Sunset in Downtown Tucson

[Snarkbyte]

The desert southwest does generate some spectacular sunsets, and I wanted to capture one in an urban setting. This was taken from the roof of a multi-story parking structure downtown, so I could get the tall buildings and the brightly painted buildings in the foreground. C&C welcome and appreciated. (Now that I've posted it, I suddenly can see the dust spot in the top left... why are these things invisible until after I post them?)

[ilovelucydog]

The desert southwest does generate some spectacular sunsets, and I wanted to capture one in an urban setting. This was taken from the roof of a multi-story parking structure downtown, so I could get the tall buildings and the brightly painted buildings in the foreground. C&C welcome and appreciated. (Now that I've posted it, I suddenly can see the dust spot in the top left... why are these things invisible until after I post them?)

Arizona and the desert southwest are absolutely amazing! Your image captured not only the amazing sky colors but the colorful buildings that are everywhere! How can you not smile at the amazing bright colors!!!

It was an area of the country that I really had had no desire to visit, but after we visited the Grand Canyon, Sedona and too many places I can't remember... I would love to go back again. Thanks for sharing.

[KHarmon]

The desert southwest does generate some spectacular sunsets, and I wanted to capture one in an urban setting. This was taken from the roof of a multi-story parking structure downtown, so I could get the tall buildings and the brightly painted buildings in the foreground. C&C welcome and appreciated. (Now that I've posted it, I suddenly can see the dust spot in the top left... why are these things invisible until after I post them?)

The colors are absolutely amazing. Now the question from a complete amateur. What program did you use to edit the photo if any editing was required? Every time I try to enhance colors with photo shop or corel paint shop they come out looking fake and edited. I would like to edit without the photo looking edited after I'm done.

KHarmon

[Snarkbyte]

Arizona and the desert southwest are absolutely amazing! Your image captured not only the amazing sky colors but the colorful buildings that are everywhere! How can you not smile at the amazing bright colors!!!

It was an area of the country that I really had had no desire to visit, but after we visited the Grand Canyon, Sedona and too many places I can't remember... I would love to go back again. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Mary. We're having a strong monsoon season this year and when the storm breaks up just before sunset, the light is amazing. With any luck, this will continue for a few more weeks so I can get some more shots.

[Snarkbyte]

The colors are absolutely amazing. Now the question from a complete amateur. What program did you use to edit the photo if any editing was required? Every time I try to enhance colors with photo shop or corel paint shop they come out looking fake and edited. I would like to edit without the photo looking edited after I'm done.

Hi, Ken, and thanks for the reply. I use Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5 for post-processing. There is an art (and a little science) to developing an image in post-processing. I'm a bit of a newbie myself, having begun photography about a year ago. There's a lot to learn (and I'm very far from being an expert at this stuff), but the real keys are study and practice. Hanging around at CiC is certain to improve your knowledge and skills, but it may also help to sign up for some courses on Photoshop. I can recommend online courses from Kelby Training ( http://www.kelbytraing.com ) and Lynda ( http://www.lynda.com ), both of which have several courses specific to Photoshop. The software packages you have are certainly adequate, it just takes practice and some training. Personally, I've found the online training videos to be very helpful, since you can see exactly what the instructor is doing, the purpose of doing it, and pause the video to practice the same techniques and make notes during the course. Try signing up for some of the online training (better than a book for many purposes, by far) and I'm sure your technique will improve quickly.

[KHarmon]

Hi, Ken, and thanks for the reply. I use Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5 for post-processing. There is an art (and a little science) to developing an image in post-processing. I'm a bit of a newbie myself, having begun photography about a year ago. There's a lot to learn (and I'm very far from being an expert at this stuff), but the real keys are study and practice. Hanging around at CiC is certain to improve your knowledge and skills, but it may also help to sign up for some courses on Photoshop. I can recommend online courses from Kelby Training ( http://www.kelbytraing.com ) and Lynda ( http://www.lynda.com ), both of which have several courses specific to Photoshop. The software packages you have are certainly adequate, it just takes practice and some training. Personally, I've found the online training videos to be very helpful, since you can see exactly what the instructor is doing, the purpose of doing it, and pause the video to practice the same techniques and make notes during the course. Try signing up for some of the online training (better than a book for many purposes, by far) and I'm sure your technique will improve quickly.

Thank you for the information. I don't currently have light room and based on recent budget constraints, have found it to be higher than I can currently afford. I will definitely look into the recommended training. I was primarily shooting film during the 90's and once the cost of developing multiple rolls of film (I shoot storms primarily) got to prohibitive, I got out of photography all together. I bought a new digital SLR last year and while I like the fact that I can shoot numerous pictures and pick and choose what gets printed, I'm still working on getting a feel for shooting digital.

[Donald]

Now that is a show-stopper. Not a lot you can say, except ........ Wow!

The strength is in the vision to have seen that it would work in an urban setting and with the brightly coloured buildings included. Most folk would have, I think, headed out into the desert to try and get their spectacular sunset shot.

[Snarkbyte]

Thank you for the information. I don't currently have light room and based on recent budget constraints, have found it to be higher than I can currently afford. I will definitely look into the recommended training. I was primarily shooting film during the 90's and once the cost of developing multiple rolls of film (I shoot storms primarily) got to prohibitive, I got out of photography all together. I bought a new digital SLR last year and while I like the fact that I can shoot numerous pictures and pick and choose what gets printed, I'm still working on getting a feel for shooting digital.

