Long exposures take 2 - very annoyed

[sam_justice]

Here is attempt number 2. This was taken in pitch black, I'm really annoyed due to the fact that it was so dark I couldn't see where the focus was, I focused to infinity (and then some). Obviously pulled it back a bit to far and whilst it looked in focus on the camera it came out wrong when I loaded it in to the compoota. As much as I tried to sharpen it, it still came out poor.
This is a quick post edit as well. C and C on both composition and editing please!

 

[Aayria]

I love these type of shots...where the water looks almost like a dense fog. I do like the lines in the upper frame, but I think a slightly different crop my make this work more.

 

[sam_justice]

I'm so disappointed, really disappointed.

 

[SrBiscuit]

ya gotta have SOME light.

 

[sam_justice]

ya gotta have SOME light.

Haha literally could see nothing through the viewfinder or the live view

 

[Thisiskevin]

Maybe next time bring a flash light to get some light in the frame for focusing purposes. It will be a beautiful image!

 

[sam_justice]

Maybe next time bring a flash light to get some light in the frame for focusing purposes. It will be a beautiful image!

Yeh I definitely will next time, I wish I lived near a sandy beach as well.

 

[LCARSx32]

A trick that someone on the forum once told me:

Set the ISO as high as it will go, do a 10 second exposure. That should give you enough to see your focus. Then review the image (you have to zoom in to see the focus on the camera). Once you are happy with your focus, reset your settings and shoot away. That's how I do night shots now.

The other option is to bring a laptop that has a card reader so you can check the output at the scene.

*EDIT*

I like your composition, but the edititing just made it muddy looking. Like it was taken on a low MP cheapy camera.

 

[sam_justice]

A trick that someone on the forum once told me:

Set the ISO as high as it will go, do a 10 second exposure. That should give you enough to see your focus. Then review the image (you have to zoom in to see the focus on the camera). Once you are happy with your focus, reset your settings and shoot away. That's how I do night shots now.

The other option is to bring a laptop that has a card reader so you can check the output at the scene.

*EDIT*

I like your composition, but the edititing just made it muddy looking. Like it was taken on a low MP cheapy camera.

That's a good tip as well, I'll try that shot again soon.
Yeh the editing on it was horrible, my photos are okay to edit would love to see what other people could do then explain how they did it.
Also the street lights behind absolutely raped the white balance in this image, the WB was re-set in Lightroom with the slider all the way to the left on the blue section.

 

[LCARSx32]

If you post the original, I'll see if I can do anything. OOF is difficult, if not impossible, to fix, however.

I've got to go take my public speaking final, so I won't be on for the next couple hours.

 

[cletusjermal]

What i did the one time i went was took one of those 1,000,000 candle power spot lights turned it on focused it composed it and then turned it off and took the shot. Granted it isnt completely dark but it wouldnt focus without the light.

 

[sam_justice]

Okay I found another shot on the camera that actually is in focus. Edited a bit, C&C?

 

[sam_justice]

Okay, here's the original NEF for the above capture.
Please feel free to edit and post your own versions. 2 things, 1 - Please explain in your post what you have done to the image. 2 - Please don't steal my work! That'd just be low.

Free File Hosting, Free Video Hosting, Online File Hosting. Large Files and Images up to 5GB - YourFileLink.com

 

[LCARSx32]

Here's the best I could do:

I used Adobe Photoshop CS3

Adobe Camera RAW Settings:

Temperature: 2100
Tint: +13

Exposure: +1.25
Recovery: 0
Fill Light: 15
Blacks: 5
Brightness: +91
Contrast: +42

Vibrance: 0
Saturation: +17

I also adjusted the levels (brought up the middle of the histogram to brighten the image some more). Then cropped and saved.

And here's the results:

 

[Live_free]

I love the second picture, first edit. It looks like the cover of a book from an english class. The second edit looks to blurry and bright.