First night shots

chizuck

Hi went to visit my cuz and found his old tripod so I figured hell ill try some night shots of the lewiston bridge. So here are 3 that I thought turned out well let me know what you guys think.

thanks chuck

chizuck

No response I just want to know how to make them better.

CWSkopec

I think they're a good start, Chuck. I really enjoy taking the long exposure night shots myself. First a suggestion for posting, in the future it might be helpful to put a space in between your shots, they are all running together at the moment...

As for the images themselves, I really like the look of the second one. I like that most of the colors are desaturated with just the red of the brake lights showing well. Using a small aperture on that one could have really worked nicely as it would have given the lights a star shape, which I myself enjoy... just something to play with...

For the third one, I can see what you were going for, but there's too many distracting elements getting in the way of me focusing on the flow of the headlights. Try getting closer to the action. Even a small zoom lens would enable you to stay safely on the sidewalk but still get the viewer close to the movement.

Hope those thoughts help you next time your out for some night shots!

chizuck

CWSkopec thanks I will try some of that next time.

chuck

a110p0

For cityscapes, I would suggest shooting earlier in the evening, about
20 to 60 minutes after the sun sets, that way you still have some light in
the sky to balance the artificial lighting of street lights or building lights.

Also shooting during an evening with moonlight can provide some additional
ambient light.

Alvin

rustic

Hi Chuck,

You're off to a good start, and night shots can be a lot of fun. One thing that I've found difficult about them, however, is that in the dark, it's sometimes hard to tell what will stand out in the exposed shot. In the 3rd one, for instance, the powerlines cut right through the middle, and in the second one, the trees along the side of the road are a bit distracting.

For the first one, I would tighten up the composition a bit, half of the shot is of the sky with nothing of particular interest up there.

I'm with CWS, the second one is my favorite. It has a nice look of being almost black and white with the nice read lights going through.

Also, for the 3rd one, maybe try playing with the White Balance a bit next time. Most street lights are (I believe) Sodium Vapor lights, which give off a nasty orange light that isn't so noticeable in person, but that shows up photos. I'm honestly not sure of the best way to get rid of it, but playing with white balance should help.

Hope that helps, and good luck!

chizuck

rustic wrote:

Hi Chuck,

You're off to a good start, and night shots can be a lot of fun. One thing that I've found difficult about them, however, is that in the dark, it's sometimes hard to tell what will stand out in the exposed shot. In the 3rd one, for instance, the powerlines cut right through the middle, and in the second one, the trees along the side of the road are a bit distracting.

For the first one, I would tighten up the composition a bit, half of the shot is of the sky with nothing of particular interest up there.

I'm with CWS, the second one is my favorite. It has a nice look of being almost black and white with the nice read lights going through.

Also, for the 3rd one, maybe try playing with the White Balance a bit next time. Most street lights are (I believe) Sodium Vapor lights, which give off a nasty orange light that isn't so noticeable in person, but that shows up photos. I'm honestly not sure of the best way to get rid of it, but playing with white balance should help.

Hope that helps, and good luck!

Yeah on the 3rd one is was real orange I played with wb and there is hardly any on my screen but then I have never calibrated my screen for pics yet. I printed that one off and it looked way orange, pissed me off cuz it looks good on my screen. Anyway thank for the ideas I am still real new at this but want to be able to take pics I can be proud of.