Cityscape

Chicago from the Hancock

Chicago from the Hancock.

GUM Mall

GUM Mall, Moscow, Russia.

GUM Mall Lights

GUM Mall on Red Square, Moscow, Russia.

Chicago Blues

O'Hare Airport, Chicago, IL.

Times Square

I love the energy of New York. From the moment I hit Manhattan, I feel like I’ve someone gotten 10 years younger and my energy has no bounds.

Beantown from the Prudential

Beantown from the Prudential.

Marquette Interchange

Marquette Interchange, Milwaukee, WI.

The Bean and the Chicago Skyline

I got up at 5:30, walked down the street from the Sheraton, and had this beautiful view almost to myself (you can see the ghost of a family that got up early to enjoy it as well). This is Millennium Park, the Cloud Gate (aka, the "bean"), and the many skyscrapers of downtown Chicago. This is my first HDR using Nik's HDR Efex Pro, and I've got to say I'm pretty impressed. It's the first HDR software I've used that I liked as least as much as Photomatix. Very intuitive, I was done with the tone mapping less than 10 minutes with no instructions or prior use. I really liked the "u-point" technology for controlling the brightness of the reflection of the sky and clouds, really helped save me time. Of course, I did all the typical Photoshop work I always do after to bring the effects back closer to reality. Very happy I picked up the whole suite of Nik software at WPPI...

House of Cards

I started watching House of Cards last night, which is awesome so far. so I felt inspired today to go back to this old image from 2007 and redo it. I've also started to really get into a new method of editing photos, luminosity masking. In the past, I've done a lot of HDR - which can produce some great results, but it doesn't give nearly as much control as luminosity masking, and I think the final results look much more realistic.

Castle and Fountain

I wasn't sure at fist how to capture this fountain with the "Mother Church" (The First Church of Christ Scientist in Boston), so I wandered around the reflecting pool a few times until I decided on this angle. It was such a serene spot that I ended up planting my tripod pretty close to this couple having one of those nose to nose private moments. I felt a little intrusive at first, but I don't even think they noticed!

The Intergalactic Opera House

There is this great pedestrian mall in the midst of central Guangzhou, China. On one end is the Canton Tower, which looks like an enormous multi-colored Chinese finger trap. On the other end is this nice 10 minute walk through a park. There is activity all around the middle with people relaxing, kids playing, vendors fling light up toys. And you are surrounded on all sides by these futuristic looking buildings. This is the Guangzhou Opera House. I have no idea what a Chinese Opera is like, but I hung around here for a couple hours just enjoying the architecture. Post-processing notes: Complete processes in Photoshop. HDR processed in Camera Raw, followed by multiple luminosity masks to control the bright spotlights on the building.

Flower of Guangzhou

The beauty of China is that things are pretty safe nearly everywhere you go (breathing excluded). After shooting some of the modern architecture along the riverfront in Guangzhou, I decided to the the long walk home through this urban park. Sometimes you get to a point where you feel like you've pushed too far, like when you stay at a party way too long and you really aren't having fun. I just wasn't seeing much that inspired me (mostly because it was so dark). Then all of a sudden, at the end of the park, I came across this amazing neon lotus sculpture in the water. Only in China.

Stranger than Fiction

The Chinese are fascinated with height. Skyscrapers are a given (the entire foreground of this photo was farmland just over 20 years ago), but they seem to be blown away by tall people. I visited the Jin Mao Tower (the one in the front that looks like a golden asparagus spear) with a buddy of mine. I'm pretty tall, but my buddy absolutely towers over the locals at 6'6". When he'd come around some corner and surprise some group of women, they'd just look up and laugh at how huge he was. So while, while were waiting in line to ride the elevator to the top of Jin Mao, there was a cardboard model of the tower and Chinese tourists were lining up to take my friend's picture next to it - as if he were some giant looming over Shanghai. Technical details: Single exposure edited with Lightroom and my Lumenzia panel in Photoshop (http://gregbenzphotography.com/lumenzia/).

The Temple

Stargate

I feel like I'm blasting off into space when I look at this scene. Which is kind of funny, since the escalator takes you straight into Mother Earth. I thought I was doing everything right the first time I attempted this shot. I arrived at the Natural History Museum in London 15 minutes before opening on what should have been a slow morning. Whoa, was I ever wrong. My line (coming in the side door) was pretty short - but the main entrance already had a line of people a block long! I tried my best, but really, it was almost hopeless trying to get this shot with the immediate crowd of people. By the time I walked out of the museum, the line to get in was now snaking around multiple sides of the building! But persistence, better planning, and a new friendship paid off on my next attempt, when I was able to take this shot. I think that's pretty typical: technique and hard work matter so much more than equipment. What do you think?

Sky Scepter

I've always been a night owl. 4am used to be a reasonable Friday night bed time. The notion of waking up at 4am to shoot sunrise always sounds just a little painful. But as soon as I wake, I'm excited for the possibility of beautiful red and pink clouds. So this sunrise shoot of the Rhine Tower in Dusseldorf was a treat for me:. It was a late morning winter sunrise, a 5 minute walk from my hotel, and the sky was filled with gorgeous strands of pink cotton clouds.

The Sky Tree

I consider myself a pretty happy and optimistic person. I smile most of the time. And maybe that's why I love color in my images so much. Fiery orange sunsets, lush green foliage, and frigid blue ice are usually the best way to convey how I felt about a place. But I think the opposite is sometimes true with architecture. What color represents the awe you feel when you stand in front of the tallest tower in the world, the Tokyo Skytree? At night, this tower lights up various beautiful shades from the rainbow. That color helps clearly separate it from the rest of the city, but it makes the tower feel more playful than grandiose. It's beautifully stunning either way, but the stark, simple contrast of black and white captures this place best. Black and white allows the freedom to hide all the distractions of everyday life in Japan. The distraction of blue skies and green grass are gone. All that's left behind in black and white is, for me, the truth. That you feel incredibly small in the face of such an amazing feat of design and engineering. When I look across this river, I don't see anything but the Skytree.

Sea of Umbrellas at Shibuya Crossing

The Purple Car in Havana

Lumenzia editing contest

Yokohama Spin

Seattle Gold Rush

Downtown Seattle Skyline Sunrise

Kansas City Royal