Sydney Spring, a photo from New South Wales, East

Photographer's Note

A couple of weeks back a good friend rang and asked me for some help. She was fast approaching the deadline for a sales brochure she was having printed to sell her house, and, due to bad weather, the professional she had hired to take the house interior shots, the garden shots, and the view, missed out on the view because of the rain. So, no view shot.
I can tell you I was pretty nervous when I nonchalantly said, "sure I can do that for you", if she only knew. What she wanted was a blue sky, fluffy white clouds and a blue harbour, voila, the luck of the Irish.
Interesting, apart from the half day of clear sky when I got the shot, we’ve had cloud and rain most every day since.

I know Craig (macjake) and Lisa (delpeoples) would think it sacrilege not to shoot this POV in blue hour, but, they are much better at blue hour shots than I am, and as this shot is to go into the selling brochure I was not tempted to take the risk.

I was tempted to crop out the houses in the foreground but, apparently if the description in the sales brochure says this is the “actual view” then it has to be the actual view. Ha, truth in advertising, go figure.

Ps. If you have a spare $9 million dollars you could own this view and the house that goes with it.

Hope you like it as much as I do.

hemantbuch, snunney, francio64, jlbrthnn, delpeoples, Kielia, daddo, SridharRao75, jhm, ktanska, Budapestman, rodgerg, mozzy27, Matthew-Watt heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

mikolaj_kawa (0) 2010-11-10 23:20

Hello Peter! Amazing cityscape. Wonderful weather. Excellent colours. Good capture. Well done!

hemantbuch (1649) 2010-11-10 23:55

Hi Peter,

Great cityscape that captures the essence of Sydney...unfortunately, I don't have the money, else I would have taken this place just for the view! Well done!

Regards,

Hemant

Ricx (13495) 2010-11-10 23:56

Hi Peter, anexcellent image of this wonderful City.. beautiful strong colours with the City in the bg .. great image well done Rich

andreyn (171) 2010-11-11 0:43

Hi Peter ,
Great frame. Sydney looks beautiful. I like the composition having the villas in front and the skyscrapers on the background. The nicely polarized sky also adds a nice touch.

Andrey

ifege (47993) 2010-11-11 1:05

Hi peter
Good to see you still doing the odd (not good) posting on TE. I could offer $9 (Maybe a touch more) for this superb view - you got it all with perfect POV, the clouds and vista and not over the top saturation. You could give up program production and take up real estate photography.
cheers
Ian

snunney (130967) 2010-11-11 4:36

Hello Peter,
Makes a very successful sales pitch I would say. You have composed the shot very well and the lighting and exposure are both perfect. Those little puffy clouds really do raise the shot to another level.

rlrad (1845) 2010-11-11 5:43

Hello Pete!

I hope you were well compensated for your efforts - after all, not many can make the sky clear and give those beautiful puffy clouds at their own whim. Then you had to capture it. You did, too, a perfect shot for a sales brochure.

Having a wife in the real estate game, I know what it means to have appealing photos in the advertisements - without them no one will bother to look at the house at all. Today is an on-line, visual world...

Anyway, beautiful job. Those clouds are wonderful!

Did you see Nikon finally made a camera to replace yours? The D7000 - I'm thinking of replacing my D300 with it, or at least an augmentation of a sort.

Have a wonderful day,

Reed

francio64 (39888) 2010-11-11 5:45

Hello Peter,
beautiful shot from Sydney.
I can see the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

Good light management and good sharp!
TFS!

The Assessor :)

jlbrthnn (76043) 2010-11-11 6:09

Hello Peter,
It is a pleasure of seeing new photographs after this prolonged absence. This marine and urban landscape is remarkably quite made up. I appreciate the excellent light, the beautiful natural colors, clearness, the depth, and the well contrasted sky. Congratulations.
Have a nice day
Cordially
Joël

diomed (13926) 2010-11-11 6:30

Hi Peter,
what a wonderful view of Sideney in the spring!
The red roofs,the buildings sky line, the far bridge and.. a magnificent sky with a fantastic light!
TFS
Nice evening
Antonio

delpeoples (60342) 2010-11-11 15:25

Ciao Pedro, a lazy $9 mill eh? I wish! Your friend should give you the house as payment for the top photo. You really did the Harbour (and I'm sure your friend's property) justice here. Great contrasting colours, despite such harsh sunlight. The wide-angle has created such a beautiful effect on the clouds and well, the natural beauty of the Habour...I'm still convinced nothing beats it. Great job, when we having lunch gramps? Luvyawork, Lisa

