First Night Shots

CMaster

I've been wanting to do some long night exposures for awhile now, and last night I finally went and did it. Luckily for me, Johnstown has an observation deck about the city and ripe for getting a look over the city.

It ain't San Fran..we're just a small town :1drink


The lights going down the hill are part of the town's inclined plane. That was built shortly after the 1889 flood to evacuate residents to the Westmont hill.


One of my favorite shots. I like the shadow of the tree on the river and the "bouncing" headlight. Amazing the sensativity of the camera; feeling all the vibrations through the deck.


A little closer to downtown. Johnstown downtown is now mainly comprised of churches and little bars. :lol3

CMaster

Just some more of the town. Used the 50mm f/1.4 here


Some cool light trails on the bypass around town.


A little wider shot of the area.


Not many use the Inclined Plane to travel anymore. I remember as child taking our car down the Inclined Plane and thought it was one of the neatest things. Luckily, someone decided to ride it down, and I got this neat shot.


This is my first try with all of this. They're not silky smooth like others I've seen, so any feedback on this is much appreciated! Actually, I'd like some pointers from the fine night photographers on this site.

Rest of the gallery is here if you're so inclined (gosh, lame pun!).

Enjoy guys!

KevinKal

Great start!
Hi Paul,

Very nice pictures here, definitely a strong start to night photography. If I might, I would add the following suggestions for your next foray:

1. Looks like the white balance needs some correction as the overall feel of the pictures is too warm (too much yellow). If you're shooting RAW, you would even be able to retouch these that you've posted. If not, then take a few test shots with your cameras pre-set white balances, as one of them usually gives a very pleasing effect (in fact, this is the method I used for these night shots: http://kalwerisky.smugmug.com/gallery/440796).

2. Your images - at least at the size posted here - do in fact look very smooth. However, if you want them to be even smoother I would suggest either stacking multiple pictures to get rid of noise or use a program such as Neat Image or Noise Ninja.

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to more.

Cheers,
Kevin K.

System

Paul-

very nice-

It looks like Kevin's given you a couple good suggestions for next time-

thanks for posting the pics-

george