Sarasota, Florida Skyline at Night
I have been wanting to get this photo for a few years now: a night time panorama of the Sarasota skyline with the Ringling Bridge lit up with colored lights. Everything has to come together to get a photo like this: gear, location, timing, weather, and lighting. I have been to this location a couple times the last few years, and sometimes the sky just doesn't cooperate, or it's too windy to get a sharp photo for a very long exposure, the water is choppy, or the bridge lights are not on. The colored lights on the Ringling Bridge do not come on until after sunset during late blue hour when it's dark, so I have to use the right camera settings to get a good exposure. On this night I was so happy the water was smooth like glass and reflected the buildings nicely. If you zoom into the photo you can see some water birds posing in the shallow water along the coastline. I bracketed my photos with three different exposures at different angles and stitched together 12 photos to create an HDR panorama. In this skyline of Sarasota you can see some iconic buildings: in the center lit in yellow is the Ritz Carlton hotel, and the tallest white building at the far left side of the Ringling Bridge is the Westin hotel. To the right of the Westin is the glass building One Sarasota Tower which holds Chase Bank, Raymond James, and other companies. The Sarasota Skyline has changed the last couple years with many new buildings. This photo was taken on May 21, 2020. The Ringling Bridge connects downtown Sarasota with Bird Key, Lido Key, and Longboat Key. Sarasota sits on the shores of Sarasota Bay which connects to the Gulf of Mexico. It's a beautiful area on the Gulf Coast of Florida in Sarasota County south of Tampa. Nearby cities are Bradenton, Nokomis, and Venice. I also have another version of this photo that is longer containing the area from the Ritz Carlton to the far left up to the Van Wetzel theater.
