Ithaca Summer

hercry1441 · Aug 23, 2008

Here are a couple pictures from Cornell University this summer.
Criticism would be much appreciated! Thanks for looking

1. The dorm room where I stayed

2. One of the buildings I had class in, Goldwin Smith Hall

3.

4.

5. I passed this every day on the way to class!

6. The result of 5:30 AM barefoot wanderings after pulling an all-nighter to finish my paper...

7. Also at 5:30 AM

8. This one a little later, maybe 6 lol

johngpt · Aug 23, 2008

There are quite a few to make comments upon.

I like #s 5 and 7.

In #6, there's quite a loss of shadow detail. Maybe in an attempt to bring back the sky? It looks as if it was a difficult scene to expose, with a very light sky and the foreground in quite a bit of shadow. These ones are tough.

That area of upstate NY is wonderful. Enjoy while you have the opportunity. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your shots of the area.

ShootHoops · Aug 24, 2008

#7 is my favorite. Definitely. I love it.

hercry1441 · Aug 24, 2008

Thanks to both of you!
Yeah, I fell in love with that region this summer, fingers crossed that I'll get to go to college there next year!
What could I have done to fix number 6?
Oh, and another question.. How is it possible to take long exposures like 7 without blowouts unless in the early morning or dusk? That one is the only picture I got which didn't have overwhelming blown out areas.

johngpt · Aug 24, 2008

To avoid blown highlights on a long exposure, and get the flow of water to smooth out, many photographers use what are called neutral density filters.

These decrease the amount of light getting to the sensor or film. Because they are (mostly) color neutral, they don't change the hues that are captured.

These ND filters come in a range of light stopping capability, the most commonly used seem to be 0.3, 0.6, and 0.9, which refer to the amount of 'stops' they will cause you to increase the shutter time. You can google and get a wealth of information. I'm in the process of learning to use my ND gradient filters. The ND gradient filters are darker at one end of the filter, then go to clear at the other end. They can have a 'soft' or 'hard' transition from one side to the other. Plain ND filters are uniform throughout.

So for instance, in your #6 image, one might try a ND gradient filter, to hold back the sky, and allow the lower portion of the image to be exposed more for the shadows.

With your #7 image, a plain ND filter might be used to hold back everything, get the water to smooth (as you've done) and avoid the highlights being blown.

Hope that makes sense. I'm just learning to use mine.