First night scene

[SnS]

Figured I would post my first night scene up for c&c. Let me know what you think. Still learning all the settings. I've only had this camera for a week and I want to know if I am on the right track.
Thanks,
Steve


folsom by SnSphotographs, on Flickr

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

I really like your composition choices here. This is a strong shot, to me.

If you want to keep signs on the business from blowing out, you'll need to use shorter exposure times and mask them in.

 

[harishvadera]

Nice click....

 

[SnS]

Thanks for the replies.

I really like your composition choices here. This is a strong shot, to me.

If you want to keep signs on the business from blowing out, you'll need to use shorter exposure times and mask them in.

Could you please expand a little on how I would do this? I did notice the signs were all blown out and I was curious how to fix that next time. But, I wanted to get the trails of light off the cars. My understanding would be, if I use a shorter exposure time, the trails would be shorter. Still trying to learn all I can at this point.
Thanks

 

[midwifeology]

I think this is a very nice shot.

 

[JaimeIsBroken]

Hi Steve,
I know little to nothing about photography but I can say I like this image. It reminds me of the cool warm glow I get from neon signs. I am kinda jealous because my camera will not take pics like this because I don't have the shutter controls. Your pic has inspired me and I may have to upgrade to a camera with greater adjustability.
-Jaime

 

[joshhuntnm]

Nice. I would set adjust the curves so the blacks go black

 

[FanBoy]

I never tried this, but I think you would take one short exposure to get your correctly exposed lighted sign(s) and then mask that in to your longer composition.

To avoid the look of stopped traffic at the traffic light, you'll need a longer exposure time?

Otherwise, this is a good start to night traffic photography. Good luck with it and we would like to see more!

 

[SnS]

At this point, masking one exposure over another one is a little too far off the beaten path for me. I'm still sorting out how to get a fairly decent looking shot to begin with. Thanks for the replies and for the explanation. I will definitely post more shots as I get ones that look good enough to post up.