Night time bridge c+c

[j-dogg]

 

[VJS]

the good

- I like the idea and your spot to shoot from is a pretty good angle.

- I like having the building in the back ; adds a finish touch to the right side.

Overall good concept / location and great potential for some amazing shots. Keep going back here, I'd like to see more

the bad

- White balance looks like auto or daylight. Shoot tungsten next time, brings out the true colours of streetlight / tail lights.

- Interested to know your aperature and exposure time. I see some flaring and the building light is completely blown out. This tells me 'aperature too open'.

- Noise. Not a whole lot, but it's there. Again I'm guessing just too short of exposure time. 200 ISO is good for night time - in the city - shooting. Make your exposure with your shutter time not your aperature : ie, start @ F/16 and go @ least 10-15 seconds shutter speed.
Need more light? Not enough car lights? F/22 - F/29 @ 20 - 30 seconds.

Overall just some small ( really ) tweaks to make a simple shot like this really stand out. I'd really like to see this shot again, j-dogg.


Hope these comments help you in some way : keep shooting

 

[j-dogg]

the good

- I like the idea and your spot to shoot from is a pretty good angle.

- I like having the building in the back ; adds a finish touch to the right side.

Overall good concept / location and great potential for some amazing shots. Keep going back here, I'd like to see more

the bad

- White balance looks like auto or daylight. Shoot tungsten next time, brings out the true colours of streetlight / tail lights.

- Interested to know your aperature and exposure time. I see some flaring and the building light is completely blown out. This tells me 'aperature too open'.

- Noise. Not a whole lot, but it's there. Again I'm guessing just too short of exposure time. 200 ISO is good for night time - in the city - shooting. Make your exposure with your shutter time not your aperature : ie, start @ F/16 and go @ least 10-15 seconds shutter speed.
Need more light? Not enough car lights? F/22 - F/29 @ 20 - 30 seconds.

Overall just some small ( really ) tweaks to make a simple shot like this really stand out. I'd really like to see this shot again, j-dogg.


Hope these comments help you in some way : keep shooting

Thanks, it does. I'm headed to South Beach this weekend with all my gear to do this in film and digital, so I want to get it right if I'm going to drive 3 1/2 hours to get there.

I used a 75-300mm non-IS Canon kit lens on a tripod, digital Rebel XTi. I think my f-stop was 5.6 and my ISO 100. 250mm focal length. Metering was average and my exposure time was 4 seconds, I had it in bulb mode with an external shutter trigger. Manual mode and manual focus. The focus was what I have been practicing and it seems I've nailed it just need a couple tweaks.

I'll probably practice this shot a few more times locally before I head south. Should I use tungsten for whiter lights and large lit up buildings like South Beach has?

 

[VJS]

Tungsten will show the true colours the lights emit is what I meant. Look at yours for example; see how there is an orangey glow to the whole 'lit up' area? That's what non-tungsten white balance will do. Tungsten eliminates the orange light the camera ( and our eyes ) sees and shows the real, cooler temperature light.

If you shot this scene the exact same way, but with tungsten white balance selected; you'll see what I mean instantly.

I think my f-stop was 5.6 and my ISO 100

As I thought... a wider DOF is better for night time city shots as ( mentioned above ) it tones down the lights into star shapes instead of blobs. 100 is normally thought to be best for outside but... upon underexposure, 100 ISO tends to render noise in those underexposed areas.

IE. no matter what, a night time shot will register underexposed due to the sky being so dark. To compensate for the noise, up your ISO to 200. 200 ISO is really, the perfect range for digital sensors - film was much different. 200 captures enough light, but not too much to overblow lights @ night time.

Now, I shoot Pentax so the ISO thing maybe brand related. Experiment, but definitely 100 ISO is too low for this.

Just passing on what I've learned from my own trials and errors ; again, I hope these comments help you.

 

[j-dogg]

Awesome.

I'm doing some night photography in SoBe with film as well so I will be sure to find some 200 ASA rolls of something that doesn't suck. Although for some of the shots I could get away with 100 because there will be a lot more light and a lot more whiter and brighter light than what is pictured here.

 

[Valencia]

For me it's a really nice picture.
Thanks for the info VJS...
I know it wasn't meant it for me, but I learned a lot from what you said right now.
I'm new at the forum so I think I found the place where I can post some of my pictures and learned from peoples comments, ideas, advices and everything...

Thanks again

 

[RL.]

nice shot

 

[VJS]

Valencia, I've always thought there are so many shooters out there that have egos the size of some of their lenses and just refuse to share any secrets. At the same time, I've been on sites where just horrible shots are told they are good, offer some helpful hints and get blasted for it.

I would always appreciate someone telling me the honest truth about my shots. I always try to pass that on, in hopes that photographer will do the same. We all have our own style and taking the time to show someone how to do something so it looks a little better isn't hurting anyone.

You don't have to show them your way... just show them how to do it. It doesn't hurt my ego at all to share tips and tricks I've learned. If it spares someone the headache and just giving up it's a good thing...

Not saying I'm some big time pro or anything... but sometimes I wish had someone there who said " hey, try this and see what happens"

 

[KmH]

Nice photo but to much blank sky for my sensibilities. O would crop away 3/4 of the sky, which would also make it feel a bit more panoramic.

 

[Valencia]

Valencia, I've always thought there are so many shooters out there that have egos the size of some of their lenses and just refuse to share any secrets. At the same time, I've been on sites where just horrible shots are told they are good, offer some helpful hints and get blasted for it.

I would always appreciate someone telling me the honest truth about my shots. I always try to pass that on, in hopes that photographer will do the same. We all have our own style and taking the time to show someone how to do something so it looks a little better isn't hurting anyone.

You don't have to show them your way... just show them how to do it. It doesn't hurt my ego at all to share tips and tricks I've learned. If it spares someone the headache and just giving up it's a good thing...

Not saying I'm some big time pro or anything... but sometimes I wish had someone there who said " hey, try this and see what happens"

I think I share your opinion about shooters egos, unfortunately I've met the ones that they only talk "bad" about someone else's pictures and the pictures they take are 9th. world's wonder (in their heads, of course).

 

[j-dogg]

^^^Thanks, up there.

I haven't met many photographers here, but some of the ones I have met think they are God's gift to photography since Ansel Adams. The cool guys seem to be the ones who have an actual realization of their skill level.