Would like some assistance on this shot

I posted this image under the HDR thread for a different purpose.


Ok so here i will post the image first, then ask some questions/advice


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3408/...71a1c6a6_b.jpg

Here is another version.


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3322/...294896b8_b.jpg

First Shot:
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Exposure:
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10 sec (10)
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Aperture:
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f/8
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Focal Length:
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31 mm
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ISO Speed:
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100
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Exposure Bias:
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2/3 EV
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Flash:
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Flash did not fire
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Second Shot:
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<td width="30%" style="font-size: 120%;"]Camera:</td>
<td style="font-size: 120%;"]Canon EOS 50D</td>
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<td width="30%" style="font-size: 120%;"]Exposure:</td>
<td style="font-size: 120%;"]15 sec (15)</td>
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<td width="30%" style="font-size: 120%;"]Aperture:</td>
<td style="font-size: 120%;"]f/8</td>
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<td width="30%" style="font-size: 120%;"]Focal Length:</td>
<td style="font-size: 120%;"]35 mm</td>
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<td>ISO Speed:</td>
<td>100</td>
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<td>Exposure Bias:</td>
<td>2/3 EV</td>
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What I did:

Drove to spot, got there too late for sunset.. put camera on 6 lbs tripod. Used canon 17-40L with no filters, with hood on.


Used live view to focus on the buildings near the "wyndham" sign to ensure focus at 35 mm and 31mm and a variety of other focal lengths. each time i adjusted the focal length I would refocus manually using live view 10x on 50D.


I used Aperture priority and used F8 in order to minimize diffraction. I used 24mm - 40mm in order to avoid the softness of the corners at 17mm on the 17-40 lens.


I used evaluative metering although I'm not entirely sure how it corresponds with the 50D. The 50D seemed to really meter on the area i was focusing on when using live view.


Finally i used 2 second remote timer with mirror lock custom function.


I'd like to improve on this shot and I'm just not sure if this photo looks good and sharp or not. I have a hard time approving of photos I take, or maybe there is something wrong.


Anyway advice and or commentswould be appreciated.

I think the second shot is better than the first one, maybe because it's a bit darker and the cars lines look better to me. All in all the second shot is good. As for the first one, I would have lowered the exposure a bit =)


Hope that helps

the colors just seem muddy and dark though, perhaps this is a result of inadequate lighting due to beign too lat eat night?

Yeah, I guess the problem with colors is the long exposure, I tend to get worse colors from longer exposures than 3 seconds -don't really know why- and still, I think that's the right time to take pictures: there's less a chance to get in trouble with a sky lit up too much, I think =)

I agree with the 2nd frame. Perhaps you could try shooting around f11 or 16 to get better hints of sunstars on the lights.l You could also try stacking a series of shorter expousers to bring out detail in the buildings and brighten things up a bit.

hmm thanks...





using the wider aperture to prevent diffraction.. I have to figure something out :)

Dave


I disagree with using a wider aperature to prevent diffraction. If you look at Brians ISO 12233 chart and compare aperatures at 35mm f 8 appears to be sharpest and is only 2 stops above minimum aperature so it's very unlikely any diffraction would be a issue. If anything I might have tried f11 or possibly f16 to get more pronounced sunstars like Ehcalum mentionedand the ever so slight diffraction at f11 specially on the web sized image probably wouldn'tbe visable. One f-stop either wayisn't the end of the world and I think the 2nd shot isa great shot. Keep shooting.


Fred~

My only suggestion would be to shoot RAW with a small JPEG. You could then set your White Balance with Photoshop or Lightroom after the image is taken. This was from the second image you posted.





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2ndpichas mood ofthe night.


If possible next time to get the lights esp street light have that starry effect.

I like second image, the first one is to bright.