Landscape Photoraphy

[catchlights]

correction, for this particular photo, I believe is shot in one frame, and is in high ISO, unlike many other photos of his.

I spent a weekend in Paris last month just before heading to Iceland for my epic road trip. My luck with the weather was alright, half good half bad. My luck was much better with the public transport since it was free for all 4 days that I was in Paris. It was to encourage people not to drive since the air pollution was pretty bad.

This was my 3rd time in Paris (1st time since I became really serious in photography), so I didn't really enter many attractions except for those that I really wanted to shoot. I was quite unlucky in this aspect because part of the interior of Sainte Chapelle was under renovation, and the part of Arc de Triomphe that was facing the sunset was under renovation too, so I had to make some changes to my plans.

Gears used for this trip:
Canon EOS 6D
Canon 17-40mm f4L
Canon 40mm f2.8
Canon 85mm f1.8
Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS

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If you are interested, you can visit my other Landscape/Travel threads here:
- Central Java
- Singapore
- Iceland

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To start things off (not in any order), here's a shot taken from the top of Montparnasse Tower, which in my opinion, has the best view of Paris. Unlike in the past, they now have glass barricades with a small opening for you to stick your camera through. I thought it would not matter much but I was wrong! My tripod's maximum height was just slightly shorter than the glass barricade, and hence I could not set it up steadily. It was a frustrating night and as a result of the strong winds, I was unable to get a clear shot for any exposure longer than one second, and had to use high ISO after it turned dark.

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[thoongeng]

This is the photo I attempted to take last year but the lighting effect is different. I was at Montparnasse tower from 5:00pm to 9:00pm, trying to capture the sunset and night views. Any reason why I can't get those colours of street lighting (other than poor sharpness of my photo)?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/travel-2007/13997873567/in/album-72157644657531142/


This is the street lighting in Paris.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/travel-2007/14181187271/in/album-72157644657531142/

Hope you don't mind I'm attaching your photo here for easier reference (if you mind just let me know I'll remove the photo here):


Comparing both photos looks like hakhak took his photo when the sky was darker, thus the street lights are relatively brighter as compared to the sky. If you see your photo the street lighting colours are there, however you will have to brighten it up and maybe tweak your white balance slightly

(Or if you have a photo taken at a slightly later timing it may be more similar, however usually you have to tweak your photo a bit for the colours to stand out more)

 

[costa777]

Hello thooneng, I don't mind. Thanks for your suggestions. No pp was done to this photo. Will try to play around with the colour next time when I have the pp software.

For those who wish to take this view of Paris, do remember to bring a longer-leg tripod. The railing that they installed on top of the tower was a little bit higher than the highest height that my tripod could go. As a result, I had to tilt my camera up as to avoid the view from being obstructed by the railing. This is the reason why the composition between the sky and the earth in this photo is not balance.

 

[sammy888]

correction, for this particular photo, I believe is shot in one frame, and is in high ISO, unlike many other photos of his.

It's a beautiful shot and it is easy to tell it was a one shot photo (by a big margin of accuracy) when you look at the beaming beacon spotlight that rotates around the tower in the night time. But there are more then one way to shot something like that once you understand the means and have abilities to work post productions..etc.

I never compromise each time I am in some country shooting and not bring along my large 055 CF tripod. Why kick yourself once you get back to your hotel or SG and then regret not getting that shot right because you did not have the right tools for the right shot. heheh.

This is a great time to be in Photography... so many things are merging and making the art and creativity we call photography so much more fun and challenging.

 

[Sessantasei]

With regards to photo editing software, if you are unwilling to pay for Adobe products, there are a number of free applications available. Well known examples are Picasa and Gimp.

 

[costa777]

May I know how to get the star-like sun effect like this photo? Thanks.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomae/16318240181/

 

[costa777]

With regards to photo editing software, if you are unwilling to pay for Adobe products, there are a number of free applications available. Well known examples are Picasa and Gimp.

Thank you for the info.

