took these lasts night C&C ... beginner (dublin at night)

jon1981

hey, i took these last night with a canon g9... messing about with the settings and using raw... i would be grateful for some tips on what i could have done better.

SinisterDexter

took what?

jon1981

just figured out how to add them more to come

spurious

I like the second one, apart from those things in the foreground - they are very distracting.

For the one through the hole, I would have tried to get more of the Custom House.

Nice photos.

jon1981

i actually took a second without them in the foreground ( i actually liked them, shows what i know! )

i really need a tripod for stability was very hard to get long exposure shots.

i was trying make the custom house more obvious through the hole, but just couldnt get it right.

SinisterDexter

jon1981 wrote: »

i actually took a second without them in the foreground ( i actually liked them, shows what i know! )

Each to their own view. Some people will like them, some won't.

CabanSail

Welcome Jon & well done for posting photo's for C&C.
Generally I like this set for a beginner. They show that you are thinking about the composition & how to make your photo's more interesting.

#1. I like the repetition of the poles as foreground interest, though feel this suffers somewhat from the first one being cut short. Maybe dropping a bit of the sky above the chimneys & a different position would have been better. This may also allow the poles to be a lead in to the chimneys in the background. The shot overall is quite flat & could do with some work in PP to give more punch. The chimneys & background need dodging to make them more significant in the compostion. I would suggest going back & trying again as there is a good shot to be had.

#2. This shot is easier on the eye, but once again the truncated pole is a probelm. Not sure how you could get that nice sky as well as the poles. The reflections in the water are lovely.

#3 & #4. Nice idea of using the strong geometrical shape of a section of the bridge. I am guessing that this is the same shot but with two different adjustments in PP. The problem is that there is no real focus here. The curve to the left is good to frame something but that something is just not there. The lights to the right are then pulling the eye to them & the buildings are just busy with no real interest in them. Good try but it just doesn't work for me.

#5. Really like what you are doing here. Lovely framing & so close to coming off too. Definitely go back & shoot this again. I think you need to be slightly to the left to get Customs House, the Spire & Liberty Hall in a better position in the circular frame you have set up. The other problem is that while the Hole is sharp, the subject is soft. To get both sharp in the one shot will be hard as a very large DOF would be required & to move to left would also probably distort the hole & not make it as good a frame, but who says you have to do it in the one shot? You have the Window perfect you could drop in the buildings from a different shot with them in focus.

duffarama

I really like no. 1, think it's an excellent shot and nice muted blues

I also like no. 4 a lot too, prefer it to no. 3 which seems to be the same shot with different settings.

jon1981

thanks for the generous feedback and tips, ill definitely go back and try and refine some of the shots.

in relation to image #5 how could i get more clarity in the buildings. the detail in the buidlings just doesnt seem to be there... or does it have to? is it limitation of the camera im using (canon g9) or i just havent focused correctly.

or are you implying i take a second shot focusing more on the buildings and merge the two? (never though of this).

YeahOK

Best tips I ever got for night shots and I'm sure it was on here on boards are as follows;

1. Switch your white balance to Tungsten, it prevents light pollution, i.e. everything looking yellow / orange.
2. Don't have a tripod, no problem rest your camera on a steady surface
3. Long exposures give the lights that nice starry effect (if that's what you like)
4. Use your timer when pressing your shutter button. While your pressing the button you can cause shake in the camera which can give you a blurry out of focus image.

All the night shots on my stream (with the exception of the Cork ones) are either hand held or camera rested on a steady surface.

Keep practicing and don't be dis-heartened if people don't like the results. Keep doing it cause you enjoy it.

Happy Snapping!

jon1981

thanks for the tips YeahOK

some nice shots there, im going to take your advice with the Tungsten and see how i get on.

SinisterDexter

Don't know if you seen it but in the Photographic Expeditions section I am arranging a City walk about - looks to be docklands - if you care to join us. A few of us will be beginners, but then there will be few who could point you in the right direction ~ Looks at PixbyJohn.

DK32

Long-ish exposures at night work really well for bringing out all the detail. If you are shooting in RAW then you don't need to play around with white balance settings until you run through Photoshop or similar. I have also found that Tungsten & Flash WB settings work well for night time as they cool the image down.

Some of my recent night shots here with exif info showing exposure time, iso etc...
http://pix.ie/dk1974/album/366761

I can highly recommend a walkabout with fellow boards members, safety in numbers, good people with varied experience, lots of different equipment & techniques and best of all you will have plenty of time to get that shot you want.