Edinburgh cityscape

[Jerry van Dijk]

This is a view on North Bridge, Edinburgh, Scotland. I was visiting Edinburgh for work and had some time to explore the city (unfortunately in typical Scottish weather :S3:). Even without the HDR treatment, this view reminded me of the work of the Dutch painter Carel Willink, who painted dramatically lit buildings in a style called Magical Realism.
I don't have much experience with HDR, so C&C are very welcome.

Olympus XZ-1, resting on a parking meter, 20mm (92 mm equivalent), ISO-100, 3 image HDR iwth 1 EV steps, 0EV image 1/640 sec @ f/5.
HDR editing with Photomatix pro (BW enhancer preset), further processing with ACR/CS5. Levels, clarity, sharpness, NR. Local clarity and exposure adjustment on the sky. Slightly cropped from top (for composition) and bottom (to remove antennas and rooftops from lower buildings beneath the bridge).

[Hazel Grant]

What do you mean unfortunately? in Scottish weather:) That's the only way to experience Edinburgh!!! :) One of my favorite places....been there many times and this brings back great memories. So glad you caught the busses, too. I'm still learning HDR with my new camera, so I really can't comment on that, but I think you still have a bit too much sky. Good crop from the bottom because those items you cut out would have muddled the iimage. The darkness at the top of the buildings is accurate for the age of them. Nice capture of the cit--the old and the new (traffic).

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Hazel, of course you're right. Scotland without rain would be like New York without the Statue of Liberty! We had 72 hours of continous downpouring, which is unusual even for Scottish standards. Edinburgh is a very nice city, it's good to hear you enjoy it too!
I agree with you that there is a little too much sky. I took off some of the top, but took care that the darker layer of clouds still continues from left to right in the frame.
In the OP I forgot to mention that I also cloned out a few antennas that were protroding from the lower buildings and that I slightly rotated the image CW.

[Ron Bernstein]

What a fantastic subject! Never having been there, I don't appreciate the context, and I'm glad you mentioned problems below, because it seems like it's a bit
tight on the bottom. I look at the two sides of the image, and wonder if you have a capture showing the right side of the building, and if it is as interesting
as the front. I say this because the building to the left looks modern and distracts. The only benefit of the comp to the left imho is that it allows you to introduce
more of the bridge and the interesting arch below it. But I can't help wondering if you have any where the left side of the image is just to the right of the white
vertical pillar, and the right side shows the full side of the bldg, presuming it is beautiful. I do like the b/w treatment.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Hazel, Very nice black and white treatment. I agree about cropping a bit off the top and would have taken more off than Jerry. The image gives me the impression of it being chopped at the bottom. I would have liked to have seen either more of the bridge or none at all....

[Jerry van Dijk]

Thanks for the comments!
Dave, you got me and Hazel mixed up :S3:. Taking more off the top reduced the dramatic effect of the sky somehow. I agree with you on the bridge, but the buildings below it and the strong height differences in the city made it impossible to get a composition at another angle, showing either more or less of the bridge.
Roy, unfortunately, I don't have any other images of this building. I could crop from the left to remove it, but it would weaken the composition IMO. I could clone an older building over it, perhaps. A few steps to the right in the field would have kept it out, but I must confess I didn't notice the building when I was shooting. Looking twice before pressing the shutter button always has been my weak point...

[Ron Bernstein]

Jerry - a person taking Dave gently to task for getting Jerry and Hazel mixed up should be aware that Roy is Ron!:bg3:

I think a takeaway here is to carefully view your subject before composing, and when you find a GREAT
subject like this, to consider other angles. If you know you're going to see it on your travels, check out photo sites like
Flickr or smugmug to see how others have portrayed it. Tripods help us slow down, but aren't always available when
touring exotic places.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Ooops :e3! In my defence: I hadn't had my first coffee of the day before I wrote this post ..... :w3
Some great advice there, Ron.

[Hazel Grant]

There are 2 ways of looking at this....as a photographer looking for comp, etc. and as one familiar with the city and what this photo represents. Compositonally, I appreciate the comments about tightness at the bottom, cropping to show the building, etc. All are very valid remarks and appreciated especially in this forum. I think a Scot would appreciate the photo in that it shows the buildings of the city--older ones that demonstrate their history and modern ones that show their forward thinking ideas. And those of the city are proud of their arched bridges. Having said that, I like the repost with a bit of sky taken off and appreciate the comments re flickr, etc. Hadn't thought of that.

[Morkel Erasmus]

I love the tones and lines here Jerry. What throws me a little here is that I find it hard to distinguish where which buildings are - everything seems to mesh together...and maybe that is what you were after? Maybe it's my tired eyes late at night? :e3

I might have to come back to this one? I do support Ron's compositional critique.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Morkel, to me this image was meant to be all about structure, not necessarily about portraying indvidual buildings. The perspective mashes everything together but the buildings are close together anyway. The clock tower is part of the largest building you are looking at, which is a high class hotel. I hope you get a good nights sleep anyway!

Hazel, I reallly appreciate your thoughts on this image. I think this is exactly what makes city photography so challenging. It all comes down to choosing between both options you mention: do you want to create an image that is meant to be 'fine art photography' , or do you want to create an image that is characteristic for the city ('documentary photography')? I think this image is somewhere in between, which usually does not work out well. It is my experience that you don't get an image with the best of both worlds, but in image with just a bit of both.
The HDR treatment and BW conversion (and posting it on BPN!) all suggest that this image is meant for the first category (which was my intention), against which standards it will consequently be measured and critiqued. Having said that, I'm very happy with this image as a vivid memory of my visit to the city and will probably add it to my portfolio anyway. I am also very tempted to have a go at some serious image manipulation, which I've been wanting to try out for some time now.
I really appreciate all the comments, critiques and discussion. It is exactly that which has made me a better photographer since I joined BPN. So thank you all!

[dankearl]

Very nice detail and a very interesting cool cityscape. Very nice use of HDR, subtle and very attractive.