Noob: First attempt at night Cityscape - Yokohama, Japan

[Silchuki14]

Hi guys!

I would like to have your inputs on these shots, which are my first attempt at night photography. Technically, they lack a lots of thing in my opinion. I was not able to get that same "wow" feeling on the camera that I was having with my eyes. (Hard to follow, sorry) Some key things I did while shooting theses:

-Had a tripod, but was really windy
-Original image were darker, because I wanted to reduce the shutter speed. Reason is the ferry wheel was continuously moving.
-PP with LR5 (Still learning)
-Shot with Sony SLT-A37 with Sony F3.5-5.6 18-55mm

Things I don't like about the pictures:
-Sharpness is really bad in my opinion. Aside the fact that is was windy, picture were too dark or my editing is bad, I don't know how to explain it.
-Building definition in the sky. Was it too late? Do I have to live with it? How can I make the building "stand out"?
-That moving ferry wheel. Without PS5, is there a way I could put a sharp ferry wheel on a long exposure shot? This is what I would like to do to try the improve the overall sharpness /lightning of the picture and have a stopped, colorful ferry wheel like the last pictures.

1.

ISO400 - 20mm - F22 - 2sec
Contrast +15, Highlights -5, Shadow +5, Black -3

2.

ISO400 - 20mm - F22 - 2sec
Exposition +1.45, Contrast +65, Highlights -30, Shadow -14, Clarity +20, Vibrance & Saturation +10

3.

ISO400 - 18mm - F11 - 0.5sec
Exposition +1.00, Contrast +80, Hightlights -35, Clarity +30, Vibrance & Saturation +10
Graduated Filter from left to right (Expo +0.5, Contrast +20) to light the tall building better

My fav shot is the 3rd one but there is still stuff bugging me in the picture. Thanks for the feedback/help/comments. I will surely try to apply them on my next try there!

See ya!

 

[GDHLEWIS]

It seems to me you already know what is wrong with the image, it is a decent attempt non the less tho, I'm also new at all this and can really struggle with night city shots for some reason.

Keep it up tho

 

[Silchuki14]

Thanks for the comment.

I know what could be improved in the image. The problem is that I don't know how to improve them. This is why I seek inputs from here.

 

[DGMPhotography]

Okay, the reason your shutter speed has to be so low is because your f stop is too high and your ISO is too low. Switch those two and try again.

 

[wackii]

Try to fix that ultra wide angle lens distortion. The buildings are leaning little too much.

 

[Stevepwns]

It looks like you focus was off. I like everything else about it.

 

[Silchuki14]

Wackii: I didn't notice that...thanks for pointing that out! Could you give me pointers as to how to fix that problem? I should zoom, right?

Stevepwns: Thanks for the comment. To have everything zoom, I need to get my F-stop high (F22) if I remember my reading correctly, right? If I use a lower F-Stop, the camera will try to focus on one building only, am I right?

DGMPhotography: Wouldn't a higher ISO makes the picture more noisy? Or that's only a beginner belief? To tell you the truth, I didn't test it when I was there... (I will for sure the next time)

Thanks everyone for the help! It is really appreciated.

 

[wackii]

I'm not sure what software you are using. If you are using Lightroom, it's under Lens Corrections > Manual > Vertical.

Regarding the ISO and F-Stop, I would use the lowest ISO on the camera like (ISO 100 for Nikon) and do F-11 for the type of pictures you were capturing. It doesn't look like you need lots of Depth of Field on these pictures. From looking at these pictures, it looks like you have the camera low shooting up a little. I would just do eyes level. Make sure you have a good tripod to avoid camera shake = blurred pix.

 

[Juga]

When shooting landscapes there are a few things you can do to help improve sharpness.
1: Use a tripod.
2: Remote shutter release or use a timer because when you press the shutter button it could causes vibrations.
3: Drop the ISO as low as you can.
4: Use smaller aperatures to get good overall sharpness across the frame but you don't have to stop all the way to f/22.
5: I don't think the SLT-A37 has mirror lock-up but if it does that can also help out.

I am sure there are other tips that can help with landscapes/cityscapes.

 

[wbarthur]

love #3

 

[Silchuki14]

Question: Would the wind (Strong enough to give resistance when walking) could affect the stability of the Tripod, even when set-up correctly? I do think so, just kind of want a confirmation. It was really windy when I took the picture, and I made sure everything was solid before taking my pics. So only the would could have done that. (Well, in my opinion)

Wackii: Trying the lens correction in LR5 and it just screw the pic up. Next time, I will try to raise the camera as high as possible on the Tripod and use a lower F-Stop (Probably F11 instead of F22)

Took some time to work on the 3rd one, I think I was able to get some sharpness back...Thoughts?



Thanks again!

 

[Juga]

Depends on the quality of the tripod really. Wind can cause vibrations. I forgot to add that while on a tripod you should turn off any image stabilization because it will try and compensate when it doesn't need to

 

[JTPhotography]

I shoot 30 second plus exposures with extreme wind and get sharp photos. You need a high quality tripod to do so, so maybe that is something you might want to look into purchasing if night photography will be something you do often. Also, use manual focus if you didn't and definitely turn off IS. Drop your ISO, as low as 50 if you have that on your camera, to get blur in the ferris wheel. Keep at it.

 

[Silchuki14]

Didn't know about the manual focus and image stabilization! I love you guys!

My tripod is a Vanguard Alta Pro 263AT w/ SBH-100 Head. Without being the best, I bought it for the really good feedback for a good entry level Tripod.

Thanks again! Looking forward to apply everything I've learn only in this thread!

 

[manaheim]

Looks pretty damned good overall. Way better than my first attempt.

Some tips in a thread in my sig if you're interested.

And yeah, fix those perspective issues on those buildings.