Gritty city

A gritty shot from Times Square in NYC!

I actually enjoy Times Square.  Many people hate it because of the crowds, but it's kind of an interesting place.  There are a million different things you can shoot and I have generally enjoyed being there.  I wonder if locals hate it?

I took this shot on one of my trips to NY.  I am a fan of gritty, grungy city shots anyway, so this was sort of the plan when I arrived.  This is a 3 exposure HDR, which helped balance out the neon and stuff, and I had to wait for that bus to start moving so I could capture the light trails.  But there's always something to look at, so waiting is not a big deal.

In addition to amping up the details, I reduced the saturation considerably to accentuate the gritty urban look.  Too much saturation makes it "prettier", sorta of.  Just a few minutes in Aurora HDR and it's done! 

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Luminar Workflow: New York Three Ways

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Luminar Workflow: Editing a Nighttime HDR