What did it Take?

The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur are probably photographed thousands of times, but as I was living for a while about 45 min from KL, and visited this area regularly trying to get something different.

I found this viewpoint one evening when the sun had already set so I decided to come back to get the artificial light balanced with the blue sky. Blue skies are not that frequently available in this part of Asia as you might think as afternoons are often hazy because of the high temperature and humidity and July and August are notorious for smog and smoke from forest fires.

Timing was critical as Kuala Lumpur is only 4 degrees north of the equator the light fades very quickly.  The picture left was taken at 19:45 showing how fast the light fades.

Arriving a couple of hours before sunset gave me enough time to find the right spot, and catch the image I came for.

This picture was the first one I took  a couple of days earlier at 19:52.
The sky is black and although it could be a usable photograph I think that the top image is a lot better

What did it take to get the best result? When you have only one chance, anticipate early what the light will do but sometimes you have to return to get the shot you want.

25/03/2007