Sunset Express

rwells

Shot this image this evening coming back from the gas station.

Hot off the press!

(Side note: This image was number 9999 from my ignored 5D Classic. First time it's been shot since I purchased my 5D2)

adbsgicom

Dude, you have a charmed eye. Beautiful capture!!

rwells

adbsgicom wrote:

Dude, you have a charmed eye. Beautiful capture!!

Which one? I'll be shure to use that one more often


Thanks Andrew

adbsgicom

How did you shoot this? Do you just have a really good feel for the overexposure on Manual, did the camera make a wonderul guess, or is this a combo of skill with camera and some PS backend? What were the camera settings? Either way, I'm impressed with the final result.

Eia

Wow - details pleeeze...

rainbow

That is too good!

rwells

adbsgicom wrote:

How did you shoot this? Do you just have a really good feel for the overexposure on Manual, did the camera make a wonderul guess, or is this a combo of skill with camera and some PS backend? What were the camera settings? Either way, I'm impressed with the final result.

Hey Andrew,

First, I look at where I'm at and what I'm seeing. Then I get in my mind what kind of image I'd like to come out with. That sounds like common sense, but believe me, it took me years and years to get that in my head!

When you do those things first, it makes my (your) job so much easier. You KNOW what your trying to accomplish! Now it's just a matter of getting it done.

In this situation, I was watching the sunset highlight the tracks & was taking shots of that, not really thinking that a train would come by at the time I happened to be there shooting the sunset on the tracks. So, I already had a good grasp on my exposure for the sunset/tracks. I saw the train coming down the tracks, so I decided to pull the exposure down further, trying to get a silhouette type shot. I also changed up my exposure settings so that I would get a star-burst from the sun and hopefully the train lights also. (f/18)

Then, it was just a matter of timing the shot for the best composition with the train and the sun-star.



I controlled exposure manually. There is no way the camera would know what I wanted to accomplish in this situation.

Canon 5D Classic - Manual Exposure Mode
24-105 4L @ 88mm
ISO 800
1/500
f/18 (for the sun-star)

Noise Ninja applied in CS2 and a crop for better composition.


Hope that helps you out some...

rwells

Eia wrote:

Wow - details pleeeze...

Thanks Eia,

Details above in post #7

rwells

rainbow wrote:

That is too good!

Thanks rainbow,

See, I didn't need that 135 f/2 after all

wendell

This shot is totally wild Randy, high impact for sure. It kinda has a spooky Halloween feel to boot, great capture.
wendell

rwells

wendell wrote:

This shot is totally wild Randy, high impact for sure. It kinda has a spooky Halloween feel to boot, great capture.
wendell

Thanks Wendell,

I think I'd be in real trouble if someone requested a "normal" shot from me


That's probably why I don't really enjoy shooting "people". They all seem to want "normal" type shots

Dogdots

Beautiful photo Randy

rwells

Dogdots wrote:

Beautiful photo Randy

Thank you kindly Mary

adbsgicom

Thanks, Randy, for the information on the process. It was awfully nice of the commuter rail to provide a train while you were there as well....

Jack'll do

Ha now I get it (having seen the second set). When I first looked at this I couldn't figure out what the three lights were

Really nice caprure Randy

lizzard_nyc

I'm so envious I could cry. This is an example of manual exposure at its best.

I can't get a grip on low light conditions at all.
This is my attempt--I swear there is a child in this picture. It ws 6:00 p.m. and the light was going down--it's not like I took my girl to the park at midnight as this shot would have you think.


Your shot is amazing! --just goes to show how much there is yet to learn.

someday... lol...maybe right around the time I start appreciating rust .

moose135

Terrific shot, Randy! Well done.

rainbow

rwells wrote:

Thanks rainbow,

See, I didn't need that 135 f/2 after all

I suspect that you do not need any particular piece of equipment to take outstanding photos. This photo is proof of your vision and talent and skills being more important than any brand or particular camera.

On the other hand, I would love to see the photos you would take with the 135L at your disposal.

So don't completely ignore that voice you hear that says "buy me...".:crazy

rwells

adbsgicom wrote:

Thanks, Randy, for the information on the process. It was awfully nice of the commuter rail to provide a train while you were there as well....

Yep, I agree... especially on the tracks that I wasn't on

rwells

Jack'll do wrote:

Ha now I get it (having seen the second set). When I first looked at this I couldn't figure out what the three lights were

Really nice caprure Randy

Hey Jack,

I can barely see a ghost image of the train in that pic, but if you can't, then it wouldn't make any sense. Sorry bout that

Art Scott

Great shot fantastic mood bowthumbthumb.....manual shooting is such a wonderful thing

rwells

lizzard_nyc wrote:

I'm so envious I could cry. This is an example of manual exposure at its best.

