Sep 23, 2014

Behind The Image of a Newly Discovered Boston Skyline Photo Location

http://juergen-roth.artistwebsites.com/featured/amazing-boston-juergen-roth.html

On the way home from my last photo tour to Rockport, MA I discovered a new location for Boston skyline photography. While driving home I noticed a spot that may have potential and I instantly decided to get off the highway at the next exit and to explore  this photo opportunity. Upon arrival at the potential area I got out of the car, walked around and looked for any open views through tree line that would allow to photograph some of Boston’s iconic landmarks. So glad I made that decision and scouted the area as the view was somewhat unique as it shows the Tobin Bridge with the Zakim Bridge, John Hancock Tower and Prudential Center. I have not come across a Boston photo like this and continued and was pumped to make my way back as soon as possible. That evening I went back to explore the twilight angle of the vista. I composed the photo image so that the highway and Tobin Bridge lead into the City of Boston. My 70-200mm zoom lens with a 1.4 telezoom converter allowed to comfortably zooming in for a more intimate skyline composition. The weather somewhat cooperated and it was a beautiful sunset night. I picked a small aperture (f/16 or larger) to achieve long exposure setting of 20 plus seconds at ISO100 and ISO200. These settings ensured that the incoming car traffic to Boston and rear car lights were captured in red streaks while the outgoing Boston traffic and headlights showed in white streaks in the photograph. One tricky part that needed timing and tweaking of camera settings was the on ramp traffic onto the Tobin Bridge. I envisioned a red traffic streak there as well and it took multiple attempts to capture in this final picture. Funny part to the entire story: although I thought I found a unique photo location, 10 minutes after I set up another photographer showed up and he mentioned that he saw pictures of a friend with that view. Apparently it is not as unique and exotic as I hoped but I still love the location and I will be back on a clear night to incorporate the twilight blues into the next Boston photography composition.

During post processing I followed my routine digital flow and cleaned up dust spots, adjusted lighting, contrast and color saturation before sharpening the final image of Amazing Boston.

Good light and happy photo making!

Juergen

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