Trying to Save the Fail

[sierramister]

I saw these on your facebook! Since your asking for C&C:
It looks like the second one has the most composition value. However, the trolley, and the "Knoxville Station" sign look blurred. I was thinking you could've flashed the trolley to stop the motion of the trolley in the shot. But the blurred sign looks like you had some camera movement somewhere during the exposure.

 

[Edsport]

Your manual has the information on how to take bracketed shots, once you have it set then you just press the shutter button for each shot, the camera will automatically change the exposure settings...

 

[manaheim]

Hm. From a purely technical perspective these are pretty good. Maybe a hair dark still. Night photography has a lot of quirks and you've handled much of it well... that said, you also appear to have shot early evening when there is still light in the sky and that makes things much easier. If you shoot in the utter dark, you may find you have new challenges.

If you want to prep for that, do a search on my name and night photography here on the forums and you'll find a number of threads with tips. The one probably "best" one is the Denver one where I go into most of the points in one post.

As far as nudging the camera while doing HDR... if you're on a sturdy enough tripod I wouldn't worry about it. Certainly don't manhandle the thing, but a simple flick of the finger across the shutter speed dial should be no issue.

Compositionally, there is nothing of real value in these. (don't take this as an insult, it's just what it is) The building isn't overly interesting, though it's ok. The sky is boring and featureless. You have to really think through what makes an exciting night shot, and remember exciting night photography is 100% about the color and play of the lights. Think of it almost as more of an abstract painting canvas, and think of it as an excercise in avoiding taking what looks like a sales brochure or real estate marketing material. Sometimes a particular subject is simply not going to work well artistically, though it will likely still be great for practice of the technique.

Keep trying. Drop me a PM if you ever post one and I don't happen to notice. I'm always on the lookout for night photography here, but there are a lot of posts and I miss them sometimes.

 

[Robin Usagani]

I am not sure if you camera has auto bracket or not. You should be able to use auto bracket and use 2 second time. So you press the shutter, then 2 second later it will take 3 shots at different exposure. Also, if you have pedestrian, bicyclist, if you make your exposure long enough, they should not be visible unless you have a car passing with light. They may show up if they dont keep walking and stand at one place for a long time.

 

[manaheim]

Ok I decided to just post my ultimate night photography guide here.

May [deity of choice] have mercy on my immortal soul.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...mate-guide-night-photography.html#post2450849

 

[sm4him]

I saw these on your facebook! Since your asking for C&C:
It looks like the second one has the most composition value. However, the trolley, and the "Knoxville Station" sign look blurred. I was thinking you could've flashed the trolley to stop the motion of the trolley in the shot. But the blurred sign looks like you had some camera movement somewhere during the exposure.

Hey, sierramister! I was just wondering the other day where you were these days; haven't seen any of your posts recently, but maybe you've just been posting in different threads from what I've been reading.

I'm wondering now if maybe I'm wrong about when I used the wireless remote; maybe that second shot was when I was still triggering the shutter manually and that's why there is camera shake. Not sure now.
The problem with the trolley is that I was set for a long exposure and it pulled up and then stopped during the exposure. I didn't realize it was stopping until it already had...plus, I don't guess I could have set my flash off mid-exposure anyway, could I? (Still operating with only on-camera flash, though planning to change that as soon as the check for some contract work gets here).

 

[sm4him]

I am not sure if you camera has auto bracket or not. You should be able to use auto bracket and use 2 second time. So you press the shutter, then 2 second later it will take 3 shots at different exposure. Also, if you have pedestrian, bicyclist, if you make your exposure long enough, they should not be visible unless you have a car passing with light. They may show up if they dont keep walking and stand at one place for a long time.

My camera DOES have auto bracket, and I'd even read that part of the manual. But I didn't read it that day, having not thought about using it, and I'd never actually TRIED what I'd read in the manual, so I just didn't remember how to make it work. I'll be reading that part of the manual again and practicing, so that the next time I'll know what to do.

