Hong Kong

I think the image could be used on a postcard (possibly with cropped top and bottom as others have suggested).

 

What was the shutter speed, aperture and ISO setting?

 

Is this just my new monitor, or it looks oversharpened to others too? It's as if you have sharpened it twice: look at the double contours of buildings against the sky.

I really like the entire image , color , focus and pleasing subject matter while colors may be a little intense I dont feel it takes away from the overall quality of this ..Very Well done ..And my congradulations on your image being selected ......

 

You are one of the best on Pnet in my humble opinion..Regards Jeff

Overpowering in a wonderful way. Amazing! The crispness makes me feel like I am on a junk enjoying all of this firsthand!

I am not really sure how to start as I don't think I have ever commented on a POW image after it became POW. All the positive things about this are deserved. I might have wanted to see the perspective corrected so that 2 IFC was absolutely vertical. When you see that building it is very imposing. Slightly of topic I would be curious to know what Cherylyn's Number 1 city-scape is.

 

A great image and one I am jealous of. I wish I had taken it.

This is really beautiful and luminous night shot. Light reflection over the harbour in such vibrant colors and the glow in the surrounding buildings immediately capture

everyone's attention. Great Photo!

Sorry to spoil the party guys, but I can’t say that this photo does much for me! I have no problem at all with the framing…if the foreground was cropped, the foreground reflections would be shortened and would appear too cut-off. I feel, in general, that too much attention in paid to the so-called Rule of Thirds, to the point where I even find myself continuously thinking of this element of composition rather than the many more important elements. Lighten up on the ROT’s guys or risk being labeled ROTter !

My problem with this photo is, firstly, the sky looks completely out of sync with the middle and foreground. My feeling on this is that the sky has been over-worked in photoshop. It almost looks as though it has been taken from another photo (which I’m sure is not the case)…or is the sort of thing that happens to me when I select the sky and press the auto-adjust button.

My second ‘crib’ is with what appears to me to be over – sharpening and over- working of the middle and foreground which creates an unappealing contrast between these areas and the sky. I think perhaps the photographer has gotten carried way with enthusiasm for post-processing…… one of my own worst faults. (I have just read your comment, Necip indicating that this photo is as real it gets ,so if my comments above are incorrect you have my unreserved apology….I’m no expert, but I have to call it as I see it ).

…Frank

my comment is about the composition. i like cityscapes. your offering has nice tones but i find the chinese boat a little distracting. it takes away a little too much of space. for my taste either a small boat taking up less space or a larger boat being the central subject with the city just as a backdrop would have been more interesting.

Wonderful shot. I think it captures the essence of Hong Kong.

An image of what humanity has become: a machine, imposed upon the remnants of the planet's nature. At the fringes will always be those slow to succumb to the march of technology, but sadly known by all inside that, eventually, calculated order will prevail upon those still free.

 

Since this is an image which would never be beheld by human eyes directly, it is irrelevant whether the middle seems detached from the sky or that the reflections seem too bright. This is a caricature of the modern world. What I particularly like is that the conflicts between man and nature are not exaggerated, but nature is seen to cosset the new humanity with beauty and peace.

 

In a way this picture is ahead of its time; when we have bright fifty inch digital photo frames this type of image is going to be seen all over peoples' walls.

I like the imagery, it very pleasing to the eye, the composition is great, but it looks like it has been post processed to the max. Not sure the sky works, reflections are just too strong, and the boat is too bright to be natural. Sorry for being so picky, I’d still give it a 6/6.

I love the shot!

 

What lens were you using and what F stop, etc? I see that there is lots of light, yet a crisp image with no blur. I'm thinking long exposure, but the boat and water are crisp. Curious if you will share you technique, settings.

 

Thanks a bunch. I've enjoyed your pictures!

Necip has an impressive portfolio when it comes to birds. i have a lot to learn from his folio.

