Shooting St Louis Skyline

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, ƒ/16, 20 sec

To get this photo we need to go back a week. I did some research online to find the photos I liked of the skyline. After digging a little I found that the best place for skyline shots is 185 W. Trendley Ave., East St. Louis, IL 62201.

I knew I wanted to shoot the photo about 20 minutes after sunset. I shot this top photo at 8:56 p.m. Sunset was at 8:26 pm tonight.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, ƒ/13, 1/250

This photo I took earlier in the day at 3:58 pm.  I came to scout the location. I noticed the powerlines and also how flat the light was at this time of day.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, ƒ/13, 1/320

We came back and started to shoot at 8:11 pm. Here I noticed we were getting a very orange skyline shot.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, ƒ/10, 1/2

Notice that even at 8:11 pm the light is much better than at 3:58 pm.

Nikon D4, AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 1100, ƒ/8, 1/100

The sky was gorgeous but I felt like the skyline of St. Louis was being overpowered by the sky.

Nikon D4, AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 125, ƒ/2.8, 1/100

I liked this photo as well where I captured more about the Mississippi River than just the St. Louis skyline.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, ƒ/10, 2 sec

We decided to move from the ramp that you can walk up to see over the levee to walk across the rain tracks up to on top of the levee.

I was using a tripod to keep the camera still. With the Nikon D750 I was using the Nikon ML-L3 Wireless Remote Control Infrared to trigger the camera. The best thing is to use the 2 second delay so all the motion is minimized.

Tips:

• Go online and research where you are going. You will find a lot of photos that are signature for a city.
• Find the locations that many of the photographers are shooting these photos.
• Go during the daylight to be sure you can see all the landscape and see if there are some things like the powerlines that you need to work around.
• Find the time for sunrise or sunset
• Arrive 20 to 30 minutes before sunrise or sunset
• Stay at least 20 to 30 minutes after sunrise or sunset