Trying to Save the Fail

[sm4him]

I stayed at work late tonight so that I could try the strobist.com Christmas lighting tips on the front of our building. That was an epic fail, even once I kind of figured out where to set the white balance, since there were both tungsten and flourescent, and probably some others going on as well.
I also had thought maybe I'd try doing an HDR shot of the front of the bus station, but that was a fail, too. Two major problems: I couldn't actually figure out how to adjust my exposure compensation with nudging the camera too much, and (bigger issue) there was just TOO much traffic--pedestrians, bicyclists, cars, buses and trolleys passing by constantly. Oh, and stupid cars that kept pulling up and stopping in front of the building, even though it's a buses only lane.

Anyway, this was the ONLY semi-decent shot I got that was along the lines of what I set out to do:
Nikon D5100, tripod, triggered shutter manually--f18, focal length 29mm, shutter speed 6 sec.
1.
KAT 0361 by sm4him, on Flickr

Then, I decided since my first ideas were a bust, I'd try some light trails. We've been wanting to replace the stock photo light trail shot on our website with one of the new bus station. Again, I really had trouble...either someone would park in front of the building, or my focus was off, or my settings were off...

I came away with two shots that I think are reasonably decent. Looking for C&C; what can I do next time that might help?
Same setup as first shot, except I used a wireless remote to trigger the shutter
2. f18, focal length 18mm, shutter speed 4 sec.

KAT 351 by sm4him, on Flickr

3. f18, focal length 32mm, shutter speed 10 sec.

KAT 0371 by sm4him, on Flickr

 

[APHPHOTO]

I dont know what you were trying to do but I like the shots.

 

[sm4him]

I dont know what you were trying to do but I like the shots.

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback!

In the first one, I was originally trying to get more of an HDR look--nothing overcooked, but just exposing those dark areas better while not overexposing all the different lighting sources. But I gave up on that and just tried to get the best shot I could.

The other two I was just experimenting with getting the light trails from the buses and trolleys as they went past.
One thing in particular I'd like opinion on: in the second photo, does the stopped trolley in front of the building add to the effect or is just a distraction? Keep in mind that this is FOR a public transit system, so it's our trolley in front of our new transit center. I like the "idea" of the trolley being recognizable among the light trails, but overall I think it might be too distracting.

 

[sm4him]

Wow. 120 views and 1 reply...I guess I can take THAT hint, lol. Evidently they're not even worth commenting on.
Anybody want to comment and tell me how to take similar shots that would be worth commenting on?

Meh...I still like 'em, anyway.

 

[GeorgieGirl]

I'm seeing this thread roll to the top for the first time now. I think posts get lost and I dont think its more than that. I think you did a really nice job with these!

 

[davesnothere11]

Wow. 120 views and 1 reply...I guess I can take THAT hint, lol. Evidently they're not even worth commenting on.
Anybody want to comment and tell me how to take similar shots that would be worth commenting on?

Meh...I still like 'em, anyway.

A lot of those views are probably beginners like me and feel they have more to learn here than to say. So I wouldn't let a views to comments ratio say anything about your pics.

The one with the trolley is good IMO. I did find myself wishing the station signage was readable though.

 

[sm4him]

Wow. 120 views and 1 reply...I guess I can take THAT hint, lol. Evidently they're not even worth commenting on.
Anybody want to comment and tell me how to take similar shots that would be worth commenting on?

Meh...I still like 'em, anyway.

A lot of those views are probably beginners like me and feel they have more to learn here than to say. So I wouldn't let a views to comments ratio say anything about your pics.

The one with the trolley is good IMO. I did find myself wishing the station signage was readable though.

Thanks, GeorgieGirl and davesnothere! I appreciate the positive feedback!

And yeah, honestly, I know the views-to-comments ratio isn't necessarily a definitive statement about the pics. But, I needed some way to get the thread back up to the top of the active postings, and I hate just posting "bump."

Plus, you do always kinda wonder...well, maybe you self-confident types don't, but the rest of us do...you get 100+ views and no one has said they like 'em or don't like 'em...and you start to wonder if the views are all just newbs who feel like they don't know enough to even post feedback, or have all the pro/old timers that you're really LOOKING for feedback from seen them and though, meh, nothing worth commenting on, no hope for her.

