I captured this photograph of the Pudong skyline during my last visit to Shanghai. It was my final day in the city, and I had planned to photograph the dragon dancers at the The Bund early in the morning.
While I was photographing the dancers, I noticed the sun slowly rising behind the skyline across the river. The buildings were gradually becoming backlit, and I immediately thought it would make an interesting long-exposure image. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my tripod with me. To make the shot work, I placed my camera carefully on top of the concrete ledge along the railings and used my wallet as a makeshift support.
For this photograph, I used my Nikon D3500 paired with a Tokina 11–20mm f/2.8 lens. Luckily, I also had my K&F Concept ND100000 filter in my bag — yes, an ND 100,000 filter. I originally bought this extremely strong filter to create very long exposures in busy locations. Many tourist spots and iconic places in China are often crowded, so using a filter like this allows me to eliminate people from the frame during long exposures. To calculate the correct exposure with such a strong ND filter, I used a light meter app on my phone.
During the editing process, I felt that converting the image to black and white was the best choice. Since the skyline was completely backlit, removing the color helped emphasize the shapes of the buildings, the soft glow of the rising sun, and the overall contrast between light and shadow. The final result highlights the calm atmosphere of the early morning and the quiet moment before the city fully wakes up.
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