Competition Image - Help?

GreenSlime89 · Dec 13, 2006

What was done:
I set up my tripod on the kerb next to the road and stuck my camera onto it, I then set the exposure at 15 seconds and an apeture of F8.0 (smallest apeture available on my camera) I then waited and when I saw a few cars coming along I pressed the shutter release button and waited for the result. I was very close to the traffic and I had the camera strap around my neck when I was taking the shot and as I moved away I accidentally shook the camera, but I will hopefully be doing more of these in the future.
I'm hoping to stick this in a competition but I don't know if I should clone out the lens flare - what do you think?

Is this one a better image?

(Ghastly) Krueger · Dec 14, 2006

Yep, you should try to clone it out.

BoblyBill · Dec 14, 2006

In my personal opinion, the lights of the cars make a lot of the road blow out. I know this will happen to a degree but it's too much for me. I like this shot thought much better than my attempt a couple of weeks ago.

Tyson · Dec 14, 2006

WHat is lens Flare.

Remi M. · Dec 14, 2006

GreenSlime89: To be brutally honest, I think you should keep experimenting with that effect before submitting it to a contest. I totally understand where your coming. When I did that effect for the first time I loved it. I thought it was really cool that you can show something in a photo that you can't see with the naked eye. I still do actually. But a photograph needs more than just a cool effect. Composition and technical quality is important (one much more important then the other).

I would suggest keeping the shutter speed as fast as you can while achieving the same look. It will minimize the chance of blurring. I would try to make sure that you don't have really bright sources of light in front of the lens to minimize lens flare. A lens hood and taking off a UV filter (if you have one) also helps.

The lines of the light streaks have a pleasant curve to them and the road surface is interesting. But there isn't much else to anchor your eye to any spot. The light that is cut off just at the top of the picture is distracting.

Tyson: In this image the faint reddish double ring the size of the picture is lens flare. So are the red circles in the upper right. It's light bouncing of the glass elements in the lens.

GreenSlime89 · Dec 15, 2006

Thanks! It's always useful to have someone being honest about your shots. Should I have taken off the Skylight 1A UV filter? I tried some more shots last night - I'll post them in my gallery. Thanks again.

D-50 · Dec 15, 2006

I agree with Remi. There really is no focal point to this shot. Capturing car trails may seem exciting at first but its something everyone has seen and is not really impressive. Always think about what you are trying toaccomplish with a shot, not to say just shooting a random scene cant produce a great image but composition and looking at your sources of light and shadow really make a photo.

parthiv91 · Dec 15, 2006

Hi,
it come out good but i would not put the in a competition.
Also the blown out front light!! i will suggest take pictures from the back of the cars. That you get the trail of the back lights. They are red which makes the picture colorful and the are not so bright as the front light which does'nt blow up the image.

GreenSlime89 · Dec 16, 2006

I've got another similar image, which has been touched up slightly and I'm thinking of entering into the competition instead.

I was thinking of naming it "Streaks Ahead" what do you guys think?

darich · Dec 16, 2006

Remi M. said:
I would suggest keeping the shutter speed as fast as you can while achieving the same look. It will minimize the chance of blurring. I would try to make sure that you don't have really bright sources of light in front of the lens to minimize lens flare. A lens hood and taking off a UV filter (if you have one) also helps.

Impossible to have a fast shutter speed to minimize camera shake if you want to acheive light trails. The only way to achieve this, is to have a long exposure so either use a tripod or some other method of securing the camera so it will not move during the exposure.

As for the photos, like a few others have said, they're showing a cool effect but as far as a competition entry is concerned, they're lacking a focal point. The most recent one you posted and are considering entering, has almost two thirds of the image as road asphalt. That in itself isn't a bad thing - if you were photographing the road surface but when it becomes a part of the image but not the main subject, it's not so good. The main part or subject is your light trails and they're overpowered by the amount of asphalt and the left side reflecting so much light.

A much better idea is to find a bridge over a motorway junction or a footbridge over a busy, and if possible, curved road and use the high vantage point to improve your composition. Viewing from above means you can use the trails to lead the eye into the image especially if the road is curved. It will also massively reduce your chance of lens flare, since you're way above the headlamps. Finally, it means that the trails become the main part of your image and the asphalt doesn't take up more than half the image.

If you have time then you can use the exact same technique for a really good shot. If you don't have time then I'd suggest that if you enter, don't get your hopes up too high.

EDIT: further good advice - if you include sky in your image then take it earlier in the evening than the above attempt. A deep blue sky is much more attractive than the almost black in the image you have.

elsaspet · Dec 16, 2006

Ok, I'm not sure how people are giving advice without knowing the OBJECT of the contest.
That to me would be question numero uno.

GreenSlime89 · Dec 16, 2006

The theme was light.
The dark sky in the second one is due to me cloning out a lamp that was distracting. should I crop the bottom slightly?

Digital Matt · Dec 16, 2006

Regardless of the object of the contest, you need to have a successfull image to enter. I agree with what Remi said, and I would just add that, compositionally, nothing is going to really make the shot work, if it's just light trails. This first photo is composed well, and is a great scene, waiting for the subject to appear. Lets see a human element in the scene. I say you reshoot something similar, and using your self timer, you place yourself in the shot. A quick burst of first curtain flash to give you some illumination, and we'd have a "hero" in this shot, and not just the scene.

darich · Dec 17, 2006

GreenSlime89 said:
The theme was light.
The dark sky in the second one is due to me cloning out a lamp that was distracting. should I crop the bottom slightly?

if the theme is/was light sometimes you'll stand a better chance of looking at it laterally - what about something that doesn't weigh much?
something very light on top of something very heavy?

But if the subject is light then it's not immediately obvious from the shots you submitted because the light trails aren't the most prominent or outstanding element in the shot. You'd get a better image looking down from a higher viewpoint

elsaspet · Dec 18, 2006

Gotta respectfully disagree Digital Matt. I think a pano crop on this would work well.
At any rate, I feel that at any level, legitimate contests are GREAT. If anything, the person entering will learn a ton just by hearing the feedback and seeing which images place well.
And just a btw kinda thing, I dig the flare.