Sigma 20mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens Sample Pictures

Pittsburgh, home to three rivers (Ohio, Alleghany and Monongahela), is also home to great reflections and many bridges. The reflections of the city, however, are usually color blurs due to wakes from boat and barge traffic. Thanks to the wave-rebounding solid vertical river walls, the waves seem to never dissipate and when planning this long daytrip, I was visualizing a creamy-smooth river of color during the blue hour and later. What I found on this day was ... no boat traffic and very different images than I had visualized. Different in a good way, I think.
 
The most difficult part of this image capture? Being there.
 
To take the actual picture, I simply stood on the north shore of the Three Rivers Heritage Trail river walk, centered between the Robert Clemente and Andy Warhol bridges, set the aperture to f/16 to get the star burst effect from lights, adjusted the framing to level (both pitch and yaw to keep the buildings and their reflections vertically straight) and pressed the shutter release (mirror lockup with 1 second delay).
 
The RAW file post processing was not challenging. In DPP, highlights were reduced (-5), shadows were boosted (+5) and saturation was added. While this result was very good, I opted to brighten the reflection in the water slightly (1/3 stop) using a simple HDR process. Two 16-bit TIFF files were created (one at -.83 EV and one at -.5 EV) and combined in Photoshop.
 
Being in Pittsburgh for the day meant renting a car the night before (4 drivers with 2 cars is not working so well), driving 4 hours, hiking roughly 3 miles with a full MindShift Gear BackLight 26L (including two tripods, extra cloths, food and water) and overall, being outdoors for 9 hours with temperatures in the teens and twenties (°F). I arrived home at 2:30 AM and got up to return the car in the AM.
 
The beauty of our brains is that, in a few days, the only thing I will remember is having spent a great day in a beautiful city and the images will last for a lifetime. I'm ready to go back.
 
Another beauty is the Sigma 20mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens that I was "focused" on for the day. I referred to this lens as a "scapes" lens and it performed excellently in its cityscapes roll this day.

This image shows the ability of the f/1.4 aperture, when combined with the 20mm focal length and a close focus distance, to blur a distant background. The chain is found by the riverwalk along the Ohio River near PNC Park. The distant background in this case is the Andy Warhol Bridge and the skyline of Pittsburgh, PA.

A metal building seems so appropriate in Pittsburgh, PA, AKA "Steel City". Here the natural gradient in the sky can be seen in the wide 20mm angle of view.

She just couldn't resist getting into the giant gift bag and the Sigma 20mm f/1.4 Art Lens gave the image an appropriate perspective to the silliness. Note that, although the background is strongly blurred by the f/1.4 aperture, the background details are made small by the wide angle of view and therefore remain identifiable.

Shadows liven up an otherwise plain concrete walkway on the Andy Warhol Bridge in Pittsburgh, PA. Most of the leading lines take your eye to a person walking in the distance.

When photographing symmetrical architecture, make sure that you are either perfectly aligned with the structure to create a mirrored details or misalign by enough to make the viewer certain that you were not trying to be aligned.

If using an f/1.4 aperture with ISO 100 under bright sunlight, expect to need a 1/8000 shutter speed and if bright whites are in the frame, 1/8000 second may not be short enough.
 
Alternatives to (or in addition to) the 1/8000 shutter speed are neutral density filters and, if made available by the camera, ISO 50.

While I usually spend a good amount of time planning my shots when traveling somewhere to shoot, this glassy water was not on my expectation list. Serendipity often comes into play in our photography.

Outdoor lighted Christmas decorations can make fun photo subjects. Try moving in close, paying attention to the background (it likely needs some lights in it or on it after dark). Using a wide aperture can create an interesting blur of lights and colors.

Unfortunately, my favorite time of the day to photograph city skylines lasts only a very short period of time. To make the most of this day's blue hour, I carried a complete second set of gear including a second tripod. As the exposures combined with long exposure noise reduction became long, there was plenty of time to attend the second camera between image captures.