Skyline from 169

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Chris Stritzel
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Skyline from 169

Post by Chris Stritzel »

This is my favorite view of the skyline. The skyline, from this angle, looks purposely planned to be this way. Town Pavilion and One KCP look like they were designed to be the pinnacles in the skyline and will hold that title for a long time.

I took this picture by pulling off into the Water Department driveway, which is on 169 just South of Missouri 9.
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Zoomed in pictures...
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earthling
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Re: Skyline from 169

Post by earthling »

I took the liberty to crop one of them, will delete if you don't approve. Another good shot is from top of N Oak or Briarcliff with the rails/river in view.

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KCtoBrooklyn
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Re: Skyline from 169

Post by KCtoBrooklyn »

Thanks for sharing. I have always loved that skyline view myself and never knew where to get a shot of it.

I'm no photographer, but you might want to try getting a UV filer (or a circular polarizer) for your lens on a shot like this (assuming you weren't using any filters). I think it would help clear up the haze a bit.
flyingember
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Re: Skyline from 169

Post by flyingember »

KCtoBrooklyn wrote: Thu Dec 31, 2020 10:56 am Thanks for sharing. I have always loved that skyline view myself and never knew where to get a shot of it.

I'm no photographer, but you might want to try getting a UV filer (or a circular polarizer) for your lens on a shot like this (assuming you weren't using any filters). I think it would help clear up the haze a bit.
You don't need to be a photographer to know haze is visible pollution and ultraviolet light is invisible.

There's three miles of haze in the picture. The only way to reduce haze on that shot is to wait for a winter when a cold fronts comes through.


There's a handful of very specific spots you can get this view

Waterworks park has a partial view from the circle drive. The trees open up the view in winter.
N. Oak SB before the waterworks park entrance, too far south and the power lines are in the view
169 right before the road drops down to the level of the airport
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KCtoBrooklyn
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Re: Skyline from 169

Post by KCtoBrooklyn »

And you don't need to be the Dalai Lama to avoid posting on the internet like an asshole, but apparently that is hard to do for some.

UV filters do reduce atmospheric haze. That is fact. Would it completely eliminate the haze in the picture? No, but it would very likely help.
flyingember
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Re: Skyline from 169

Post by flyingember »

KCtoBrooklyn wrote: Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:22 pm And you don't need to be the Dalai Lama to avoid posting on the internet like an asshole, but apparently that is hard to do for some.
If you're going to read me negative I can't stop you, but it's on you if you don't understand that we, as people, add our own emotions to text.
If you're reading me as an asshole that's coming from you.

And yes, that was meant to be read negative since apparently it's not clear to you to treat people with charity and not wrongly call someone out.

here's a paper on the subject. The abstract is one of the best pieces of writing on the subject I've ever seen
http://www.jpe.ox.ac.uk/papers/the-mora ... -others-2/

This sentence stands out.
Rash judgment wrongfully damages reputation and is sometimes a seriously immoral act
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KCtoBrooklyn
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Re: Skyline from 169

Post by KCtoBrooklyn »

If it wasn't your intent, then I apologize. To me "You don't need to be a photographer to know..." reads as the equivalent of "anyone with common sense would know...". It comes across as very condescending, but I guess that wasn't your intent. I think some of your past posts may have colored my view.

Anyway, I hope Chris didn't take my original post about filters as a critique - just trying to potentially help. As someone who used cameras for quite some time without ever implementing filters, once I did, I found that they could really help out in certain situations. And they can be bought for rather cheap.
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Re: Skyline from 169

Post by moderne »

Another good spot is on the south side of the tallest office building in Briarcliff west. There is even a nice patio with benches and piped in music public accessible.
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Re: Skyline from 169

Post by taxi »

You don't have to be flyingember or a photographer to know that, this time of year, the skyline from this angle will always be backlit and make it appear more grey, with not much contrast – even if you blow out the sky and everything else by overexposing. Shooting this in the early morning light or late evening light during the longer days of summer will give the skyline a nice look. Light is everything!

Let there be light, rash judgement, and lots of immoral acts in 2021!
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KCtoBrooklyn
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Re: Skyline from 169

Post by KCtoBrooklyn »

taxi wrote: Thu Dec 31, 2020 3:42 pm even if you blow out the sky and everything else by overexposing.
That's where a circular polarizing filter would really help. They have their limitations, but if used (maybe in an addition to HDR) I think you could get a fairly decent shot.
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Chris Stritzel
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Re: Skyline from 169

Post by Chris Stritzel »

earthling wrote: Thu Dec 31, 2020 8:31 am I took the liberty to crop one of them, will delete if you don't approve. Another good shot is from top of N Oak or Briarcliff with the rails/river in view.

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You’re all good. I considered cropping the photo, but decided to just leave it. One reason why is that it includes the River and road in the view. If only I was up just a little bit higher and could get the rail yard and airport in the mix. Then you’d have all 4 methods of transportation in one photo
moderne wrote: Thu Dec 31, 2020 2:30 pm Another good spot is on the south side of the tallest office building in Briarcliff west. There is even a nice patio with benches and piped in music public accessible.
I’ll have to stop by Briarcliff next time I’m in town. It always looks like a private live-work compound to me, so I never really thought about going up there and seeing if there’s a view
Last edited by Chris Stritzel on Thu Dec 31, 2020 4:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Chris Stritzel
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Re: Skyline from 169

Post by Chris Stritzel »

KCtoBrooklyn wrote: Thu Dec 31, 2020 10:56 am Thanks for sharing. I have always loved that skyline view myself and never knew where to get a shot of it.

I'm no photographer, but you might want to try getting a UV filer (or a circular polarizer) for your lens on a shot like this (assuming you weren't using any filters). I think it would help clear up the haze a bit.
I don’t take your critique/recommendation as rude or anything. I do wish I had a polarization filter though because some shots I have taken in St. Louis do need one. I’ll consider investing into one and hoping for the best. In the case of this picture, it’s about equal to what I was seeing with my own eyes yesterday. Haze was there.

I’m just glad I was able to take a picture like this since the only ones I had of this view before were taken on an iPhone as a passenger in a car. In others, they didn’t turn out too well
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Re: Skyline from 169

Post by Midtownkid »

KCtoBrooklyn wrote: Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:57 pm If it wasn't your intent, then I apologize. To me "You don't need to be a photographer to know..." reads as the equivalent of "anyone with common sense would know...". It comes across as very condescending, but I guess that wasn't your intent. I think some of your past posts may have colored my view.
You aren't wrong. I think Flyingember is an asshole, he just can't help himself. It's not you who is mis-reading his posts. He just is who he is.
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Chris Stritzel
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Re: Skyline from 169

Post by Chris Stritzel »

Here's a slightly edited version of my photo. It helps make more colors show up a bit, but doesn't do too much. My intention is to retake this in the Spring.
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FangKC
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Re: Skyline from 169

Post by FangKC »

Haze filters do help. Of course the type of light there is can affect the image. As someone who used to take a lot of photos in the mountains, I can attest that haze filters can make a difference. I used to always carry one in by camera bag.

I've always liked this vintage photo of downtown, circa 1940, from Harlem north of the river. That's the Hannibal Bridge to the right.

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And this one from the downtown airport.

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Eon Blue
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Re: Skyline from 169

Post by Eon Blue »

Nice photos! I commonly think to myself that this view is underrated, yesterday included. I feel that the lack of a convenient and well-known vantage point plus the lighting challenges for a good portion of the year combine to make it less prominent. Maybe the City of NKC could build an elevated viewing platform as a destination attraction. :)
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