QuantumPX

[URBANITY REPORTS]

Originally Posted by QuantumX

This is the photo that I'm currently running in this week's Urban Photo Contest.

image hosted on flickr

Q, this one is awesome!!!!!!1

You know... you can crop the bottom and upper parts to reinforce the composition of the photo

[QuantumX]

Originally Posted by URBANITY REPORTS

Q, this one is awesome!!!!!!1

You know... you can crop the bottom and upper parts to reinforce the composition of the photo

Thanks! This one actually did pretty well in the Urban Photo Contest with the votes it got, but it didn't make the finals because there was a lot of strong competition. Yes, I hear what you're saying about the cropping, but at the same time, I like the fact that you can also see the clouds in the sky reflected in the photo as well.

All in the all, I think this is the best night shot of the Miami skyline that I could have possibly taken. It's very rare that the water is so calm that you can get this kind of reflection of the skyline off the bay. Also, I think that because Miami has this shallow bay that makes such a good reflector on a calm night, you won't find anything quite like this night shot anywhere else in the world.

Also, consider this! I took this photo from my "sweet spot" on the Rickenbacker Causeway that is about 3/4s of the way across from the Miami side. From that spot, I can get more buildings in the Miami skyline into one shot without any builidngs being block by other buildings than from any other point in the city, and so the Miami skyline looks as huge and thick as it can possibly look. For example, just to the left of Three Tequesta on Brickell Key, you just make out Opera Tower and Quantum on the Bay, and that's the Marquis' light ladder that looks like it's running down the front of the Miami Center/Citigroup building. I don't say it for ego, but I think this shot is the best night shot I've ever seen taken from the Rickenbacker Causeway. Three years ago, I would have never thought myself capable of something like this!

[FLAWDA-FELLA]

Fantastic shot man, that would be an awesome banner!!

[QuantumX]

Originally Posted by FLAWDA-FELLA

Fantastic shot man, that would be an awesome banner!!

Thanks, man! I've thought of that. It is actually a better photo than a similar night shot from that perspective we first saw and suggested 2-3 years ago. This photo shows the completed Miami skyline at night reflected in shallow Biscayne Bay in a way that no other skyline in the world can look. And if it is used as a banner, then it would have to be cropped in the way that Urbanity Reports suggested, and the reflection in the bay makes it look so Miami.

image hosted on flickr

[URBANITY REPORTS]

I hope that's our next banner?

Where do we vote for banners?

[spellbound]

That would definitely be a gorgeous banner.

I don't think there's any actual "vote" with that stuff aside from opinions about a specifric banner when it's already up.

Aside from seeing Miami up there my favorite ones are actually some of these Asian cities (particularly in China) that are barely even known but leave your jaw dropping at how massive they actually are.

It's like an almost unknown universe that we scarcely even know exists.

[QuantumX]

These are the two that I'm currently running in this week's Urban Photo Contest.

Fire in the Sky!
image hosted on flickr


The City in the Clouds!
image hosted on flickr

[QuantumX]

This is the other night shot we were considering for a banner a couple of years ago. It's a great shot, but it doesn't have that signature reflection on the bay that says Miami.

image hosted on flickr

[JOrtiz]

Originally Posted by spellbound

That would definitely be a gorgeous banner.

I don't think there's any actual "vote" with that stuff aside from opinions about a specifric banner when it's already up.

Aside from seeing Miami up there my favorite ones are actually some of these Asian cities (particularly in China) that are barely even known but leave your jaw dropping at how massive they actually are.

It's like an almost unknown universe that we scarcely even know exists.

I know what you mean. I've been recently looking at Chinese city skylines of cities I've almost never heard of like Nanjing, Guangjou, Urumqi, Chonqing. These skylines are massive and their populations are huge and you barely ever hear about them. It really is like an unknown universe!

BTW, I really like the pic for the banner. I just wish it could also get the Marquis and the AAA in the shot, but that would also show the gap in the Biscayne wall . Miami's skyline is so long it's hard to get it all in one perfect shot.

[URBANITY REPORTS]

Yeah, I discovered Chonquinq 4 years ago and its skyline took me by surprise.

