Photowalk 11 Jan '10

Had an afternoon nap today, intending to go to Docklands for an evening shoot. Unfortunately, I woke up pretty late. By the time I reached Etihad Stadium (formerly Telstra Dome), the sun had already set below to horizon.

This is a view of the city at 9pm. There's still plenty of natural light left in the sky.

I then took the 50-200 SWD and zoomed right in to the front of the stadium. I was fortunate that the breeze is quite slight today, so even with a long focal length (240mm equivalent), the image was pretty sharp. Try doing that on a windy day and I'd guarantee you that you'd be cursing the weather elements ;)

After 20 minutes, the sky has a deep purple hue which accentuates the light from the buildings and streetlamps. Although most cameras have no autofocus issues, it is extremely imperative that you get focus extremely spot on. Of course some highlights will be blown out (unless you do HDR), so getting the right exposure is also essential.

As the prayer of proper pixel placement goes:

Darks on the left
Lights on the right
Greys in the middle
And Lord help us preserve the holy highlights
Amen

As a final treat, here's a panorama of the scene.

I hope these windless summer evenings continue for some time.

Cheers.