Sydney Opera House C&C

juvenal

Hi photographers, total amateur here.

Developing some snaps for our new place, and am wading through literally thousands, so I may post a few here for your perusal to see if they can be improved at all, if that's OK.

Any thoughts/advice/comments are welcomed.

Cheers,

Carrigman

Nice shot but it would have been better had you shot it a bit earlier in the evening when there was still some blue in the sky. As it is the sky is too black and there isn't sufficient differentiation between parts of the building and the sky. But, not bad at all for a "total amateur" by which I presume you mean not very experienced in photography. Most of us here are total amateurs in that we are not professional photographers.

challengemaster

Two things I'd do: Small crop down on the top - there's just a slight bit too much black (negative space)

straighten the horizon

After that, it's fairly sweet. I'd go against what Carrigman's saying - I think the fact it's at night sets it apart. While that's the way he'd shoot it, I prefer it this way.

Different strokes for different folks.

Good job

CabanSail

Nice enough image. Well exposed & looks sharp enough. The only problem is that it is one of the cliche Sydney shots. That one is the view from near Mrs Maquaries Chair. The other one is the view from the far side of Circular Quay. Having said that, it's hard to get an original aspect to the Opera House or the Harbour Bridge.

juvenal

Carrigman wrote: »

Nice shot but it would have been better had you shot it a bit earlier in the evening when there was still some blue in the sky. As it is the sky is too black and there isn't sufficient differentiation between parts of the building and the sky. But, not bad at all for a "total amateur" by which I presume you mean not very experienced in photography. Most of us here are total amateurs in that we are not professional photographers.

Cheers for the feedback - by total amateur I meant that it was snapped with my point & shoot Casio Exilim

challengemaster wrote: »

Two things I'd do: Small crop down on the top - there's just a slight bit too much black (negative space)

straighten the horizon

After that, it's fairly sweet. I'd go against what Carrigman's saying - I think the fact it's at night sets it apart. While that's the way he'd shoot it, I prefer it this way.

Different strokes for different folks.

Good job

Thanks again - any thoughts on what I can use to straighten the horizon? I presume you mean that it's slightly offline running down from left to right?

I'm not a photoshopper, just someone with a small camera who enjoys taking the odd snap. Any pointers towards decent & free software to make minor adjustments like this?

CabanSail wrote: »

Nice enough image. Well exposed & looks sharp enough. The only problem is that it is one of the cliche Sydney shots. That one is the view from near Mrs Maquaries Chair. The other one is the view from the far side of Circular Quay. Having said that, it's hard to get an original aspect to the Opera House or the Harbour Bridge.

Actually it was taken from the far side of Circular Quay West, near Campbell's Cove underneath the Harbour Bridge. As you rightly say it's difficult to get an original shot of such an iconic landmark, but all we can do it try! I'm just developing a few to put together to hang in the new place, so it's more about personal favourites/memories than artistic flair, but I get what you're saying.:)

On another note, does anyone know if it's possible to erase the shadow and level this photo, without making it look like it's been photoshopped? I wanted to get a shot of the taxi door, but whatever time of the day it was, it was impossible to get a clear one without the shadow of the wing mirror. And now they've gone and changed the markings on the NYC cabs.:(

Any thoughts/help appreciated. Or should I take it to digital darkroom?

challengemaster

you could try picasa IIRC that's free.

CabanSail

I quite like the shadow, it adds form & it is interesting the way the mirror has a shape in it too. Leave it the way it is.