I can't get a grip on low light conditions at all.
This is my attempt--I swear there is a child in this picture. It ws 6:00 p.m. and the light was going down--it's not like I took my girl to the park at midnight as this shot would have you think.


Your shot is amazing! --just goes to show how much there is yet to learn.

someday... lol...maybe right around the time I start appreciating rust .

Liz,

Your too hard on yourself girl!!!

A couple of things to try:

If your camera has it, spot meter off your subjects face, then set your exposure from that. Let everything else do what it's going to do. This will be a good basis to start from.

Even if your using AV or TV mode, and your exposure is like your pic above, simply make exposure (EV) corrections till the image comes out as you like. Then, make a mental note of what your meter is reading after your corrections and compare that to what the camera originally chose. This type info is what goes into your "knowledge base" that you will subconsciously draw from in the future. Yes, it may take too long at first, but with practice it gets second nature.

And...I'm still waiting on that "radio flyer" picture

rwells

moose135 wrote:

Terrific shot, Randy! Well done.

Thanks Moose

rwells

rainbow wrote:

I suspect that you do not need any particular piece of equipment to take outstanding photos. This photo is proof of your vision and talent and skills being more important than any brand or particular camera.

On the other hand, I would love to see the photos you would take with the 135L at your disposal.

So don't completely ignore that voice you hear that says "buy me...".:crazy

While I do agree to a point that the equipment is not the most important piece of the equation, I don't discount that good equipment will many times allow you to do things lesser equipment may not.

That being said; those are very kind words and I appreciate them very much! Thank you...

rwells

Art Scott wrote:

Great shot fantastic mood bowthumbthumb.....manual shooting is such a wonderful thing

Your too kind Art. Thank you!

Panther

Howdy Randy,

Really nicely done, I hadn't figured this one out completely until the info about the Train, and then I saw the other set of tracks and the Headlight pattern.

Great use of light.

lizzard_nyc

rwells wrote:

Liz,

Your too hard on yourself girl!!!

A couple of things to try:

If your camera has it, spot meter off your subjects face, then set your exposure from that. Let everything else do what it's going to do. This will be a good basis to start from.

Even if your using AV or TV mode, and your exposure is like your pic above, simply make exposure (EV) corrections till the image comes out as you like. Then, make a mental note of what your meter is reading after your corrections and compare that to what the camera originally chose. This type info is what goes into your "knowledge base" that you will subconsciously draw from in the future. Yes, it may take too long at first, but with practice it gets second nature.

And...I'm still waiting on that "radio flyer" picture

Thank you much kind sir for your helpful tips--I will store that info and hope my head doesn't explode.

As for the radio flyer:D .
I will likely sit out the next challenge or two to devote more time to things I've been putting off, this would be first on my list. The challenges are a whole lotta fun, but time consuming. Well in about 40 years I shall retire and will hopefully have more time on my hands.

rwells

Panther wrote:

Howdy Randy,

Really nicely done, I hadn't figured this one out completely until the info about the Train, and then I saw the other set of tracks and the Headlight pattern.

Great use of light.

Hey Craig,

Yeah, as I told Jack, if your monitor doesn't show the trains ghost image, then the pic wouldn't make any sense at all. I could have upped the exposure in post, but it would have lost that faint ghost(ness).

I'm calibrated, but maybe its different than yours

Dancer72

Absolutely AMAZING shot...Never knew commuter trains could look so cool!!! Can only hope to get these kind of shots outta my 5D, 24 - 105mm L someday.

Thanks for sharing this Randy!

rwells

Dancer72 wrote:

Absolutely AMAZING shot...Never knew commuter trains could look so cool!!! Can only hope to get these kind of shots outta my 5D, 24 - 105mm L someday.

Thanks for sharing this Randy!

Thanks for the kind words, but I'm confident you and your rig will have many memorable images together

The 5D & 24-105 are a spectacular combination. While I've completely (until this shot) ignored my 5D Classic after I purchased my 5D2, I'm not completely convinced that the 5D2 produces as nice tonal transition (tonal smoothness) as the original 5D.


BTW; You wouldn't happen to "know" Randy Brogen would you?

Dogdots

rwells wrote:

Thanks for the kind words, but I'm confident you and your rig will have many memorable images together

The 5D & 24-105 are a spectacular combination. While I've completely (until this shot) ignored my 5D Classic after I purchased my 5D2, I'm not completely convinced that the 5D2 produces as nice tonal transition (tonal smoothness) as the original 5D.


BTW; You wouldn't happen to "know" Randy Brogen would you?

My 24-105 is sitting next to me and saw this -- now it wants to be attached to a 5D instead of my 40D :cry