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Catching Some Air - Aviation Photography

It's not often that I have extra time these days, but every once in a while a few minutes pop up. Now, pair that with the right location and photographic fun ensues. Take these for example. I had some time to burn on a recent trip to Alaska waiting for a late-night return flight out of Anchorage where there is a publicly accessible area just past the end of the runway - similar to Gravely Point at DCA. Brad Kehr specializes in landscapes and does weddings, portraits, and events. He enjoys exploring life and sharing what he finds through the lens. You can catch his website at  www.bradkehrphotography.com , follow him on Twitter ( @bradkehrphoto ), Instagram ( @bradkehrphotography  and  @bradkehrphotography.landscapes ) or find him on  Facebook .
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MidWeek Edit: Dusk Over the Capitol

Here in Midweek Edits, I take a look back at a random BKP favorite and re-imagine it. This week's shot is the United States' Capitol at dusk. I love this shot because it captures the essence of the building during the magic hour. This is a hard one to get because the location is often crowded with tourists. Fortunately, on this night, they kept out of the are, probably due to the threat of rain from those heavy clouds that give this image its presence. As always, You can get a print of any of the MidWeek Edits found here.

The magic hour - the United States Capitol at Dusk.
Capitol at Dusk - SOOC

This SOOC could stand on its own without any editing. But I wanted to even some of the tones and smooth the image to compensate for a shallow depth of field. I shot the image on a Canon 5D MkIII with a EF f/2.8 24-70mm at 34mm, f/3.5, 1/60sec, and ISO 1600 without a tripod. So I dropped a burn gradient across the sky, added a touch of exposure, fill light, and vibrance in Adobe Lightroom. In addition, I added some saturation in the blues and greens and dropped out some of the reds, yellows, and oranges and added a slight vignette. This original edit was the result.

The magic hour - the United States Capitol at Dusk.
Capitol at Dusk - Original Edit

On this re-imagine, I want to go and add back in the drama that was pulled out of the original. This required a tighter crop, a second burn gradient on the sky, and major bump in contrast. To reign in the clouds a bit, I added some significant recovery, cranked the blacks up to +10, and reduced the brightness. To keep from losing the details in the dome, I adjusted the tone curve to pull out the highlights and lights, and dodged the dome itself. Finally, I shifter the white balance form As Shot to 7500K and a tint of +3 and added a more significant vignette. Here's the result.

The magic hour - the United States Capitol at Dusk.
Capitol at Dusk - re-imagined
And a gratuitous Black and White edit.

The magic hour - the United States Capitol at Dusk.
Capitol at Dusk - Black and White
Thoughts? Questions? Leave them in the comments below.

Brad Kehr is a photographer specializing in weddings, events, portraits, and landscapes. He enjoys exploring DC and sharing what he finds through the lens. You can catch his website at www.bradkehrphotography.com, follow him on Twitter (@bradkehrphoto), or find him on Facebook.
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