Can someone tell me where i went wrong and how i can improve?

[pavelbarchuk]

Hello,

so I went to san Francisco last weekend for fun and took a few pictures. first time there so I had to photograph the golden gate bridge.

I took multiple images, but after I took the first one, it got dark fast.

what I realized is that my aperture set to f/7.1 was too open, the north side of the bridge is out of focus.

what else could I have done to improve this shot.

Heres the equipment I used and the settings.

Nikon D800. Tamron 24-70 2.8 @ 26mm. iso 100. 25sec exposure. f/7.1. white balance was set to auto.

I want to make a canvas print of this image so It reminds me that I should get out more often and practice to improve. attached I have a link the the raw file if you guys want to take a look at it and maybe edit it your way and show me how much better it can get. and this photo is after I edited it.

thank you in advance.




heres the link to the RAW file. http://sarky-photography.com/p/8078.NEF

 

[raventepes]

Personally, I like how it was taken. It gives a sense of length and depth. When I view it larger, it looks even better. All in all, I'd have to say, well done!

 

[Solarflare]

You might have wanted f/16 for sunstars ... if you like that effect, anyway.

Other than that I concur, its not a bad shot at all.

 

[cconner]

Looking at the raw file @ 1/1 the ghosting is visible due to the long exposure, subsequently I would have taken shots from ISO 200 and 400 to cut down the exposure time. No one is going to look at this at 1/1 anyways so it really doesn't matter and it wont be seen in print. It is a great image and makes me want to be there so I say you did an excellent job! My travel photography reminds me of the world we live in and keeps my family and I from routine.


My quick take/taste on the edit.

 

[Braineack]

I dont like this edit. You lost the shore line and ruined the orange cast, to a weird purple/orange cross toning effect.

I like the OP shot and would just like to see it cropped 16:9.

 

[tirediron]

Just to be clear, your aperture would have absolutely NO effect on the far (or near) end of the bridge being in or out of focus at that distance. Use this calculator to familiarize yourself with how DoF changes at various apertures and distances.

 

[The_Pearl_Poet]

I would try bringing out the foreground a little more as well as the stars in the sky.

 

[runnah]

Tweaks and gradients.

 

[cconner]

My adjustment which changed the colors was temperature, I felt it was too warm. The shore line is definitely in need of help and I didn't help it in any way. Just offering a different look as requested by OP, I was going to go black and white but felt like color was the direction the shooter wanted it to end up on canvas.

 

[cconner]

Runnah nailed it ^

 

[pavelbarchuk]

Thank you guys soo much. I still need to learn editing/post processing... I did the editing in lightroom on the way home in the car on my laptop, not blaming it on that, but smaller screen and maybe the colors were off.

BUt thank you again. Your edits look great.