Hong Kong Skyline

The Heights of Hong Kong

The sound of a 4:00am alarm call shuddered me to life. After 14 hours of travel, my body demanded more. But I knew I’d have to sit up instantly to fight off the temptations of a deep, much-needed sleep.

I became instantly aware of the heat. We’d made the decision to keep the air con off to prevent the lenses from fogging up when we went outside, into the hot, humid air. I’m staying with Julien (AKA Beboy) and Sabine, travel photographers from Reunion Island who I’ve shot with in France and the US.

Outside, the Hong Kong streets were quiet, still hours away from waking up. Droplets of rain were the first sign that we wouldn’t be greeted by the sun this morning. We flagged a rickety taxi that was sauntering towards us. As we scaled the winding roads leading to Victoria Peak, larger, more frequent droplets of rain landed on the windscreen, and the clouds above us looked less than promising.

We took a narrow path, flanked by trees and bushes on either side, semi-lit by the occasional street lamp. Large spiderwebs collecting mini droplets of water, occasionally blocked our path.

The rain began falling more heavily the closer we got to our spot. A slight break in the downpour allowed us to set up our equipment. Within a few minutes the wind shifted, pushing the rain directly onto my lens. With a tissue (always have tissues handy), I dried the lens but kept the tissue over the glass waiting for a drop in wind.

I’m not sure how long I waited. Eventually, the rain lessened a fraction. I set the camera in motion. The wind and rain picked up again, drenching my lens again. We played this game for around 20 minutes. I had no idea if I have a workable shot.

As the city lights faded, to be replaced by a dull light from the hidden sun, we packed our equipment away and waited for the first tram of the morning to take us down. We knew we’d be here at the same time for the next 6 days – there was still time to capture something special from this wonderful spot.

Today’s Photo – Hong Kong Skyline

The lack of contrast in this scene meant I could easily use a single exposure for the processing. I restored some of the original colouring in ACR by choosing a warmer setting on the temperature slider. I then lowered highlights and increased shadows a tiny amount, before processing in Photoshop.

Processing Photoshop involved basic contrast adjustments and adding a slight vignette. I used Nik Color Efex’s Pro Contrast to add more contrast, mainly to the city.

Because the lens was was spotted with water, and visibility was poor, the image is nowhere near as sharp as I would like it to be. Hopefully the conditions can improve over the next few mornings.

Before/After Comparison

After Processing

Original File Before Processing