By the bay - Esplanade

[renzokuken]

1. in what area is critique to be sought?
This the composition of this shot ok?

The bay, or rather marina bay has been shot lots of time, i just wish that my shot's composition is of standard.

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
I hope to achieve the kind of shot which is "post card worthy".

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
Canon 500D, 18~55 IS, ISO 100, 1/200 sec, F8

This shot was taken on a Sunny day, during one of the NDP rehearsals,

was feeling pretty low and inferior as there were literally hundreds of photographers that day in the area with gear which i want , but could not afford. Was feeling moody and everyone was taking photographs of the parachute (NDP), i realized the boat sailing pass by the bay and took the shot as the boat is exactly at where i want it to be.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
personally i feel that this picture would look boring and plain if i did not throw the color balance off to being cooler. if not for post-processing, the furthest i would rate this pictures is being mediocre

your comments are welcomed =D

 

[Kit]

You seemed to be distracted by your surrounding. That will actually impair your observations and judgement.

The exposure is quite off. You have a whole bunch of buildings which were near to being over-exposed, while a large portion of the Esplanade is shadowed because its reflecting the light in another direction. While I'm in for contrast in a scene, the spread of the contrast in this instance is not balanced out nicely.

The composition needs working on too. I wasn't too fond of the Esplanade being shaved off on the left side and to a certain extend, the entire composition is left-heavy.

I don't think working on the colours alone helped this photo because there were just too many issues which were not dealt with to start with.

 

[renzokuken]

thanks for comment

hmmmmm......using lightroom
i applied "cold tone" to the picture
the whites were throw quite badly by it and i bumped up "recovery" to 75 out of 100 , for the picture in the first post

this is the original unedited picture

(dear moderators, please remove this picture if it violates forum rules, this is the same picture in post #1, the unedited version)
is the exposure off as well??

i would love to include more of esplanade as well
but more of it will put the bridge lined with zillions of photographers in the frame.
will it be good if the bridge is included?? i can try taking the photo again :sweatsm:

composition wise, other than being left sided too much
is there anything else i should look out for?

thanks

 

[ovaltinemilo]

I like the unedited colour better..though u wud still need to prevent the highlight clip and cut off area of esplanade next tm...

 

[sinned79]

i like the colors (looks like IR) in the first photo... but it looks overexposed when u use it.

 

[wildcat]

I like the unedited colour better.

Me too, but discounting colour, in additon to issues mentioned by Kit, I would go more heavy handed with the sea than the sky because the sky is really, really boring, and I think that's why you want to post-process the pic. Actually there's nothing interesting with the sea also.

A warmer white balance may help, rather than making it colder but that's a personal preference.

If unsure of composition, what I would do is take everything (probably how I ended up getting into panoramic stitching in the first place). That way, you can go back and study which makes the best pic and you have choices. Once you have a better idea what to look out for, one or two shots will get you what you need.

 

[renzokuken]

I like the unedited colour better..though u wud still need to prevent the highlight clip and cut off area of esplanade next tm...

i like the colors (looks like IR) in the first photo... but it looks overexposed when u use it.

thanks you both for your comments =D
it kinda look like IR to me too!!

Me too, but discounting colour, in additon to issues mentioned by Kit, I would go more heavy handed with the sea than the sky because the sky is really, really boring, and I think that's why you want to post-process the pic. Actually there's nothing interesting with the sea also.

A warmer white balance may help, rather than making it colder but that's a personal preference.

If unsure of composition, what I would do is take everything (probably how I ended up getting into panoramic stitching in the first place). That way, you can go back and study which makes the best pic and you have choices. Once you have a better idea what to look out for, one or two shots will get you what you need.

hmmmm i'm actually kinda lost
my friend criticized me for using overly warm white balances , hence that day i listened to his comments and set my white balances cooler...

the ocean... i was hoping i can enhance the water trail left by the boat. but even with a brush setting of 100 clarity, the trail is not obvious

thanks for comment as well

 

[wildcat]

The original picture you had there certainly ain't too warm. If it were me, I would go even warmer :bsmilie: but that's my personal preference. Sometimes you have to judge for yourself; do you think most of your pictures are too warm?

 

[ahming111]

actually the 2nd one is nicer, 1st one looks very harsh.

it's too tightly composed already, leave some breathing space

 

[renzokuken]

The original picture you had there certainly ain't too warm. If it were me, I would go even warmer :bsmilie: but that's my personal preference. Sometimes you have to judge for yourself; do you think most of your pictures are too warm?

actually i quite like warmer photos/shots
cause it invoke the sunset feeling

actually the 2nd one is nicer, 1st one looks very harsh.

it's too tightly composed already, leave some breathing space

ok noted

 

[wildcat]

actually i quite like warmer photos/shots
cause it invoke the sunset feeling

As mentioned earlier, don't feel your original pic is too warm. However it does lack punch, mainly because it's taken when the sun is too high and the light, too uninteresting. I can see why you chose to process it into a different colour, but the cold tone thingie may not be the best choice.