As for the high traffic...yeah, I actually DID do some long-exposure shots with people walking, bicyclists, etc. Didn't post them, because most of them had other issues.
When I mentioned the high traffic, I was talking about for doing an HDR shot. I've read that you need to take your bracketed shots *without* having things that have moved from one frame to the next. If I'm wrong, someone correct me on that before I DO give it a try on another part of the station!

 

[sm4him]

Hm. From a purely technical perspective these are pretty good. Maybe a hair dark still. Night photography has a lot of quirks and you've handled much of it well... that said, you also appear to have shot early evening when there is still light in the sky and that makes things much easier. If you shoot in the utter dark, you may find you have new challenges.

If you want to prep for that, do a search on my name and night photography here on the forums and you'll find a number of threads with tips. The one probably "best" one is the Denver one where I go into most of the points in one post.

As far as nudging the camera while doing HDR... if you're on a sturdy enough tripod I wouldn't worry about it. Certainly don't manhandle the thing, but a simple flick of the finger across the shutter speed dial should be no issue.

Compositionally, there is nothing of real value in these. (don't take this as an insult, it's just what it is) The building isn't overly interesting, though it's ok. The sky is boring and featureless. You have to really think through what makes an exciting night shot, and remember exciting night photography is 100% about the color and play of the lights. Think of it almost as more of an abstract painting canvas, and think of it as an excercise in avoiding taking what looks like a sales brochure or real estate marketing material. Sometimes a particular subject is simply not going to work well artistically, though it will likely still be great for practice of the technique.

Keep trying. Drop me a PM if you ever post one and I don't happen to notice. I'm always on the lookout for night photography here, but there are a lot of posts and I miss them sometimes.

Thanks so much! And no insult taken about the compositional value...it IS a pretty boring building; the only remotely interesting part is that big glass part that has a green tint to it at night. And, it also slopes, so it's difficult to even get it to look straight. The "interesting" part of the building is it's environmentally-friendly design (thermal heat and cooling system, etc), not the architecture.

You're right; I shot most of these before it was truly dark. Started right at sunset, and on just past about civil twilight. I did that on purpose, because I'd started out with a different objective in mind. Next time, I'll start later and keep shooting later.

Question: What *would* make an "interesting" sky, at night? Will some scattered clouds be noticeable enough to add interest?

Ultimately, my goal with this particular subject matter is to have shots worth putting on the website, in next year's calendar and possibly some other print material. But my ulterior motive is to learn the ins and outs of night photography so that when I have the opportunity to shoot *interesting* things at night, they will come out the way I envision.

 

[sm4him]

Ok I decided to just post my ultimate night photography guide here.

May [deity of choice] have mercy on my immortal soul.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...mate-guide-night-photography.html#post2450849

This ROCKS!! Thank you!! I've only scanned it so far, but it will be VERY helpful...I think I just entered the "Manaheim School of Night Photography."

 

[cepwin]

I too loved them...very vibrant ... esp the 2nd and 3rd shots.. In terms of your goal I think the 2nd serves it best as it has a bus? light rail? car in it.

 

[imagemaker46]

I don't have a problem with these shots at all, I like them. I post images all the time, have lots look and few say anything, I can only take it that they haven't got anything negative to say about them, they look good, and making suggestions is pointless, or they just don't know how they could be improved. Personally, I don't comment on everything I look at.

Just take no comments as positive.

 

[GnipGnop]

I can't say exactly what will make your photos more interesting because I'm not there.

Examine the lines on the building. How do they intersect? How does the form flow? How does the light hit the building at night? What kind of lighting is used to light up the building at night?
A quick google search provides a few tips as well.

Another thing I do to help before I go for a shoot is to look at the interesting photos on flickr relative to what I'm going to shoot that day. It both helps me with my creative eye, and also helps me to think outside the box by producing work different from the generally regarded "interesting" stuff.