I know I’ve gone on and on about it, but I love Hong Kong. It has the glitz and glamour that you’d expect from one of Asia’s premiere cities but also has a little bit of grit to it, enough that it feels real (if that makes sense).
My favorite spot in all of Hong Kong is Lugard Road, a little path that winds its way around Victoria Peak. It’s where I’ve taken some of my favorite pictures of all time and was featured in my second-most popular YouTube video:
Anyway, on my way back from a sudden work trip to Singapore last week I had a long layover in Hong Kong. I’ll tell the rest of the story soon but I ended up meeting up with an old college buddy and his girlfriend and had the joy of showing them around Hong Kong for a bit. Of course the first place we went was Lugard Road. I went back to my favorite spot and was rewarded with my favorite view, only this time during the day! I love how the clouds provided some texture in the sky to add even more drama to the scene. This one was a no-brainer, I couldn’t take a picture from Lugard Road and not make it Picture of the Week!
For the photographers: This is a 5-shot panorama using my Sony a7rII and the 24-70 G Master lens. A shot like this was tough, even for the incredible dynamic range of the a7rII, due to the massive difference between the sunlight and the harsh shadows, but the Sony held its own pretty well. The reason I chose to do a panorama was to capture some more resolution (you should see this thing, incredible detail) but also because I didn’t have a wider focal length than 24mm with me at the time (I usually like shooting this scene at around 19mm). The pano worked great and I didn’t really do too much with this in Lightroom and Photoshop.
As always, let me know if you have any questions!
There is such a thing as HDR pano, or you can learn how to use luminosity masks. Pushing shadows and darkening blown highlights looks unnatural.
Hey Andy, coincidence…I’m also an Andy living in DFW! I lived in HK in the early 90’s and will be going back on vacation in November which should be fantastic. Just wondered if Lugard Road is really safe at sunrise and whether there is a crowd to deal with if I get there an hour before sunrise. On to Siem Reap, Luang Prabang and Halong Bay after HK so if you have any photography tips that would be awesome! Loved your photos of HK and Patagonia…we were in Tierra Patagonia 2 years ago…amazing
Hey Andy!
Lugard Road is very safe. You’ll definitely run into a ton of photographers at night but I’ve usually had good luck in the mornings, nothing like Angkor Wat at all (the most I’ve ever seen was 7-8 photogs. Sounds like you have a great trip ahead of you, safe travels!
Thank you so much…love your blog!!
Hey Andy, I’m going there in mid Jan and thanks to your video I’ll check out the “secret spot” Will a 24mm fit the scene or do I need to go wider?
Hey Richard! This image was shot at 24mm and cropped in ever so slightly. My favorite shot from this spot was at 18mm, so if you have a 16-35mm you should be perfect.