St Petersburg Downtown Sky View Architecture & Panoramas
Saturday, July 31, 2010 at 1:15AM Jason Collin 
Signature St Petersburg Condo skyscraper - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 200 5-bracket HDR (handheld)I had been thinking a lot the past few days how long it had been since I went out and just shot for fun, for myself. Last week photography friend Wade suggested we join NPPF's meetup in downtown St. Petersburg. I said sure, let's do it. Then when one NPPF member said we can shoot from the top of the condo building he lives in, equivalent to the 28th floor, I thought wow, can get some new shots of an area I have photographed already almost every which way.
Downtown St. Petersburg waterfront 6-shot panorama - click to view LARGEI had also been wanting to give Photoshop CS5's great Photomerge action another try, but one cannot just easily create a compelling panorama just anywhere. However, an open wraparound viewing area twenty-eight stories up is certainly a compelling area.
Nikon D300 with Tamron XR Di II 17-50mm f/2.8 lens @ f/11 ISO 200 5-bracket HDR (handheld)The rooftop we were on was adjacent to downtown St. Petersburg's newest skyline addition, Signature St. Petersburg, a very aggressive modern condo skyscraper that dominated our southern view, and thus received a lot of lens attention from myself and everyone else in the group. I taught a DSLR Photography Lesson on architecture back in March using the skyscraper as a subject matter.
South of Downtown St. Petersburg 6-shot panorama - click to view LARGEI like having a high view. For four years in Tokyo I lived on the 11th floor of a building with views of downtown Shinjuku and the sunset. I liked being able to step out onto my balcony and survey all the land before me. There is nothing quite like having a sweeping, bird's eye view.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR micro f/2.8G lens @ f/16 ISO 200This was the second time in a week of being high up in a condo with a view of downtown St. Petersburg after never being more than a few stories off the ground in a year and a half. Beholding such a view is starting to feel contagious, although living so high up with a thirsty puppy needing half a dozen bathroom breaks a day would not be so convenient.
Reader Comments (5)
I'm very impressed by the first and second photos.
Thanks Mike. Having limited experience making panoramas, and just shooting handheld, I was not sure how the panorama shots would turn out, but it seems all one needs is a fairly steady and level shooting stance, then making sure to overlap each shot enough.
All the photographs were made between 10:30am and 11am, so not the ideal light, but HDR helped a bit to add some pop to the lead shot and the third shot. These are also my first shots using Trey Ratcliff's suggested settings in Photomatix Pro, which improved them also.
I will look into printing out the first panorama, maybe from a local printer who can do custom sizes.
Jason,
It was my pleasure getting the club access to the 28th floor. ALL of these pictures are awesome. I specifically like the last shot of the palms around the fountain and the roadway. Don't ever hesitate to contact me directly if you want to shoot at different times of the day where the light is better.
Nice job!
Tim
Thanks Tim....I will definitely take you up on your offer soon!
The downtown waterfront panoramic (2nd from the top) just sold to a downtown company that will use it for their sign front!