First attempt at night skyline

[mommy-medic]

Let me preemptively say I am WAY out of my comfort zone here. I joined a local photography club and each month they have little contests. The theme due in April is "skylines". I live in metro Atlanta, but figured there would be a ton of that, so I drove 2 hours north to Chattanooga. It sits on the Tennessee river and I spent the afternoon looking for the best vantage point. As much as I would have loved to have gotten a tad higher, this proved the best unobstructed view of the city.

I've never really shot at night. Never used my tripod unless I was just playing around, and city skylines aren't something I would shoot on my own. I took my 10 year old daughter and let her use my old D40- she actually got some good shots too, albeit auto minus flash- she had fun tagging along.

ok, on to the end result. Flickr has not maintained the greatest quality in hosting so take that for what it is.

and the longer crop

 

[480sparky44 44]

I'd say you done good!

 

[cgipson1]

Looks fine to me.... I do prefer the first crop...

 

[eyecandyfotos]

Hi,

These look great to me & I too prefer the first crop.

Seems like the 2 hour drive paid off!

Mark

 

[Bynx]

More is always better. Put me down for #2. Well done.

 

[FiveAlarmPhotography]

Nice Job! I like the second because you see more of the bridge.

 

[mommy-medic]

Wow! Thank you so much everyone! I was honestly expecting some harsh feedback (but that's ok, it's how we learn and grow). I am pretty pleased with the results, but do see some nit-picky stuff. The finished image is about 12 shots put together, and I see some fuzziness/lack of clarity towards the left side at the distant end of that blue bridge- the building is a little blurry. All in all I'm really happy with it though- I was on a wooden dock-type projection on the opposite shore and the slightest breeze or movement made my tripod and camera waver. I used the timer (I don't have a remote shutter release yet) with a ten second delay- so I could push the button and let it stop wobbling. Nomatter how gentle I was it wanted to wiggle.

For the contest, the biggest size allowable is 16x20. The smaller crop (when reduced to 20" wide) is 5" tall, the wider shot is only 3" tall at 20" wide so I'll have to submit the narrow version. However, I think I may print the wide one in a larger size for my home.

Thank you again.