First night shots - C&C please

[mosu84]

Here are my first two night shots with this camera. The first one is an unedited HDR (just blindly merged in photomatix) and the second one is just a quick panorama I took before my camera died. Neither has been edited beyond that. Any comments or criticisms that can help me out for night shots?

So, uh, does anyone know how to make a panorama that doesn't inject crazy tilt into the picture? Here's my first panorama with this camera. EDIT: here's the updated version with tilt minimized in photoshop. Composition kinda stinks because the photograph is weighted to the right (battery died before I could take the next shot on the right.)

 

[dxqcanada1]

What lens is this ?

Do not tilt the camera/lens.

 

[tyrsmkr]

That first one is fantastic. The colors are amazing. Care to share the camera settings you used?

 

[mosu84]

That first one is fantastic. The colors are amazing. Care to share the camera settings you used?

Thanks. This is the Nikon D40 kit lens 18-55mm, using a tripod and a remote. It was an HDR of 5 shots at I think 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 seconds all at F5, ISO 200. I actually wasn't trying to do HDR and was just trying to get one good shot, then when I got home I just decided to see what it would look like to merge those 5.

 

[mosu84]

What lens is this ?

Do not tilt the camera/lens.

I use the 488RC2 head, so it's on an independent axis when it rotates. Do you mean that this was likely caused because the head was tilted for the initial shot?

 

[Ridge Meadows Photography]

i love them!

 

[mosu84]

i love them!

Thanks!

 

[Ejazzle]

i like the first one alot. I think it was crooked because or the wide angle

 

[El2]

The first one is a great shot. The second one is good too but I agree with that crazy tilt you've got going. Seems like you were shooting with a fish-eye lens.

 

[mosu84]

The first one is a great shot. The second one is good too but I agree with that crazy tilt you've got going. Seems like you were shooting with a fish-eye lens.

Thanks. I think the camera might have been tilted slightly down when I took the panorama. This would create an arc like that, right?

 

[RyanMTaylor]

I like the first one more, too. Here, this link is awesome for info about panoramas.

Digital Panoramas

 

[AlexColeman]

Really nice.

 

[manaheim]

Hey, look! Boston! I spend a ton of time taking and re-taking that particular skyline... that one and the one from the courthouse.

Anyway, I think the pics are neat, but I would argue it's not exactly a night-time photography shot so much as a late duskish HDR shot. Still cool, but... really less to comment on in my opinion.

One point- there is some distortion or something- the John Hancock tower is leaning to the right, whereas the Prudential is pretty straight. I assume maybe in your stitching the first image is more distorted than the second or something.

 

[mosu84]

Hey, look! Boston! I spend a ton of time taking and re-taking that particular skyline... that one and the one from the courthouse.

Anyway, I think the pics are neat, but I would argue it's not exactly a night-time photography shot so much as a late duskish HDR shot. Still cool, but... really less to comment on in my opinion.

One point- there is some distortion or something- the John Hancock tower is leaning to the right, whereas the Prudential is pretty straight. I assume maybe in your stitching the first image is more distorted than the second or something.

Awesome. Yeah, that skyline shot is a pretty easy one for me because I'm in Cambridge. I'll have to go check out the one down by the courthouse sometime.

Yeah, that tilt is because there was a nasty curve between the two photos originally and I had to tilt one of the photos just so the skyline would be flat in the picture. I screwed up the panorama somehow.

Ryan: thanks, I'm reading that link to check out where I went wrong.

 

[manaheim]

If you're at all curious, I can post up my Boston skyline pics, but I don't want to unecessarily hijack your thread.