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iceman
13-10-2011, 07:03 AM
During the month of May 2011, I embarked on a number of pre-dawn photo shoots to capture the planetary conjunctions. But that’s not all I photographed. The few times I was in Sydney early before work, I also captured some of the landmarks of our famous city in a beautiful pre-dawn and dawn light.

I’ve finally finished processing them all (it’s been a busy year!) and over the coming weeks I’ll post the results of these photo shoots, in a Sydney at Dawn series.

The first in the series are 3 stunning panoramas, all captured on the 18th May 2011, all in slightly different lights as dawn fast approached.

I love astronomical interest in my landscape photography, and these are no exception. In the first shot, the keen eyed observer will spot the constellation Crux with the pointers hanging over the city, and the Full Moon blazing between the steel at the North end of the Harbour Bridge. In the third panorama, the Full Moon begs to be noticed, and can be seen setting in the West, under the Harbour Bridge.

Captured with a Canon 40D and Sigma 17-70mm lens, the images consist of 4 or 5 frames stitched together, with each frame captured as a bracketed 3-shot exposure and blended as HDR.

The HDR tonemapping was done using Photomatix Pro, and then the frames were stitched together into a panorama using AutoPano Pro. The panorama was then imported into Lightroom 3 for processing, and finally into Photoshop for final touchups.

It's worth checking out the larger versions, at 2000px wide on my blog at:
Sydney at Dawn – Triple Panorama Treat (http://www.mikesalway.com.au/2011/10/12/sydney-at-dawn-triple-panorama-treat/)

Comments welcome.

Jeffkop
13-10-2011, 07:18 AM
Beautiful Mike ... a serene facade that masks well the chaos that is Sydney.

bloodhound31
13-10-2011, 12:09 PM
First thing I noticed was the southern cross and pointers. Love the first one!

Baz.

astroron
13-10-2011, 12:54 PM
Very nice Mike .
Cheers

DavidTrap
13-10-2011, 04:32 PM
Very nice Mike - here's my offering from the other side of the harbour.

Cheers
DT

naskies
13-10-2011, 08:57 PM
Fantastic - I really like the first one with the Southern Cross.

gary
13-10-2011, 11:55 PM
Fabulous Mike. The city looks deserted.

iceman
14-10-2011, 04:49 AM
Thanks guys, appreciate the comments. It was a beautiful morning.

sheeny
14-10-2011, 07:05 AM
Lucky the anti-terrorists didn't arrest you Mike! If its suspicious to take photos of your daughter eating an ice-cream then what you were doing... well... its good thing anti-terrorists have to sleep too!

You've inspired me to do a series of panoramas too... "Oberon at... oh... how about 5 past 7"? I'll do it when I find that photogenic angle... its not worth getting up THAT early otherwise...:P

Very nice work, Mike. I'm looking forward to the rest as you precess them.:)

Al.

iceman
14-10-2011, 07:59 AM
LOL thanks Al. I'm sure during summer it's not that cold to get up early :)

Star Catcher
14-10-2011, 05:48 PM
Very nice set Mike. Luckily you were not asked if you had applied for a photo taking waiver. Anyone wondering around Sydney city with a tripod is at risk of being told to pack up and get a filming license or waiver application. :)

PCH
14-10-2011, 09:32 PM
Surely this can't be serious ???

bartman
14-10-2011, 10:04 PM
Yep saw the Southern Cross first too on the first pic!
Great shots Mike.
........Maybe you can do a HDR of the three?????....Dont know if it will work.....hhheheheh but just a thought..

Bartman

Star Catcher
14-10-2011, 10:22 PM
Hi Paul

My comment was somewhat tongue in cheek but when the Sydney City council first introduced the requirements, the rangers were pulling up amateurs with large tripods and cameras. Tourists usually don;t carry around large so they were usually ok.

The council has clarified some of the criteria and have made their requirements quite business specific, but waivers might still be an issue, I'm not sure. See some info here:

http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Business/Filming/FeesCharges.asp

Ted

PCH
15-10-2011, 02:57 PM
Ah,

thanks Ted. Interesting though, - I mean so what if you are a Pro! Do the council own the landscape and horizon now or what?

Whoever first said - "The law is an ass!" had it pretty much spot on hey!

Cheers :thumbsup:

StephenM
16-10-2011, 01:05 PM
Beautiful images Mike! I particularly like the first 2.

Cheers,
Stephen

iceman
16-10-2011, 05:08 PM
Thanks guys, was a productive morning. Have a few more to come tomorrow I think.