Pearls in the sky

The sun rises over Shanghai
Shanghai, China, May 2007 [Click to enlarge]

I shot this early morning perspective from the 66th floor of my hotel, Le Royal Meridien Shanghai. I wanted to catch the sunrise against the Shanghai skyline, but was stymied by the thick smog that turned the vista to mud and blocked the sun as it rose above the horizon.

This is the famous Oriental Pearl Tower (travel guide, wiki entry) that serves as an iconic gateway to Shanghai's seemingly never-ending skyline. It seemed everywhere we went, there it was. So when I realized it was easily visible from the hotel's top floor, some high-up lens time became inevitable.

I wrote about this shoot here, and am happy to finally able to share it here. In the end, I'm glad I took my Nikon along, because it allowed me to bring home not just images like this, but the moments that preceded their capture. After all, photography to me isn't just about the picture. It's about what I was thinking and feeling before I took it. The story takes on a third dimension beyond the initial two of the basic image.

Yeah, I'm getting metaphysical on you. But it's 4:20 a.m. as I first compose this, and I'm so massively jet lagged that I can't fall asleep. So I'm writing.

Could be worse.

Your turn: The first three words that come to mind as you see this are...?

One more thing: As I composed this image, I noticed something I'd never seen before. Namely, I could actually see the edges of the sun shimmer in the roiled atmosphere. It was like I was watching a special effect in some movie, except it was very real and very dramatic. Alas, a still camera can't capture the effect, but it'll stick permanently in my mind nonetheless. Has this ever happened to you, too?