Night Time Newbie

Messages
41
Name
Daniel
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi, I have had my DSLR a couple of weeks now and my tripod came Saturday, so was keen to try it out and take some long exposure night time shots. I managed to get this picture, I was just looking for peoples opinion or advice on the image. Thank you in advance.D68D44CF-77FB-4256-A368-C8BF17EE9A66.jpeg
 
  • Good: I think the overall exposure is spot on. I like the effect of the street lights on the trees, and the light trails from the cars aren't totally burned in.
  • Also good: White balance. Very realistic.
  • Questionable: It looks like there's a traffic jam in the background, and to my mind that detracts from the mage. I think it would be better if you timed the shot so that there weren't any stationary cars in the frame, and then all we'd see would be the abstract patterns from the lights.
  • Also questionable: I think your shutter speed may be too slow. Individual light trails seem to be quite short, and we can't see the light trails in the distance. Plus there's quite a distracting element in the foreground where the street light is reflecting off a car roof. A slower shutter speed (with a correspondingly smaller aperture or lower ISO, to keep the overall exposure the same) would lessen that reflection too.
  • Also questionable: I wonder whether you've chosen the right vantage point? I like the curves of the lights going round the bend, but then it all gets a bit busy in the distance. If you could position the camera a bit higher up, that might help. And maybe putting it right under a street light where you get reflections off the cars isn't ideal either.
  • Not so good: The image needs to be cropped. The right hand quarter is contributing nothing, and you could lose a bit off the top too.
I've illustrated a couple of possible crops below. The yellow one is pretty safe, and is a definite improvement, though there is still a lot of space at the right that isn't contributing much. However if you go for a more aggressive crop, like the red one, you're left with a little stub of the road going uphill, and that looks wrong. So I wonder whether an alternative vantage point might be better?

1550575573583.png

All just my opinion, of course.
 
Last edited:
  • Good: I think the overall exposure is spot on. I like the effect of the street lights on the trees, and the light trails from the cars aren't totally burned in.
  • Also good: White balance. Very realistic.
  • Questionable: It looks like there's a traffic jam in the background, and to my mind that detracts from the mage. I think it would be better if you timed the shot so that there weren't any stationary cars in the frame, and then all we'd see would the the abstract patterns from the lights.
  • Also questionable: I think your shutter speed may be too slow. Individual light trails seem to be quite short, and we can't see the light trails in the distance. Plus there's quite a distracting element in the foreground where the street light is reflecting off a car roof. A slower shutter speed (with a correspondingly smaller aperture or lower ISO, to keep the overall exposure the same) would lessen that reflection too.
  • Also questionable: I wonder whether you've chosen the right vantage point? I like the curves of the lights going round the bend, but then it all gets a bit busy in the distance. If you could position the camera a bit higher up, that might help. And maybe putting it right under a street light where you get reflections off the cars isn't ideal either.
  • Not so good: The image needs to be cropped. The right hand quarter is contributing nothing, and you could lose a bit off the top too.
I've illustrated a couple of possible crops below. The yellow one is pretty safe, and is a definite improvement, though there is still a lot of space at the right that isn't contributing much. However if you go for a more aggressive crop, like the red one, you're left with a little stub of the road going uphill, and that looks wrong. So I wonder whether an alternative vantage point might be better?

All just my opinion, of course.

fantastic explanation mate, think everything has been covered, agree totally with the above.
 
  • Good: I think the overall exposure is spot on. I like the effect of the street lights on the trees, and the light trails from the cars aren't totally burned in.
  • Also good: White balance. Very realistic.
  • Questionable: It looks like there's a traffic jam in the background, and to my mind that detracts from the mage. I think it would be better if you timed the shot so that there weren't any stationary cars in the frame, and then all we'd see would the the abstract patterns from the lights.
  • Also questionable: I think your shutter speed may be too slow. Individual light trails seem to be quite short, and we can't see the light trails in the distance. Plus there's quite a distracting element in the foreground where the street light is reflecting off a car roof. A slower shutter speed (with a correspondingly smaller aperture or lower ISO, to keep the overall exposure the same) would lessen that reflection too.
  • Also questionable: I wonder whether you've chosen the right vantage point? I like the curves of the lights going round the bend, but then it all gets a bit busy in the distance. If you could position the camera a bit higher up, that might help. And maybe putting it right under a street light where you get reflections off the cars isn't ideal either.
  • Not so good: The image needs to be cropped. The right hand quarter is contributing nothing, and you could lose a bit off the top too.
I've illustrated a couple of possible crops below. The yellow one is pretty safe, and is a definite improvement, though there is still a lot of space at the right that isn't contributing much. However if you go for a more aggressive crop, like the red one, you're left with a little stub of the road going uphill, and that looks wrong. So I wonder whether an alternative vantage point might be better?

View attachment 237795

All just my opinion, of course.

Great feedback, just the type of thing I am looking for, thank you.

Looking at it now, I understand that the dark areas at the side and top are doing nothing. I may re-process the image and crop as you suggested.

I may have to revisit this location and take into account everything you have pointed out, to have another go to see if I can improve the image.

Again thanks for your opinion.
 
Asides from an unstraight hozion, the general technique seems good enough, but its a really boring image. with no point to it.

You need to scout some different locations.
 
The first post after the OP is scott199 for me? I have nothing above that. next down is danny0602 then my original post. I'm not seeing the stuart post.
 
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