And in the meantime, yet another new thread about recently banned drama queens garner pages and pages of comments. Sigh.

 

[manaheim]

These don't seem to bad on this small screen. I'll check em out when I get home tonight and see if I can offer some tips.

 

[KmH]

Wow. 120 views and 1 reply...

Beyond the Basics is not a C&C, Gallery forum section.

The Mods routinely move C&C threads from Beyond the Basics to a more appropriate forum section.

 

[sm4him]

Wow. 120 views and 1 reply...

Beyond the Basics is not a C&C, Gallery forum section.

The Mods routinely move C&C threads from Beyond the Basics to a more appropriate forum section.

I had no clue where to put them. So, for future reference, where should something like this be posted? Do ALL C&C requests go in the Beginners' section? I just didn't see anything else that looked like a good fit.

 

[sm4him]

These don't seem to bad on this small screen. I'll check em out when I get home tonight and see if I can offer some tips.

Thanks, manaheim, I'll look forward to that! I do intend to try a re-shoot, the next time we have a really nice evening AND I can stay late enough to do some shooting at/after sunset.

I agree with davesnothere that it'd be nice if the sign was readable. Don't know if I'll be able to recreate that...one bus passing me on the near side, trolley pulling up to the station on the far side, NO stupid cars that decide to park in the bus lane and ruin the shot...too bad I missed getting that sign in focus! Should I have focused ON the sign? I *think* I was focused more at about the top of the awning, where it meets the large glass front of the building.

For the first picture, since HDR doesn't really seem to be an option because of the high traffic pattern...what else could I do to get a little better exposure on those darker areas without blowing out the lights, especially the ones under the awning?

 

[Edsport]

You should get a remote so you don't have to touch the camera when taking different exposures. Set the camera to take bracketed shots and use a remote. Pick them on ebay for less than $7.00 with free shipping. d5100 remote | eBay

 

[sm4him]

You should get a remote so you don't have to touch the camera when taking different exposures. Set the camera to take bracketed shots and use a remote. Pick them on ebay for less than $7.00 with free shipping. d5100 remote | eBay

I had a remote, and used it, on the two light trail shots. But I didn't know how to take the bracketed shots without having to change settings ON the camera between shots. I played a little that night with the bracket feature, but could only get it to take ONE shot, at whatever exposure comp I'd picked. Then I'd have to manually adjust settings on the camera and take another shot. At which point, I would have slightly moved the camera.
I'll have to head back to the manual and see what I'm doing wrong.

 

[GnipGnop]

Why are you worried so much about your white balance? Are you shooting jpegs?

To me, the pictures look like snapshots, in that the composition doesn't look all that interesting. They are simply building shots, with what seems like random parts left out of the scene.

#1 and #2 are crooked


You could do HDR if you did it the "old fashioned" way by selectively removing layers of multiple exposures in photoshop, but that is intensive.

Shoot when it's darker out, don't stop down so much and try to capture a different perspective. I guess that's my advice.

 

[sm4him]

Why are you worried so much about your white balance? Are you shooting jpegs?

To me, the pictures look like snapshots, in that the composition doesn't look all that interesting. They are simply building shots, with what seems like random parts left out of the scene.

#1 and #2 are crooked


You could do HDR if you did it the "old fashioned" way by selectively removing layers of multiple exposures in photoshop, but that is intensive.

Shoot when it's darker out, don't stop down so much and try to capture a different perspective. I guess that's my advice.

Not "worried" about white balance, just experimenting. I'd read the strobist.com tutorial on photographing Christmas lights and thought it might also help me with the front of our building. I was wrong.

I'd be interested in knowing how you think they could have been composed to be "more interesting" and what "random parts" you feel were left out of the scene. But keep in mind, as I mentioned in my original post, that the ultimate goal of these shots IS to showcase both the new building (now just over a year old), and the transit service itself. We currently have a stock photo image on our website of a busy street with light trails, and my boss would like to eventually replace that with a similar "light trail" photo that features OUR building and transit service.

I agree that #1 is a bit crooked. I did a little straightening in post, but need to re-adjust that.

Thanks for your insight.