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Dallas has been super miserable for the past couple of weeks.  It’s been raining and cloudy and foggy and nasty, almost like we’re in Seattle except for the ocean and the seafood and the…well that’s it I guess.  Now I’m an optimist at heart so I try to find the best in most situations, especially What To Do About The Picture Of The Week situations.  I’ve taken countless pictures of Dallas in the past and know some fairly good spots.  Last week it didn’t really work out, like I told you.

This week it definitely worked out so you’re getting two pictures of the week!  I decided to embrace the fog and the grossness and take a totally unique picture of Dallas.  I trekked out to a spot which I knew would have a good view of the city and the low-lying fog, somehow having to do parkour over a concrete causeway despite a walking path 100m away which I never knew about #fail, and got to snapping, resulting in this epic, gloomy, gritty, Gothamy view of Dallas.

Science World skyline at night with lights reflecting on water

As you can see, the rains had swelled the Trinity River a good ways up the protective levees near downtown Dallas.  I love how the colors of the skyline crept into the hazy fog, further illuminating an otherwise colorless night.

Around lunchtime on Saturday the clouds mercifully yielded to a brief patch of sunlight, and then another, and then another!  IT WAS FINALLY GETTING SUNNY AGAIN!!!  I was elated and immediately went to the nearest patio for a margarita, and then another, and then a nap.  A little later I looked at the sky and noticed some nice high clouds, the remnants of the last front moving away from Dallas.  I had a feeling these clouds would color up super nicely for sunset.  Even though the water in the Trinity was receding quickly (this area is mainly used as a floodplain in Dallas), I knew of a certain drainage area that was always the last part to drain, it was pretty much the same spot I was at for the fog picture above.

I quickly drove down, walked out to the spot, and met up with about 20 other Dallas photographers, many of us who happen to be in the same Facebook photography group.  The clouds colored up exactly how I thought they would and the sunset shone brightly off the glass facades of downtown Dallas, it reminded me of my favorite Dallas image, taken under similar circumstances almost 3 years ago.  I decided to go with a wider perspective than last time, just to be different and also to show more of the sky.  What resulted is a picture I am tremendously proud of and I hope you enjoy!

a city skyline with lights reflecting on water

Now for the real question: which do you prefer?  Tell me in the comments below!

For the photographers: I took both of these with my trusty combo of the Sony a7rIII and the 24-70 G Master lens.  The fog picture was at 60mm and the wide picture at 33mm, both ISO 100, f11 for both, about 15 seconds exposure for the fog picture and 6 seconds for the wife picture.  Post processing was pretty different, as you can imagine, for each picture, but I didn’t really need to do that much outside of Lightroom, the main thing was removing a portapotty from the river in the fog picture and an ugly lightpole in front of the Bank of America building (the green one) on the wide picture.  Here are the originals if you’d like to see those:

a city skyline at night with lights reflecting on water a city skyline with lights reflecting on water

 

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