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Magic Hour in the Harbour
Magic Hour in the Harbour
hotpasta


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Purple III (Basic Editing)
Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM for Nikon
Location: Sydney Harbour, Australia
Date: Aug 20, 2008
Aperture: F18
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/30
Galleries: Sky, Landscape
Date Uploaded: Aug 19, 2008

 The Image: I have to tell the story behind this image.

My wife was working in Sydney for a few days, and she invited me to Cirque de Soleil (Dralion) for which her company is the prime sponsor. We had VIP seats and Tapis Rouge passes. So of course, I decided to go, take a few days off. Perfect! She works hard all day, I have a love affair with Sydney and my Nikon. At night we go out.

It was our last day and I decided I would catch the harbour in the Magic Hour. I checked the sunrise time and it was 7:30. It was a 15 minute walk to Circular Quay, so I set the alarm for 6am knowing that would be ample time to get there and wait for that 10 minutes of pure magic.

Well, at 6am, I got out of bed, drew back the curtains and the sky was already lit up. It was the most gorgeous deep purple and the clouds were a complimentary orange.

I ran out of the room and ran down George Street like a lunatic, all the while watching this amazing sky disappear before my eyes. By the time I got to the Quay the sky was gone and the sun was coming up. This is the image I captured that with a bit of a tweak, captures the colours I saw.

There's nothing like the sight of the harbour in the morning. The orange light across the Harbour Bridge trusses are magic.

If only I got up half an hour earlier! D'Oh!

There is a PS to this story: I am having lunch overlooking Darling Harbour in what has turned out to be a gorgeous day. On the balcony of the restaurant I am eating at, there is an old man very nicely dressed in a BOSS business suit accompanied by a drop dead gorgeous woman. She looks like his 'escort'. Along comes the waitress who knows them. They've just returned from a 'holiday' in Thailand.

As they chat, I continue to eavesdrop (as you do when you are the only other person on the outdoor balcony). The waitress talks about how lovely the weather is every time this couple visits: Blue skies and not a puff of wind, and 20 degrees today. And, did you see the dawn this morning? It was an amazing deep purple. I have never seen anything like it! To which the rich business man says: Yes, I was up, I saw it. It was magnificent.

Little did he know, along with the stunning woman who was most probably in his bed with, was that Enzo Maisano aka hotpasta was running down George Street, Sydney with a heavy camera bag and Manfrotto tripod, trying to catch what he was looking at before it vapourised away!

Enzo

The Edit: Colour Balance, USM, Noise Ninja, levels.

Prediction: Not sure...might be difficult with all of the purple flowers that should do well. 6.2345???

Post Challenge: The thing I regret about this image is the over saturation. I only had my TabletPC with me in Sydney and on that it looked fine. But when I got home, I thought it looked so unnatural. Thankfully the folks at dpc tend towards oversaturation :) It's great to have finished in 10th place. Thank you everyone.

Statistics
Place: 9 out of 227
Avg (all users): 6.5571
Avg (commenters): 7.4667
Avg (participants): 6.3171
Avg (non-participants): 6.7109
Views since voting: 2609
Views during voting: 373
Votes: 210
Comments: 27
Favorites: 9 (view)

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AuthorThread
Polaroid i633
 09/11/2008 01:02:03 PM
t his picture id beautiful
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark IV
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM III
 08/30/2008 05:06:15 PM
Congratulations on your top 10 finish. Beautiful shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/27/2008 02:24:52 PM
Congrats on the top 10 finish!

Raj
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM
 08/27/2008 02:10:59 PM
You have a magical touch at capturing Australia. Congrats on a great capture and another top 10!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D200
Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED
 08/27/2008 01:07:06 PM
Wow!!!! Magnificently purple...Congrats on Top 10!!! Ummmm...may I borrow that camera?! ::winks::
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 08/27/2008 12:18:41 PM
I missed this in voting. Great shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-6D
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM
 08/27/2008 09:11:49 AM
"I have a love affair with Sydney and my Nikon."

Just the Nikon and Sydney?? What about the little wifey? *grin*

Lovely image. Congrats on the top ten.
Thanks for the story, too. I always enjoy a good story.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
 08/27/2008 04:14:03 AM
Beautiful Buddy - just WONDERFUL!

Oh and I love the stories - GRIN!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D700
Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
 08/27/2008 03:32:53 AM
Love the story and LOVE the image. Great work, Enzo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark IV
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS
 08/27/2008 02:51:23 AM
Nice story. Congrats on your top 10 finish - and I'm glad you find it oversaturated, too.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D810
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G ED VR
 08/27/2008 01:05:01 AM
Congrats on Top 10 enzo, wonderful capture!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Nikon
 08/27/2008 12:22:58 AM
Love the photo, love the story even better. :) Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Nikon D810
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G
 08/25/2008 06:42:50 PM
Nice shot, but I think I would have liked a full silhouette of the opera house more. 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-1100D
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II
 08/24/2008 05:17:10 PM
Beautiful sky.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D300
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED
 08/24/2008 11:28:02 AM
Awesome!!! 10 Best of luck. Scott
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-20D
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
 08/23/2008 10:49:26 AM
Inclredoubly striking, and very purple without looking forced. Fantastic sihllouette and well composed : ) 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D7000
Nikon AF-S DX 18-105 f/3.5-5.6 ED VR
 08/23/2008 01:52:21 AM
Was it really this purple? That is pretty full-on.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D810
Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
 08/22/2008 12:40:43 AM
Great composition and dramatic colors!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D90
Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5D
 08/21/2008 11:28:12 PM
Great capture and portrayal of Sydney Opera House. Colour is imazing in this
Not convinced by the crop though. Probably a little too much taken off the right hand side (ie the Opera house is too much to the right) and also maybe a little too much at the top. Not sure, the crop just doesn't seem to work for me. Good marks though still as its a great shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/21/2008 02:13:21 PM
Nice composition... a tad oversharpened overprocessed to my taste. (i just noticed that I did not type what I thought)

Message edited by author 2008-08-27 15:53:45.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-20D
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 08/20/2008 09:06:46 PM
unfair to have such recognizable and beautiful architecture - jealousy aside, beautiful shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D3100
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED VR
 08/20/2008 05:46:32 PM
Great photo, wonderfull color.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus E-5
Olympus 7-14mm f/4.0 Zuiko Digital Zoom
 08/20/2008 09:31:43 AM
Looks unnatural.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Pentax K20D
Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC for Pentax
 08/20/2008 06:15:53 AM
WOW! Beautiful shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark IV
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS
 08/20/2008 03:05:48 AM
always a nice sight, but here it is a fair amount oversaturated
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
 08/20/2008 01:12:50 AM
This is absolutely gorgeous and the colors are amazing! I can picture this on the front page 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Mamiya 645Pro TL
Mamiya 80mm f/2.8
 08/20/2008 12:55:28 AM
Definitely a ribbon contender!! I love the colors in this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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