 

[thoongeng]

May I know how to get the star-like sun effect like this photo? Thanks.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomae/16318240181/

A quick google of 'how to get sunstars' got me this first result
http://www.ianplant.com/blog/2014/04/03/5-secrets-to-killer-sunstars/

 

[Sessantasei]

The most direct way would be to use a screw on star effect filter as shown in the link below. I believe it can be also done using post processing techniques.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/397744-REG/Formatt_BF_77_STAR8PT.html

 

[Sessantasei]

A quick google of 'how to get sunstars' got me this first result
http://www.ianplant.com/blog/2014/04/03/5-secrets-to-killer-sunstars/

Wow I didn't know you could do it this way! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Dura77]

May I know how to get the star-like sun effect like this photo? Thanks.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomae/16318240181/

Usually a small aperture of about f11 and above should give a sunstars. The smaller, the longer and more pronounced the beams. But whether or not you can get a sunstar is largely dependent on the aperture characteristics of your lens. Some would give you more beams while others would give you a different kind of sunstar like that of a samyang 8mm fisheye. You should be able to get a starburst with any light source, the longer the exposure the better. Also, the more contrasty the sun is from it's surrounding background e.g. deep blue sky or a darker hard edged object in front of it, the more obvious the effect. :bsmilie:

 

[costa777]

A quick google of 'how to get sunstars' got me this first result
http://www.ianplant.com/blog/2014/04/03/5-secrets-to-killer-sunstars/

Thank you. It's a good read.

The most direct way would be to use a screw on star effect filter as shown in the link below. I believe it can be also done using post processing techniques.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/397744-REG/Formatt_BF_77_STAR8PT.html

Thank you.

Usually a small aperture of about f11 and above should give a sunstars. The smaller, the longer and more pronounced the beams. But whether or not you can get a sunstar is largely dependent on the aperture characteristics of your lens. Some would give you more beams while others would give you a different kind of sunstar like that of a samyang 8mm fisheye. You should be able to get a starburst with any light source, the longer the exposure the better. Also, the more contrasty the sun is from it's surrounding background e.g. deep blue sky or a darker hard edged object in front of it, the more obvious the effect. :bsmilie:

Thank you. Is the principle same as taking street view at night that gives you the star-like effect from the street lamp like below? If so, does it mean that I need to use tripod as well for daylight shooting to get the sunstar?


https://www.flickr.com/photos/travel-2007/14181187271/in/album-72157644657531142/

 

[shierwin]

The "starburst" appearance is caused by diffraction at the "corners" where the aperture blades overlap. The more blades and the less curved they are the better the star.Even "circular" aperture lenses become non-circular at small apertures.
With EVEN number of aperture blades the number of starburst rays is the same as the number of blades.
With ODD number of aperture blades you get twice as many rays as there are blades.

For night starbust, a tripod is mandatory
For day starbust you may get away without using tripod

 

[Dura77]

Thank you. Is the principle same as taking street view at night that gives you the star-like effect from the street lamp like below? If so, does it mean that I need to use tripod as well for daylight shooting to get the sunstar?

Yes the principle is the same, just that it's usually more obvious at night cos the surroundings are usually a lot darker than the light source itself, whereas in the day when the sun is up, there are clouds and what not surrounding the sun, which makes the surroundings somewhat homogeneously bright, so you wouldn't get the sunstar so easily. Like shierwin said, you don't have to use tripods in the day to get a starburst, but for night, tripods are highly recommended, especially if you are shooting at smaller apertures, though it's not impossible to get a starburst shooting handheld at night, just that it wouldn't look as nice with the noise and motion blur you'd have to deal with to get a decently exposed image.

With EVEN number of aperture blades the number of starburst rays is the same as the number of blades.
With ODD number of aperture blades you get twice as many rays as there are blades.

Learnt something new today :bsmilie:

 

[costa777]

I have learnt a lot from you all. Thanks a lot.

 

[Nikonzen]

With GIMP you can enhance starburst effects and the such.

Another shareware powerful program... LZ