Cleveland Skyline from North Coast Harbor gallery. I wasn't optimistic about the Cleveland Photographic Society field trip to Cleveland's North Coast Harbor. It was raining most of the day, cleared up to blue skies and puffy white clouds (great!), but then the clouds got darker and closer, blocking out most of the view of the blue sky. That's when I started making excuses. It's too dark, It was a long week and I'm tired, I got lots of good photos last weekend at the Cleveland Air Show…maybe I should just skip it.
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Just do it, good things might happen
I got over my inertia and left anyhow. I had never taken pictures of the Cleveland skyline from the North Coast Harbor view in Voinovich Park, and I figured I'd scout it out, maybe get a nighttime skyline, even if the clouds didn't break up.
And the clouds never really did break up. But…as we waited for sunset, we noticed a bright gap in the clouds, along the horizon, out over the lake. Could we get lucky? I picked my spot and waited…and waiting paid off. The sun dropped below the clouds and lit up the skyline, first with beautiful golden hour light, then with the pink hues of a sunset, with the ominous clouds hanging overhead. I'm glad I didn't break the most important landscape photography rule - get out and shoot, you never know what might happen.
Don't forget to turn around!
Even better, when I turned around, the ominous clouds were lit with orange and pink from below. (All the rest of the field trip participants were waiting for this along the lake, while I was still camped out with my skyline view, pointing the other way. I almost broke another landscape photo rule - look around! Don't get too focused on your subject, because something even better might be right behind you.
Beautiful Blue Hour
After the fantastic sunset, I got the shot I originally planned - a blue hour picture of the skyline with lights reflecting on the North Coast Harbor.
Gallery of Cleveland Skyline from North Coast Harbor
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading! If you want to get these shots yourself, look for the Cleveland sign in Voinovich park at the North Coast Harbor. Lots of parking is available nearby - I parked in the lot in front of the Coast Guard station just off of 9th street.
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