Cityscapes

This shot captures the essence of a cityscape with the overarching theme of context within its environment. The greenery on the right is creeping into frame, the water below stacked with markers and the clouds up above blur towards the city. It's rare to find a cityscape where the city is so far away, but this works. The long exposure time really draws the eye in, had it been any shorter the detail in the water would've been too distracting, but as it is the wooden markers cast long, deep shadows into the water and make for a dramatic scene.

Rarely do we ever advocate putting the horizon in the centre-line of a photograph, but this shot needs it. The symmetry of the bridge and the reflection is outstanding and the lights on the underside of the walkway really help this photo to stand out against other long exposure shots. The building in the background mimics the curves of the archway. Another long exposure shot done well. The sky and the water are both clear and simple. A splash of purple from a distant building is the cherry on the colourful, photographic cake.

A tight crop pushes the limits of what's considered 'cityscape', but it actually sums up how many of us feel when walking through a big city. Imagine visiting for the first time - the mirror-like windows and sheet-like metal tower high above you, there's no horizon line. You have to judge incoming weather through an app on your smartphone. There's not an inch of space in this photo that isn't building. This shot is designed to overwhelm us, and overwhelm it has - pleasantly.

A clever new take on the cityscape genre puts us literally in the eyes of the photographer. Taking this sort of shot requires patience and expertise that is clearly demonstrated here. It would be very easy to photoshop this type of photo, but at no point do you feel like it's not authentic. The view through the glasses show the dusk sky and the bustling city below, which you can also see in the larger and blurrier sections around the glasses.