I think of myself as a landscape photographer more than a urban/cityscape photographer. I treated this scene of the Seattle skyline the same way I would have had it been a forest or desert scene. I waited for the light to create the texture, the feel, the depth that I was looking for and when all the pieces came together I began making the individual images that became this one very large highly detailed image.
The total time from first exposure to the last exposure was probably about 5 minutes but to create this image took several hours. Once I placed my tripod down, chose my lens and set up and made all the test images, then waited for the light to occur I had invested several hours not knowing if I would make any real images.
To compose this scene I wanted something more than just water in the foreground so I chose to use the pilings as a simple graphic. I feel it adds just enough interest in the scene without distracting from the city skyline.
The soft light of blue hour and the lights coming on in downtown, the clouds catching the last bit of light and all that reflecting into Elliott Bay creates what I hope is a pleasing image to view.