 

[renzokuken]

As mentioned earlier, don't feel your original pic is too warm. However it does lack punch, mainly because it's taken when the sun is too high and the light, too uninteresting. I can see why you chose to process it into a different colour, but the cold tone thingie may not be the best choice.

it was shot at around 4pm ~5pm
wow i really didn't expect a comment after this thread has been here for 1 week
thanks for the effort

yea.. i felt that the original photo was too boring
hence i used a few defaulted special effect presets as provided by lightroom

maybe i can try other special effects in lightroom
but not before taking another shot of this with improved composition

too bad that area is now fenced off for F1
can't redo this until when i have time and when the fencing has been removed

thanks for comment really

 

[daredevil123]

thanks for comment

hmmmmm......using lightroom
i applied "cold tone" to the picture
the whites were throw quite badly by it and i bumped up "recovery" to 75 out of 100 , for the picture in the first post

this is the original unedited picture

(dear moderators, please remove this picture if it violates forum rules, this is the same picture in post #1, the unedited version)
is the exposure off as well??

i would love to include more of esplanade as well
but more of it will put the bridge lined with zillions of photographers in the frame.
will it be good if the bridge is included?? i can try taking the photo again :sweatsm:

composition wise, other than being left sided too much
is there anything else i should look out for?

thanks

What kit was trying to say is that there are some bright areas and some dark areas. Even in this original version, the exposure for the buildings are a little overexposed, especially the "sail" looking roof of the amphitheater. You really need to dial the exposure back or use bracketed shots/blending to even out the exposures.

To put it even simplier, this is probably the wrong time in the day to shoot this scene.

 

[renzokuken]

What kit was trying to say is that there are some bright areas and some dark areas. Even in this original version, the exposure for the buildings are a little overexposed, especially the "sail" looking roof of the amphitheater. You really need to dial the exposure back or use bracketed shots/blending to even out the exposures.

To put it even simplier, this is probably the wrong time in the day to shoot this scene.

bright highlights
and dark shadows

so i either have to use a GND
choose any time to shoot this at
or
bracket the shot using softwares aka HDR

dam, this is when i wish that canon has in-built HDR like alphas do
i bought a GND filter, my lens rotate when focusing, i gave it away to my friend
i bought (or rather donate to) an application for lightroom which does HDR, but the colours and exposure always looks unnatural for me such that i prefer the original picture better
i don't have photoshop to do professional HDR, and even if i do, i think it'll take quite awhile for me to learn layering and all the PS basics

heeheee any easy to use and free HDR software to recommend?

 

[naynoy]

was feeling pretty low and inferior as there were literally hundreds of photographers that day in the area with gear which i want , but could not afford.

O.T. you should be happy with your gear and just concentrate on what you have. it is more challenging and satisfying to be able to generate good photos on entry to mid level gears. i was in one of those ndp preview using a more inferior alpha a330 and a 1 year old daughter who keeps running around and i dont get bothered by the surroundings because if it gets into your head, it will somehow affect your creativity.

 

[daredevil123]

bright highlights
and dark shadows

so i either have to use a GND
choose any time to shoot this at
or
bracket the shot using softwares aka HDR

dam, this is when i wish that canon has in-built HDR like alphas do
i bought a GND filter, my lens rotate when focusing, i gave it away to my friend
i bought (or rather donate to) an application for lightroom which does HDR, but the colours and exposure always looks unnatural for me such that i prefer the original picture better
i don't have photoshop to do professional HDR, and even if i do, i think it'll take quite awhile for me to learn layering and all the PS basics

heeheee any easy to use and free HDR software to recommend?

GND will not work here. GND only works where there is a clear horizon separation between bright sky and darker foreground. With buildings the separation is not clear. You will not be able to use GND.

What you need to do is to take multiple shots. One shot to expose the bright areas properly. Another to expose the darker areas properly. Then use layers blending to get it in. Or you can use HDR. Yes, to do HDR properly, you need multiple shots with varying exposures.

Alternatively, find a better time to shoot. That would be a better way to get around the problem.

 

[renzokuken]

O.T. you should be happy with your gear and just concentrate on what you have. it is more challenging and satisfying to be able to generate good photos on entry to mid level gears. i was in one of those ndp preview using a more inferior alpha a330 and a 1 year old daughter who keeps running around and i dont get bothered by the surroundings because if it gets into your head, it will somehow affect your creativity.

yea i get what you mean
i try my best to focus on photography itself most of the time
just that that day was way too overwhelming.... :embrass:

GND will not work here. GND only works where there is a clear horizon separation between bright sky and darker foreground. With buildings the separation is not clear. You will not be able to use GND.

What you need to do is to take multiple shots. One shot to expose the bright areas properly. Another to expose the darker areas properly. Then use layers blending to get it in. Or you can use HDR. Yes, to do HDR properly, you need multiple shots with varying exposures.

Alternatively, find a better time to shoot. That would be a better way to get around the problem.

hmmm so i should take the shot at a later time to whereby shadows are near the 45 degree angle

taken note, thanks

 

[Kit]

I think you not only have to review the timing of your shot but the composition as well. Its severely unbalanced and truthfully, I wouldn't choose this spot to take the photo.

 

[renzokuken]

I think you not only have to review the timing of your shot but the composition as well. Its severely unbalanced and truthfully, I wouldn't choose this spot to take the photo.

i know, i've seen your signature
you're an avid architecture photographer
your comments will definitely help me to grow

hmmm not choosing this spot
so you're saying that even if esplanade isn't cut off , the composition would still suck?? :think:
where do you suggest?

 

[allenleonhart]

i know, i've seen your signature
you're an avid architecture photographer
your comments will definitely help me to grow

hmmm not choosing this spot
so you're saying that even if esplanade isn't cut off , the composition would still suck?? :think:
where do you suggest?

hmm. its somethign that has been shot fromt he angle, and been shot to death:think: nothing special for me... its the bridge right? merlion there one.

:think: