Erie Basin Marina at Daybreak Panorama I really enjoyed my morning in the Erie Basin Marina back in January when I photographed the above panorama. The sunrise light was beautiful and the whole scene on the water was so peaceful. The off season is apparent in the photo though since there are no boats on the water.

Buffalo City Hall from the Marina Then I also had this summer day photo with he masts as the signature of summer and the City Hall and Pasquale Condos across the water. However, the water was not as prominent in this one.

I wanted to to see if I could mash the photos into something new. I wanted the water to be more prominent and also see if I could get a reflection of the downtown skyline. And I wanted the boats as in the panorama above to give the photo the lively summer look. And finally, I wanted to add a warm sunset light to this collection.

I arrived about an hour before sunset. I knew that at a later time, the boats fall into a deeper shadow than I wanted for this photo. The skyline was already bathed in the warm glow of the low sun, and the docked boats still had enough light on them too.

While there were quite a few people in the Marina, I was surprised how quiet this particular spot was. A few people walked by and two boats left for a sunset ride but that was it, very peaceful and quiet otherwise. I wanted to try to get that feeling into my photo. With the tripod set up and my composition locked in, I took a few test shots to confirm exposure and focus and the look and feel of the photo and added my 6-stop neutral density filter to slow the shutter down, hoping to smooth out the choppy water and get a better reflection. Here is what I got:

City Hall Reflection in the Marina at Sunset

Buffalo City Hall reflected in Erie Basin Marina at sunset

Have fun making your visions happen!

Equipment used:

• Nikon D600
• Nikon 24-85mm Nikkor Lens
• Manfrotto tripod (055MF3) and head (496RC2)
• B+W 77mm 6-stop neutral density (64x) filter, 72 to 77 mm step up ring
• Exposure delay mode of 2 seconds, no remote release
• Think Tank Speed Demon Waist Pack, Petzl Zipka Plus 2 Headlamp (always in the bag just in case), SanDisk Extreme 32GB SD Cards
• Nikon Capture NX2

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