We started around sunset on the North Side. I always liked the city view from the from Allegheny Commons East Park. There is a nice ledge overlooking the playground and swimming pool where the city lays out in front of you across a hidden river.

The summer sky started to turn a few shades of blue then to purple/red as the sun went down. However, due to the lack of moisture in the air, the sunset was not all that spectacular. And as the sun went down, our setup invited a few curious characters that frequent the park at night. After a few interesting conversations, we decided to pack-up and head off to the next spot.

Heading up towards the Parkway North, we searched for the overpass with the best view of the city against the hills and to capture the streaking lights of the cars on the highway. We had seen some of our favorite photographers on Instagram take shots from this vantage point, and had hunted it down. We finally found the correct overpass, and there was even a little break in the fence for us to align the camera lenses.

This was a really cool spot, though I feel like none of my pictures really came out the way I wanted them to. I will definitely have to go back here. I love how the hills frame the city, and in the foreground the lights streak from the highway with the high rise buildings lit up in the background. You normally only get to see this skyline view while driving in on that highway, so it was cool just to stand there and take it all in.

From there we meandered downtown, and found our way to Mellon Square Park. In the summer the entire park has fountains billowing water all around, and I always enjoyed the view of the city surrounding me on all four corners. It’s a neat little elevated piece of land, in the middle of a hillside, with a parking garage tucked underneath, that’s a perfect spot to sit and take the city in.

The night was so clear that evening that I was able to capture some stars over the city lights with a long enough exposure. If you look closely enough, you can see a few them popping up in the night sky above the buildings.

Next on our journey was a walk down to the Strip District. We wanted to capture the skyline from the 16th Street Bridge. Unfortunately for us, the lane closest to the city was blocked off due to road construction. As we walked down the bridge, however, we found no signs of any construction and nothing more than a blocked off lane. So we took a chance with the lawman and crossed the barriers and setup shop against the railing of the bridge.

From this view you could see the streaking lights of the cars as they zoomed across Interstate 579 in the foreground of the city. Another cool spot to capture a few shots, then off we went towards the Smithfield Street Bridge and on to Station Square.

Though it was getting pretty late, and the city was calming down, we setup shop looking to capture some streaking car lights against the Smithfield Street Bridge. I was happy I was able to capture one cool shot of the bridge with some cars driving through it.

Turning around, I captured a few shots from the bridge itself. I was trying to capture the city against the river from an interesting angle. Something different than the very familiar view of this side of the city from either Station Square or Mt. Washington.

Meandering across the bridge and in to Station Square, we climbed up to the top of the marina entrance, over the railroad tracks, and grabbed a few more shots.

I did find, however, that no matter the angle or cityscape shot I took, I managed to blur the bright, white UPMC sign atop of the USX Tower. I think with my new camera I may have figured out how to prevent this, but for now, I will just have to live with these.

Overall it was a fun, tiring walk that produced some neat pictures. We captured a lot of the red and yellow city lights against the black night sky, along with some neat river reflections, stars, car streaks, and the beautiful city skyline from multiple vantage points.