macjake (98408) 2010-11-11 15:37

Hi Peter
well well, look who came back!
9Mill is a bit pricey don't you think? imagine the sales commision on that!
Overall, i have to give this photo a 9.5 out of 10.
why the missed 0.5? is it just me or is it a tad lilted downward to the left? sometimes its hard to tell because skylines/beachfronts dont always run linear...anyways...i'm nit picking Peter, seriously, its a doozy, and a winner.
If i took this, i'd be very happy and proud of it.
the depth with the F11 is outstanding, as the tall buildings are very well defined. I like the colours in the lower FG, they pop out at the viewer.
the dark coloured bridge is splendid too, and the sailboats are just icing on the cake.
The best feature of all, is without a doubt the popcorn clouds, they seem to "open" up the sky somehow.
great visual.
As for the Blue hour...yeah...i'd love to get my hands on this baby! i'ds do one photoshoot in the daytime, and one at the blue hour...same location. With the buildings SO far back in the frame, it would be VERY hard to get them to be sharp - so this is easily the right choice to shoot this scene.
looking forward to your next one!
Cheers
craig

Nicou (193806) 2010-11-12 1:04

Hello,

Fantastique compo et iamge, sueprbe, quelle vue, avec un grandisoe cile, ces formes nuageuse, et cette immense vue, fantastique, de toute beauté.

Bravo et maitié

Nicou

Kielia (24077) 2010-11-12 4:57

Hi Peter,
what a view indeed! I think I am going to play the lottery tomorrow. It is really a wonderful poster you have made for your friend. Most of all I like the atmosphere of spring.
I have one suggestion, cropping the sky a bit and concentrate on the beauty of the clouds. But this is only a minor thing, it is a great impression anyway.
Have a nice weekend downunder!
Warm regards
Harriet

daddo (28748) 2010-11-12 15:34

Hi Peter.So, a bit of the Irish in you minus the blarney? Great POV and magical combination of harmless looking clouds, beautiful colours and clear light. i actually like the inclusion of the foreground as the red roofs add to a broader palette and broaden the panorama.Regards. Klaudio.

SridharRao75 (280) 2010-11-13 4:46 [Comment]

Show Comment

npecanhuk (79329) 2010-11-13 5:17

Hello Peter!
Wonderful cityscape and skyline!
Very attractive picture with excellent sharpness, exposure, chosen pov, dof, colors, pp, contrasts, horizontal format and composition!
Sidney is certainly a very beautiful city! I hope I can visit it some day!
TFS - congrasts,
Best regards,
Neyvvan

jhm (211736) 2010-11-14 3:28

Hello Peter,

Great cityscape that captures the essence of Sydney.
We see very a lot, de bridge, marina, and a lot skyscrapers in background.
Very well composition, nice presentation too. TFS.

Have a nice Sunday,
John.

SteveH (8220) 2010-11-14 14:01

Hi Peter, good paroramic shot of the harbour, the weather gods were kind to you, with sunshine and some nice clouds. Your friend has (had?) a good vantage point, with all the Sydney icons on show. nice work. cheers, Steve

ktanska (44738) 2010-11-16 0:24

Hi Peter,
So a million dollar view would be just a ninth of this. No doubt I could live there...
You got exactly what you wished for the weather. This harbour scene looks just great and this angle with Fort Denison and Opera House opposite is superb. Thanks for the WS, tilt on this one is slight but noticeable.
Kari

korbee (6619) 2010-11-18 11:35

One of the most superbe vieuws Ive seen of Sydney for long time Peter,superbe sharpness,cristal clear weather an the cloudy sky is doing the rest,all the famous spots in the town are the picture.
A beauty mate!

jan

TopGeo (38220) 2010-11-18 11:44

Hi Peter! We are for I hope we see also you with all that agreeing that the love in the photo us links! I liked here this your reception! A clean remote snapshot with first level that leads to the background with the view of city and a splendid sky to a composition impressive! I praise you!
Regards
Georgios

batalay (41261) 2010-11-18 14:55

Dear Peter,

What a magnificent expansive shot of the Sydney skyline, with the skyscrapers and the iconic bridge all in view. The fluffy low-lying clouds almost appear to have been painted in. Finally, your personal essay adds immensely to the enjoyment of the picture.

