This is my second visit and retake of a photo I took a few months ago. My first visit I drove out to LA and took this same photo but the only difference is it was a very foggy morning and the other buildings were hardly seen. I thought it would create for an interesting photo with the fog but with my post processing style it didn’t come out as nice as I would have liked. The composition caught my eye with the center building so dominate in the photo and the outer buildings complimenting very nicely. This is one of the only corners in LA that is nice and clean with the buildings aligning nicely and no gaps between buildings.
On this morning when the above comp was taken, I woke up early as usual and the skies were clear. I was looking forward to a good shoot. The weather was decently warm for 5am as I headed out to LA, it was still dark. Driving to LA at this time on a Saturday or Sunday is so easy and a pleasure to drive. I got to LA in no time, found the block I wanted to walk took a parking spot on the street and set out to shoot. The sun started to break over the horizon creating the lighting I wanted and this corner was one of my first stops. I was happy to see the clear sky and the morning light bouncing off of windows on this building and others. The easy part is knowing exactly what you want to shoot because you have been here before. I got my comps with no fog in sight and moved on down and around the block for other shots. I usually stay in LA for a couple of hours and then head back home. I try to get home in time for breakfast with my wife and kids.
We have all revisited previous things we have shot in the past and we all have reasons for that. My to 3 reasons:
1. I like the spot but I didn’t have enough time to shoot everything I wanted because, A) The good lighting ran out or B) I just had a sucky morning and I just wasn’t feeling it.
2. The weather totally sucked (Nothing more said, we have all been there)
3. I like the spot, lighting was good but I just didn’t get the comp I wanted (most likely this is caused by rushing the shot)
Whatever your reason for revisiting, take advantage of your time, get the comp you want, go back as many times as needed and be glad you live close enough to be able to do that.
The Shot:
F/11, ISO 100, 40 seconds, 24-105L Lens @ 24mm, Tripod and shutter release used
Post Processing:
>Slight adjustments Camera Raw-open in CS-5
>Topaz Denoise-remove unwanted noise
>Selections saved-Sky, Buildings, individual buildings, Center building windows, center building windows, center buildings walls each separately, Center building Cement, Far right building center area, small right building center area.
>Silver Efex Pro 2.0-Black and White Conversion
>Curves adjustment to darken sky
>Curves adjustments to individual buildings, windows and walls-As it fits to entire image
>Curves adjustment to all buildings for contrast
>High pass sharpening to buildings only
>Cloning tool used to remove halo’s from outer edges of buildings
>Noise added to sky to remove banding
Click on below image for larger view of Original/During/Final images