 

With due respect to this image, i would agree to some of the comments/contradictions above. the reflection in the

water (and otherwise) makes one feel oversharpening in post production. The most dramatic element is ofcourse the

clouds over the skyline added by bright coloured sails of the boat.

 

Compliments and congratulations Necip !

Necip, I love this image, but I would back off on the sharpening, both in this photo and in some of your others. I would use unsharp mask at about fifty in most cases, unless a much sharper look was called for. Here in particular, the water simply does not seem quite natural, although the building lights are too sharp as well.

 

Still, it is a great shot, and I would not want this one criticism to be the one thing you remember.

 

--Lannie

Fantastic image of HK. Reminds me of the cult movie Bladerunner. I think the photo could need a little cropping in the foreground - thats it.

Caspar Knox

It's a good looking shot. Maybe it's just me but the sky doesn't seem to fit the scene. It also appears slightly over-sharpened

a little confused not all the buildings have reflections, the reflections don't match the colors of the buildings or the lights on the buildings, the sky would have to be at a long shutter speed to catch the glow (maybe a very bright moon behind), but the boat has a wake, just a bit confused

I think it's a very nice picture. It looks like it was shot from the star ferry terminal on the Kowloon side. Many years ago as a pilot I flew regular trips into the now closed Kai Tak airport. The majesties of HK to me are the peaks on the Island. It is not a flat city as it appears in the photo. Where is Victoria peak??? Again a nice picture, but aside from the Sampan or maybe actually it is a Junk it doesn't look like HK to me.

Nice scene looking from the Kowloon side.

Just curious how this was done in one shot? The buildings look like a long exposure, but the boat is sharp. It appears to be more of a "photo illustration" or composite IMO.

wonderful shot, beatiful compotition, congratulations

First of all: congratulations for the general looks of the motiv, the colours and the nice atmosphere. Really a beautiful scene.

 

But for my taste the technical making is somewhat behind. It's by far too strongly sharpened and it has a lot of artefacts around the towers. The ship which acts as an eye-catcher here is blurry while at the same time oversharpened which makes it less attractive.

 

As I said, it's a beautiful picture but I think it could technically be improved to make it even more beautiful.

 

Best regards

Michael

Guess I'm in the minority. Although I think most of your online portfolio is fantastic, this one seems overprocessed. It has the look of Photomatix tone-

mapping. There are a lot of overexposed highlights so I'm guessing it was an intentional overexposure to get more shadow detail in the water. I'd

love to have been there to see it. It would benefit from some lens correction post processing to straighten the buildings.

Like the colors in it and the reflections are great but am I the only one that see's that this image is soft and it was corrected with over sharpening? There are artifacts every where. Totally ruins the image for me. Sometimes blur works but in a shot like this (IMO) it just doesn't.

very nice picture, good colors, It does have a feeling of not seeming real. but the old meets new works great,

Beautiful photo, not quite sharp to my eye but maybe that's just me. Wonderful colours, reminds me of Blade Runner!

This image pops at first look, but I think what others have noted as an unreal quality owes to the lens

distortion. It not only keystones the buildings, but the entire picture. It is so pronounced that it bends the

horizon, and angles the buildings on either side in toward each other. As the eye moves around the frame, a

slight general softness becomes recognizable, and the subtle bending toward the middle causes discomfort. It's

degree isn't enough to be an obvious and purposeful artistic perspective, but enough to look "off," if you will.

 

I'll repeat Vadim Makarov's request for the technical details. It would be really helpful to my continued

learning about photography to know how a given image is made, and this one in especially, because it is

striking, despite it's technical difficulties. Also, much has been technically done so very well, that I'd much

appreciate knowing your settings. I can't think of a way to configure my camera to collect that much light before

there's any movement effect with the Junk, especially with obviously not calm waters, and under full sail. So, it

stumps me how you accomplished capturing this image.

 

I'm hoping you'll see this, Necip. Thank you, in advance, for anything you'd care to teach about photography.