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Being a big fan of the Cyberpunk movie genre, especially the Bladerunner movie (1984), I wanted to create a tribute image,” says photographer Daniel Cheong. | Credit: Daniel Cheong
“In my opinion, Hong Kong is closest in looks to the Los Angeles depicted in Bladerunner,” says award-winning photographer Daniel Cheong.
To capture this cinematic, futuristic aesthetic, he packed his pro full-frame DSLR and tripod and headed to a helipad to capture Hong Kong at night – creating a striking homage to the film’s iconic style.
Shooting night cityscapes is a major technical challenge – even professional cameras can struggle with auto-exposure. The extreme contrast between lights, shadows, and the dark sky often confuses the metering system.
That’s where Cheong’s expertise in exposure blending comes in. This advanced technique allows for retaining detail in both highlights and shadows, maximizing impact across the frame – Cheong explains how he shot two images with two different lenses and exposures, and how he blended all seamlessly.
‘Bladerunner Hong Kong’ – Tech details
The Nikon D800 was released in 2012 at retail price of just under US$3,000 | Credit: Future
Gear info
Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 + 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II
Accessories: Tripod
Exposure details
Helipad: 1/10sec, f/8, ISO 1250
City: 1/20sec, f/8, ISO 100
Pro Analysis – Why this shot works
Matching perspective
With any composite image, it is critical to ensure that all of the component features share the same perspective. While it is easier to shoot all images at the same focal length, this may not always be possible if collecting separately shot assets, so use scaling to size each object accordingly.
“The most tedious task was to cut out the helipad in the original shot, particularly on the edge of the helipad where you have all the openings,” says Cheong.
Color Grading
“I like the sci-fi mood of this image, but I needed to give it a cyberpunk color grading.” With many nighttime cityscapes, especially cinematic images for movie posters and advertising, a warm cast to the highlights and cool blues in the shadows is a common choice. First, set the style of the base image, then adapt all elements to this, for continuity.
Wide dynamic range
“In general, for my cityscapes, I always shoot multiple exposures at different shutter speeds, which I combine in Photoshop using Digital Blending. This allows me to create an image with a high dynamic range,” Cheong says. Work on each element individually, then apply a global process on the final composite.
Contrasting texture (movement)
With any stationary subjects, a city being the embodiment of permanence, adding in a sense of movement creates a pleasing contrast. Here, the moving clouds add to the cinematic narrative Cheong was creating.
He added a blur to the sky to simulate a long exposure and introduced a fog effect to increase the dramatic, science-fiction effect, also a contrast of hard and soft textures.
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