Arena City, Kiev

An important shopping and entertainment complex here in Kiev. Apparently. I've yet to check out what's inside, though some of the store entrances outside include two banks, La Perla, and Villeroy and Boch...whatever they are!

The only possible way to catch this "no traffic" shot and while the sun is up is 6AM on a Saturday or Sunday morning, and during the summer.

How this was done.

This HDR photo was created from one original RAW file.  I created two additional versions of this photo, one with an exposure of -1 EV and one with an exposure of +1 EV.  The original version kept the 0 EV value.  These were blended into an HDR photo using Photomatix.  The output from Photomatix is seen on the top right.

This version was taken into Photoshop, where some colors were enhanced and sharpening was added, both using Topaz Detail.  Both were then faded back, using the Fade function in Photoshop.  Then an inconvenient sign and traffic light were miraculously made to disappear through the magic of Photoshop.