Lightroom isn't required for any of the adjustments/edits done to an image. Photoshop (with Adobe Camera Raw) can do any adjustments/edits that can be done in Lightroom. I just like LR because it's friendlier and has database capabilities to help organize photos, plus a few other features to make life a bit simpler. Another popular package is GIMP, which is a free download, and used by several members here with impressive results. I've never used GIMP, so I don't know how it compares to anything else in terms of usability, but the results speak for themselves. Good luck and don't get discouraged... there's a lot to learn, and it takes a lot of practice. Some lucky people like Willie seem to have a natural talent for it, but the rest of us just have to work and study. Fortunately, I enjoy it!

[Snarkbyte]

Now that is a show-stopper. Not a lot you can say, except ........ Wow!

The strength is in the vision to have seen that it would work in an urban setting and with the brightly coloured buildings included. Most folk would have, I think, headed out into the desert to try and get their spectacular sunset shot.

Thanks, Don. The one thing that keeps nagging at me (other than the dust spot) is the white roof at the lower left. I really ought to tone that down a bit, as it pulls the eye away from the buildings. I'm trying for a good shot to enter in the "Golden Hour" competition, and this is one possibility, but the monsoon continues, and there's still time left to get more before the competition deadline. I hope to get some sunrise shots tomorrow, but the dawn light just hasn't been as good as the sunsets lately.

[Donald]

Thanks, Don. The one thing that keeps nagging at me (other than the dust spot) is the white roof at the lower left.

I have to admit, I hadn't seen it until your mentioned it. So, if I represent the 'man/woman-in-the-street' I don't think others will home in on it either. However, greying it up a bit wouldn't do any harm.

[ilovelucydog]

Thanks, Mary. We're having a strong monsoon season this year and when the storm breaks up just before sunset, the light is amazing. With any luck, this will continue for a few more weeks so I can get some more shots.

Please share them if you do! I wish I could remember some of the places we visited... must be getting old. But, the colors are truly amazing and I hadn't realized how the scenery changes so much. I had a vision of flat desert land, cactus and tumbleweeds...so not the case. The mountains, the red rocks...etc. Beautiful.

[johnbharle]

Thank you for the information. I don't currently have light room and based on recent budget constraints, have found it to be higher than I can currently afford. I will definitely look into the recommended training. I was primarily shooting film during the 90's and once the cost of developing multiple rolls of film (I shoot storms primarily) got to prohibitive, I got out of photography all together. I bought a new digital SLR last year and while I like the fact that I can shoot numerous pictures and pick and choose what gets printed, I'm still working on getting a feel for shooting digital.

There is a program called "Raw Therapee." It's freeware and pretty useful. You might try it until the budget gets better.

[Wirefox]

I must admit being a Brit growing up in the 70's when I think of Tucson I get visions of Manolito Montoya and and Big John Cannon strolling down a buck boarded street with a gentle mariah tossing the tumbleweed around . I can hear Buck now..."theys be Apatch Big John" So this came as a bit of a shock to see Tucson looking like a new housing estate in Manchester. Actually that is what makes it such a great image of contrasts.

[Donald]

In 1989 I spent an afternoon in the bar of the ??? Hotel (God, I wish I could remember). Collonial? Continental?. Anyway, it was a real old hotel with lots of wood. And it was absolutely glorious. And I got just a little bit tiddly! No, I got a big bit tiddly.

We (5 of us, who had been working at a summer camp, near Thompson, PA, for kids with all sorts of behavioural and emotional problems) had just finished a 6-day car journey from up-state New York taking two driveaway cars to their owners who had moved to Tuscon. The people I was with then got another driveway back east. I was running out of time and had to get home. So I spent the afternoon in the bar before sleeping rough in a supermarket car park for the night (where I got woken up by some really odd looking guy - but he only wanted a cigarette), before getting the train for the three day journey to Chicago and then on to Pittsburgh, PA for a few days with someone I'd met, before heading for JFK and home.

Aaahh, being a mature student was brilliant.

EDIT
I JUST FOUND IT - My notebook of that journey (I always keep a note book). It was the Hotel Congress. Is it still there?

[ilovelucydog]

My life is so boring.

[Snarkbyte]

I JUST FOUND IT - My notebook of that journey (I always keep a note book). It was the Hotel Congress. Is it still there?

Indeed it is, Donald, and something of a local cultural landmark. Hotel Congress has been renovated (if that's the right word) to a 1920s-30s atmosphere, complete with antique radios and iron bedposts in the rooms... not to mention a real, working 1930s switchboard for telephone service. It is also the home of Club Congress, the local nightclub hotspot and venue for some of the best live music in town. I don't have any photos of the place (yet), but I'll probably get around to it this winter.

[Donald]

Thank you Al. That's made my day ... and helped bring back a wonderful memory.

[Dave Humphries]

My life is so boring

Mine too

[Snarkbyte]

I must admit being a Brit growing up in the 70's when I think of Tucson I get visions of Manolito Montoya and and Big John Cannon strolling down a buck boarded street with a gentle mariah tossing the tumbleweed around . I can hear Buck now..."theys be Apatch Big John" So this came as a bit of a shock to see Tucson looking like a new housing estate in Manchester. Actually that is what makes it such a great image of contrasts.

Many of the westerns you speak of were, in fact, filmed just west of Tucson. The Hollywood studios built a production set with buildings and facades to have the appearance of a 19th century western town, and many of the westerns from the 40s and 50s were shot there. The set still exists, and is called "Old Tucson", though it was never part of the actual historic Tucson. It was quite popular as a tourist attraction until a few years ago, when most of the buildings on the set burned down from a lightning strike. Old Tucson is still open to tourists, but it's not the attraction it once was... you can no longer "belly up" to the same bar that John Wayne stood beside before the inevitable bar brawl got started.

[ilovelucydog]

Mine too

I feel better knowing I'm not alone.