Night Shots in D.C (C&C please)

[redonyx]

I've been kicking around the idea of doing a series of night shots of various world capitals. I'll be shooting Ottawa as soon as the weather warms up, but for now here's Washington DC.

What do you think?

 

[Alphaem]

They all look great, I like the idea about night shots of different capitals also, that will keep you well traveled and busy.

 

[redonyx]

Thanks. I've been travelling a lot lately and I keep walking around wishing I had a camera with me. I figure by making it a project, I'll be forced to carry my camera with me.

 

[FattyMcJ]

Excellent idea on the capitals! Lots of $ on plane tickets though lol

#1 - Meh...you tried to get the reflection but the contrast is just too much and it's at an awkward angle, looks like you were like 20feet off center to the right.

#2 - Cool concept, but the blurred guy on the left kills it. lol Get a bit closer and wait for no foot traffic. Also a bit off kilter. I'm a symmetrical kinda guy, so maybe it's just me lol

#3 - Could use a crop to take out the bottom thing...looks like the lege of the pool, but can't tell because it's so dark. Just crop it out imo. Also, missing the top of the fountain bugs me, and the left/right portions of the circle of fountains.

Just my $0.02 on composition.

 

[redonyx]

Thanks for the comments. The reason that the composition is weird is that I had to find something to rest the camera on. I usually find myself walking around quite a bit (about 15 miles in the case of my D.C. trip) and I feel like I'd be bogged down by a tripod. Any ideas on something smaller to steady my shots?

 

[FattyMcJ]

Thanks for the comments. The reason that the composition is weird is that I had to find something to rest the camera on. I usually find myself walking around quite a bit (about 15 miles in the case of my D.C. trip) and I feel like I'd be bogged down by a tripod. Any ideas on something smaller to steady my shots?

A bean bag on the ground? (Though, in DC...you may get a few funny looks in the prone position in front of a major national icon)

A park bench? (Not mobile, but they're everywhere)

A trash can (with something protecting your cam so it won't get gross lol)? More mobile, not many people will care if you drag one a few feet lol

And the most professional suggestion, a monopod. Doubles as a walking stick and you won't look goofy lol.

 

[MisplacedAngler]

Contrast overlaod, but I like lots of contrast myself.

BTW, what's up with all the shots of D.C.? Seems like every other time I log on someone is posting D.C. pics, or is there just a couple people posting different pics? I dunno.

 

[redonyx]

Thanks for the comments.

BTW, what's up with all the shots of D.C.? Seems like every other time I log on someone is posting D.C. pics, or is there just a couple people posting different pics? I dunno.

I don't know but when I was there every other person had a camera with them. I wanted to get shots of the Lincoln statue, but I could never get close enough to not have someone else in the frame.

 

[cougargal]

I like photo #3. It's beautiful.

 

[redonyx]

Thank you cougargal. It was really hard to take since people kept walking in front of the camera while I was shooting. That's the big problem with long exposures at night.

 

[redonyx]

Is there any way to improve these shots? I probably won't be back in D.C for a while.