[QuantumX]

China is now considered to have 4 of the top 10 skylines in the world with the shorter high-rises in those cities being too many to count. Miami has the potential to eventually break into the top 10 with what is planned or already approved and with its geographic location as an important world hub, but we are a long way from it, considering we just experienced something pretty mind-goggling with what all recently made it to construction all at once.

[QuantumX]

Originally Posted by QuantumX

Currently running in this week's Urban Photo Contest.

I added this post to my thread running in the UPC this week to help them comprehend what I'm doing in this photo, because they just don't get it! For what I've said below, I consider this my most artistic street-level shot, particularly with the way I've captured the lines of the Wells Fargo Center with Epic perfectly reflected in its curtain wall along with the cloud bank. Since this photo is also in my Shutterstock portfolio, it is technically perfect or near-perfect as well as being artistic.

Originally Posted by QuantumX

With many photographic depictions of a city in the clouds, you have the tops skyscrapers sticking out of the top of a fogbank, such as you often see with San Francisco. Here, I have used the curtain wall of the Wells Fargo Center to bring the clouds down out of the sky for my depiction of a city in the clouds. I have reversed the concept.

Because we are looking up rather than down!

The City in the Clouds!
image hosted on flickr

[JOrtiz]

Heh, Miami could build everything planned and I still don't know if it would crack the top 10 in the world. It would solidify it's status as the true #3 in the United States though.

If Miami got

One Bayfront
Met 3
Capital Brickell
Banco Santander
Brickell Financial
Brickell Citi Centre

then maybe we'll be in some kind of conversation. I hope of all of them get built someday.

[URBANITY REPORTS]

Chinese cities are literally seas of skyscrapers; only Sao Paolo can compare to China. Not even New York has the potential to be in the level of those cities, and what's more surprising is that NY is the only city in North America we can look up to - NY is no more...

[QuantumX]

Originally Posted by JOrtiz

Heh, Miami could build everything planned and I still don't know if it would crack the top 10 in the world. It would solidify it's status as the true #3 in the United States though.

If Miami got

One Bayfront
Met 3
Capital Brickell
Banco Santander
Brickell Financial
Brickell Citi Centre

then maybe we'll be in some kind of conversation. I hope of all of them get built someday.

At the height of all the madness, Miami had 75 buildings that were either already built, approved, or planned. That included 3 supertalls, one building just over 900 feet tall, four that were over 800 feet tall, and 10 that were over 700 feet tall. The skyline would have been chock full of skyscrapers all the way up to I-195 almost with a forest of buildings over 500 feet tall. There was an incredible number of skyscrapers approved or planned for this city. It's just that all those other cities are not going to stop growing. It's phenomenal though that at one point, Miami was counted as 18th in the world.

Originally Posted by URBANITY REPORTS

Chinese cities are literally seas of skyscrapers; only Sao Paolo can compare to China. Not even New York has the potential to be in the level of those cities, and what's more surprising is that NY is the only city in North America we can look up to - NY is no more...

New York and Chicago are still on a level above some of those cities in overall height. What cities like Shanghai and Sao Paolo have is incredible density.

[URBANITY REPORTS]

True, that's what I meant by sea of buildings.

IMHO, (not trying to offend) Sao Paolo's density is horrible, they should have an specific place for tall buildings.

As for Shanghai, they do have 2 ( 1 under construction) super tall buildings superior than any in NY or Chi, and that's just the Pudong area. The other side of the river gets crazier as it doesn't have a noticeable skyline due to it's enormous sea of skyscrapers.

[QuantumX]

I just hope I'm able to draw more tourism and commerce to Miami with my capture of it. That's why I'm as generous with my photos as I am. It's more important for me to showcase the city in a positive way and have people spread my pictures around for others to see than for me to sell an individual photo. Hopefully, I've helped to improve the job market, the housing market, and the South Florida economy over all, but I'll never really know how much of a difference I've made.

[URBANITY REPORTS]

We could create a new internet meme with one of your pics of miami.

[URBANITY REPORTS]

We could also link our sigs to this thread, that'll catch people's attention. (Let's hope)

[QuantumX]

This shot is doing pretty well with 8 votes of 10 so far and will probably make it into this week's finals! Had two already there this year!

Fire in the Sky!
image hosted on flickr