Warm regards,

Bulent

travelm8 (366) 2010-11-19 2:28

Hi Peter

love those clouds and that city skyline, hard to hide power poles and power lines in street shots. Like the colours, beautiful blue and terracotta.

cheers
John

Budapestman (82620) 2010-11-20 16:45

Hi Peter,
great view with many splendid details, the composition is very spectacular, beautiful lights and colours, Tfs! Have a nice day! Kellemes napot kívánok!
György

rodgerg (55767) 2010-11-21 8:27

Hello Peter,

The spring for you and here in Europa the autumn's end!
Superb image rich in variuos details very well collected. The red roofs in the FG give a greta depht to the image with the propsect open to the high and very graphic buildings in the BG. Beautiful colors too under a blue sky with nice clouds.
Best regards,
Roger

macondo (20449) 2010-11-25 22:32

Hi Peter.
Time to visit a few galleries that I hadn't seen for a while. You haven't been too active! But I love the colour and light in this fairly recent one. It is a stupendous view and a view of the bridge that many overseas members will never have seen. Delightful little bay with its yachts. I used to know someone many years ago who lived in this area, but not in a squillion dollar house. Actually, the roofs make a great colour combination with the blues of sea and sky. Looks like you might have a new profession in the making here.
Regards,
Andrew

mozzy27 (2) 2010-11-29 0:25

Hello Peter
Sorry I hadn't commented on this fantastic Sydney scape early but I was contemplating my future on Te, I have now decided to take your advice and critique a little more and just enjoy it for what it is. Thanks
Now for you shot - Wonderful puffy clouds in that blue sky over Sydney Harbour. The terracotta roof tiles contrast beautifully with the blue of the water wouldn't be same without them, A great composition, sharp as a pin.
Cheers Peter

jimkil (1706) 2010-11-29 0:45

Hello Peter
I love that retouched sky you put in there, how did you get that to work so fine, love the story, I recently dabbled in tis type of photography also, in return for help with a new picket fence because I am so lame at DIY. I got these clouds also, and I saturated the bejesus out of it, but that's what the brochures look like - he was happy and my picket fence is nearly done so I hope she gives you at least 10% of the price because that is diamond view . Is the zoo around this side of Sydney because when I was there it looks like the same kind of vantage point. NZ sent you some clouds these day, looks like cotton mate. Wonderful colours and the orange rooftops were right to stay in.
Jim

foozi (7101) 2010-12-01 4:00

Hello Peter,
this is asplendid landscape/seascape/vityscape. Really wonderful with dramatic white puffy clouds all over and sharpness in every place.
The red roof, the white boat and the iconic bridge are there to give a powerful composition.
Ecerything seems to be located at the right place.
A stunning composition with lighting so wonderful.

Regards,
Foozi

emka (158058) 2010-12-07 23:30

Hi Peter, It is strange, we are preparing for the winter, could be harsh one, and you enjoy such wonderful sunny days! It would be better to change home for southern hemisphere (in November annd December). I envy you this view, even itf it is not yours.
The panorama here is wonderful, so colourful! Red roofs, bridge, boats, skyscapers in the bg, and fabulous blue sky. Perfect composition.

Warm regards

Malgorzata

Matthew-Watt (5934) 2010-12-12 17:12

Hello Peter,

Gorgeous photo, and puts the saying 'million dollar views' to shame. In fact, one million dollars gets you probably no views in Sydney anymore. Sydney is a gorgeous city, and despite the competition from the other big Aussie cities which indeed hold their own, Sydney holds the crown for most spectacular views. Your image is delightful; the Harbour looks as good as ever, the clouds perfectly set, a few boats for interest. A good vantage no doubt for the 31st fireworks. Hope Oprah gets a day as good as this at the Opera House. TFS.

Matt

gunbud (34066) 2010-12-15 20:50

Hi Peter,
What a lovely coastal scene you present here with the magnificent sky with its lovelyclouds seen looming over the distant city skyline.
The orange roofs lead the eye to the calm harbor and wonderfully placed bridge.
Regards, Tom

MLINES (12516) 2012-06-10 0:19

Hi Peter, Very good panaramic view with many fine elements. The bright orange rooftiles, the depth in the skies and the balance are all well done. TFS. Murray

Photo Information

Copyright: Peter Wall (phwall) (6787)
Genre: Plaatsen
Medium: Kleur
Date Taken: 2010-10-14
Categories: Beslissend moment
Camera: Nikon D90, AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-85 f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, Hoya 67mm Pro1 S-HMC Cir-Polar
Belichting: f/11, 1/320 Seconden
Details: Tripod: Yes
More Photo Info: view
Fotoversie: Originele versie, Workshop
Date Submitted: 2010-11-10 23:05