Night Shot

[DeepSpring]

I'm debating how the lighting looks. I used my sigma flash. I'm interested in getting more into night photography so anything else that you see wrong, please rip it apart

Is the flash too strong?
The car trails end towards the right side, would it be better if they filled the frame?
Are the stars too big on the lights?
The lens flare, in this picture it is easiely removed in ps but for others it might not be. did the light to the right of the green make it? How can that be avoided because I don't see a hood cutting that out

note: it is unedited aside from size

 

[Andersbirger]

Hey, like the idea in the picture and the composure!
I think you could make it even better with lesser flashlight, and maybe indirect flash. It depends, if your flash is a build in or external. But that would make it more mysterious, revealing lesser of the surroundings in the "plane" flashlight.
Allso, I think it could be an idea to move the person closer to the camera. The clothes dosen´t do anything to the portrait, telling an ekstra story I mean, so same place in the pic´ just a bit closer, or maybe all the way so it´s only the face. And maybe darken the "asfalt" Sry, don´t know the english translation for that one, but the road. But maybe you´ll correct that with controlling the flash, so it only hits the person.

I love the flares and the stars, keep them!!
And I really like the trails from the lights, makes the picture really dynamic and more interresting than if they just went all the way out of the pic´

Hope you can use the advise, and looking forward to see more of your pic´s

Anders

 

[THORHAMMER]

easy fix to your question. take 2 pics, one with the flash set to properly light up the person, second for the long exposure of the background, make it even longer for more effect. put dude in the other pic in layers in PS... voila !! you have a kick arse shot !!!

just an idea...

 

[DeepSpring]

hmm I like your idea


when going about doing that do you use some form of erasign everythign around the guy (layer masks)?

 

[THORHAMMER]

yeah you could just copy the guy out of the pic by either selecting him , or erasing the background, whatever is better for you, then just paste into the other as a new layer so you can adjust lighting and everything so it looks natural.... dont flatted the picture till your completely happy with the way it looks....

 

[BlitzN]

Looks like a snapshot to me. Guy looks outta focus. Should be closer to the camera. Light from the car reflected on him woulda looked cool, as it is he already looks photoshopeed into the frame. I've done some awesome special FX by leaving the lens open after the flash, but it usually requires another source of light and the subject not moving.

 

[nightlights]

tripods are a must for night photography. i wouldnt use a flash at all. the flash makes him look almost like he wasn't even there. like he as added in later on. experiement with just using street & headlights to light your image. maybe moving your subject closer to the base of that streetlight so he is 'bathed' in light?

i agree with one of the other posters about getting closer to your subject. he is cut off at an awkward spot.

also, desaturate the red a bit, streetlights give off the same crappy tone. and clone out the light flare spot in the top center of the image.

hope some of this helps.