Categories: Daily Life, Architecture
Camera: Nikon D200, Nikkor 18-200mm 3.5-5.6 G ED AF-S VR, Sigma EX Wide Circular PL 72mm
Exposure: f/8, 1/60 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2008-02-05 19:00
Viewed: 1104
Points: 30
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
The Rocks is the area in Sydney where members of the First Fleet stepped ashore on 26-Jan-1788 and British Settlement of Australia was first established. Today it is a mix of old and new providing to the visitor either a lot of history or shopping, with some decent places to eat as well.

The view here is looking north up George Street towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The Museum of Contemporary Art (actually shops on this side) is the Art Deco type building on the right. Further to the right you would run into First Fleet Park and Sydney Cove (Circular Quay). The street is lined on both sides (and on the side streets) with shops, a great place for tourists, and great places to eat.

I took this shot between rain bursts (we’ve been getting a fair bit of rain this year). It was taken from the Cahill Expressway to give me a higher vantage point over the street. From where I was standing if you were to walk to the right you would eventually cross over Circular Quay and arrive at the Royal Botanical Gardens. Following this path to the left would take you around and over the buildings seen on the left to the bridge seen in the background, and eventually to North Sydney if you crossed.

Workshop for this post was as follows:
Shot was taken in Raw, with a jpeg for reference (27mm f8 1/60)
NEF file adjusted for exposure, shadow and vignetting
Cropped with perspective to minimize distortion – this actually wasn’t too bad this time since I was shooting from a higher angle
Didn’t use levels – distribution was already to the edges on all colours
Adjusted curves – S curve for contrast only
Added an overlay layer and dodged and burned with 5% opacity black and white brush
Added saturation layer +15 to master
Saved as a tiff
Resized, reduced noise on sky selection, added a layer, inversed selection, sharpened with USM, modified sharpening with a layer mask (25-75% opacity black brush), framed and saved as a jpeg
scobert, ls7902, Matthew-Watt, pablominto, ChrisJ, wishlist, jusninasirun, MLINES, pierrefonds, mvdisco, philsim, jmcl, Cricri, ydarias has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To philsim: TrafficJPlumb 1 02-09 23:19
To pablominto: Bridge Part of a Street ImageJPlumb 1 02-06 04:17
To Matthew-Watt: Bottom of the Harbour AntiquesJPlumb 1 02-06 03:55
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • ls7902 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 903 W: 200 N: 1142] (4559)
  • [2008-02-05 19:27]

Hi John,
Good composition of the street from a high vantage point. Excellent lighting & exposure control to bring out the details in the shadows & clouds. Interesting daily life scene down on the street. Charming & neat architectures. I would like to see more selective contrast on the buildings ... maybe the building on the right to give more depth/contrast to the image ... just a thought.

Good detailed notes. Have a nice day. Regards. Latiff.

Hello John,

I love this view of 'Old World' Sydney. It could be 60-70 years old if it were not for the cars. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is getting quite old now, built in 1932. I like that the photo is presented in naturally authentic colour and not overdone with showy saturation or filters. What you see is what you get. I recall visiting a shop at the end of this street that sold antiques from early Sydney, primarily old nautical parts. I don't remember the name of it but if you know the area I am sure you would have been to it. Thanks for the post.

Matt

Hello John,
One of the few tmes the bridge is a part os a street image, usually it is the harbour!
A well composed presentation, where the street makes a fine lead-in...
Many interesting details to explore, good colour palette!
Greetings,
Pablo -

  • Great 
  • ChrisJ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 8720 W: 917 N: 11589] (56203)
  • [2008-02-06 2:05]

Hi John

It's been many years, since I've been to the 'Emerald City;, as Sydney is affectionately known, so thanks for the update! Good view of the 'coathanger' (arched Harbour Bridge), with excellent sharpness. Tfs!

Hi John,
beautiful shot with beautiful pov allowing us to enjoy the view over the street and up to the bridge very well standing against the fluffy clouds. The good exposure along the well managed lighting allowed you to deliver great quality with well visible details throughout!
Thanks for sharing it
Cheers

Igor

Hello John,

I was reading your intro in TN and thus brought me here. I appreciate your critique on my landscape and the trouble you too to EDI the critique.

So this is Sydney with nice high angle perspective. The bridge makes good subject in any composition and this one is well paced in the horizon of this cityscape.

The lighting and depth are well managed as good as all your birds' shot. I like it!

Regards,
Jusni

  • Great 
  • MLINES Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1971 W: 171 N: 1995] (8780)
  • [2008-02-06 12:42]

Hi John, Very original POV which is not often seen. You have found a good vantage point to get high enough for this down the busy street shot. The details, such as three flags adds interest. A classic view of the Rocks, an important historical part of Sydney. TFS. Murray.

Hi John,

The street lead our eye toward the bridge. The buildings on each side are a good frame to the street. The photo is clear and precise. The point of view is giving depth to the photo. Well done, have anice day.

Pierre

Hi John,
Beautiful picture nicely composed and presented of Sydney, belle prise de vue and well taken picture of the architecture of the city and a beautiful view of the bridge, very well done.
Michel

Beautiful work John and excellent notes. Living in Greece its hard to imagine such a small amount of traffic.
Regards
Phil

  • Great 
  • jmcl Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2611 W: 146 N: 3421] (11902)
  • [2008-02-12 17:41]

Hi John,

The combination of depth and dimension with the detail sharpness is wonderful .. great point of view . .nice colors especially in the rain... great note.

take care,

John

  • Great 
  • Cricri Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4419 W: 226 N: 6015] (28934)
  • [2008-02-13 8:40]

Hi John,
Le POV bien choisi qui permet de voir beaucoup d"éléments ancien et moderne, ainsi que des détails intéressant, jolies couleurs et lumiére du moment, compliment
Friendly
cricri

Hello John,
It is interesting how a slight change of location can completely change the perspective of the same area. Your previous photo was very close to this site, but the higher POV, the cooler, cloudy weather, and the absense of the crowd completely changes everything. You have an excellent shot of the Sydney skyline with beautiful clouds and razor sharp buildings. Your notes giving us a mini-tour are well written and informative. This is a beautiful photograph!
Stan

Hello John. I really love this photo, but I can't explain why. It's so simple but is well composed, urban landscapes are very difficult, for me at least, but in this case the result is very good. Great point of view too. Great job.

Yeray.

Hi John,
Quite enjoying your series on downtown Sydney - and this one shows the bridge from a different angle to usual. The street scene is well framed and captured.

Cheers,
Dave

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