Moonbirth

[kelvinlkh]

[/IMG]

Hi there,

This is my second post (will stop counting hereon...)

Prelude to The Shot
Again, from my window, but this time, in the living room. Was watching Arsenal vs Chelsea match (hehe...), then noticed the moon was hidden by the clouds, and at the same time casting very nice lights on them. Decided to take a shot.

Action
I was hindered by the building's pillar and my windows, and as such, i have to extend the camera outside the window. the camera was attached to a tripot, and was held horizontally out of the window, its legs nested below my sofa's cushions. while the camera was exposing, my hands were very close to the tri-pot (not touching) just in case the cushions gave way n my camera suffers an early retirement.

It was impossible to peek at the viewfinder while this shot was taken (to attempt that would be quite suicidal ...). no less than 20 pictures were taken through trail n error to acheive the desired composition.

Post-Action
after many tries, i still did not get the "perfect" picture. so i picked what i thought was the best one, and have to resort to cropping the right side of the image, and a bit at the bottom.

Added 5% contrast to the picture. Reduced file post-worthy file size.


Equipment:
D80, Nikkor 18-200mm VR, tripot, MS Picture Manager, Fastone Photo Resizer (freeware).

Setting:
White Balance +2, 13sec exposure, ISO 200.

Comments sought:

1. Composition
2. Colour
3. Any other comments would be greatly appreciated.


ps: discerning reader will notice the title is not quite right.... the time this photo was taken was around midnight..

 

[tribal.snake]

apart from the title, i kinda like this pic.
the composition is good, good cropping and nice colors too.

am just wondering how this would look in print.

just a tot, maybe trying shooting at iso 400. at 13sec, u are losing some sharpness from the buildings.

 

[kelvinlkh]

apart from the title, i kinda like this pic.
the composition is good, good cropping and nice colors too.

am just wondering how this would look in print.

just a tot, maybe trying shooting at iso 400. at 13sec, u are losing some sharpness from the buildings.

Thanks!

Actually I tried to shoot at iso 400... but noticed too much noise at the upper portion of the picture (the clouds..)

 

[ch3nyong]

Seeing at first sight, I guess you're not shooting it at the right time coz' the clouds seem to eat up the moon pretty much =)

As for setting, not sure what's the aperture that you're using.. IMHO, I would use something like ISO800, f11-22, 10secs since you've got a tripod. You should have shaken the camera somehow (if you're using tripod).. and ISO400 shouldnt generate that much of noise, even at ISO800.. I'm using Canon 400D but it should be not much difference for your camera (or maybe even better)..

Just my 2 cents =) Cheers!

 

[night86mare]

Action
I was hindered by the building's pillar and my windows, and as such, i have to extend the camera outside the window. the camera was attached to a tripot, and was held horizontally out of the window, its legs nested below my sofa's cushions. while the camera was exposing, my hands were very close to the tri-pot (not touching) just in case the cushions gave way n my camera suffers an early retirement.

It was impossible to peek at the viewfinder while this shot was taken (to attempt that would be quite suicidal ...). no less than 20 pictures were taken through trail n error to acheive the desired composition.

Post-Action
after many tries, i still did not get the "perfect" picture. so i picked what i thought was the best one, and have to resort to cropping the right side of the image, and a bit at the bottom.

Added 5% contrast to the picture. Reduced file post-worthy file size.

Setting:
White Balance +2, 13sec exposure, ISO 200.

Mmkay. Firstly, what is White Balance +2? =D

I do hope you aren't offended by what I'm about to write here. The idea behind the photo is good. The execution is bad. I don't know what it is, but the picture is definitely soft, I won't use the sky because that's questionable, but if you look at the HDB flats they are not well-defined. It either means, camera shake (probably, due to the description of your methodology of taking the picture, which I can't really picture).. Or you were not focusing on the right spot - something like Manual Focus mode and probably focusing way too close. In any case it spoils the picture massively for me.

I have had not much experience taking the moon, but my understanding is that in such cases you'd usually want to take 2 shots - one to get it nicely exposed and one where it is bleeding colours everywhere like in this case. Then you have to do some Photoshopping. This is for scenes which include the moon, and not just the moon alone, I guess. Might want to consider that next time.

Apart from that, I have no quarrel with the WB, looks like Fluorescent to me. The composition could be improved slightly because the moon happens to be right smack in the middle - would either crop a little off the top or change the framing.

But lastly and also most importantly, I would really, really love to know - why didn't you just go out of your home, and find a better vantage point than your window? You would have been able to use your tripod properly, would still have been able to include the HDB flats by hook or crook, and possibly have gotten a better photograph with much greater ease. I mean, the football match must not have been too interesting for you to (hey, don't kill, I know Chelsea and Arsenal are some bighooha or what in soccer world, but I don't watch soccer so) have looked out of this window and gone to so much trouble to take that shot.

When you could have just perhaps, walked out onto the corridor, or moved to the neighbouring flat. And gotten a nice shot with much less trouble (other than bringing the keys, tripod and camera out).. =) You see, sometimes you'll realise that you get much better shots when you're much more comfortable making the shot. Just like in a relationship, you don't have to slit your wrists and proclaim big love to show her that you care.. For a picture to be good, sometimes, doing less in greater comfort gives you better results because it is just that - you are more comfortable.

 

[kelvinlkh]

Mmkay. Firstly, what is White Balance +2? =D

I do hope you aren't offended by what I'm about to write here. The idea behind the photo is good. The execution is bad. I don't know what it is, but the picture is definitely soft, I won't use the sky because that's questionable, but if you look at the HDB flats they are not well-defined. It either means, camera shake (probably, due to the description of your methodology of taking the picture, which I can't really picture).. Or you were not focusing on the right spot - something like Manual Focus mode and probably focusing way too close. In any case it spoils the picture massively for me.

I have had not much experience taking the moon, but my understanding is that in such cases you'd usually want to take 2 shots - one to get it nicely exposed and one where it is bleeding colours everywhere like in this case. Then you have to do some Photoshopping. This is for scenes which include the moon, and not just the moon alone, I guess. Might want to consider that next time.

Apart from that, I have no quarrel with the WB, looks like Fluorescent to me. The composition could be improved slightly because the moon happens to be right smack in the middle - would either crop a little off the top or change the framing.

But lastly and also most importantly, I would really, really love to know - why didn't you just go out of your home, and find a better vantage point than your window? You would have been able to use your tripod properly, would still have been able to include the HDB flats by hook or crook, and possibly have gotten a better photograph with much greater ease. I mean, the football match must not have been too interesting for you to (hey, don't kill, I know Chelsea and Arsenal are some bighooha or what in soccer world, but I don't watch soccer so) have looked out of this window and gone to so much trouble to take that shot.

When you could have just perhaps, walked out onto the corridor, or moved to the neighbouring flat. And gotten a nice shot with much less trouble (other than bringing the keys, tripod and camera out).. =) You see, sometimes you'll realise that you get much better shots when you're much more comfortable making the shot. Just like in a relationship, you don't have to slit your wrists and proclaim big love to show her that you care.. For a picture to be good, sometimes, doing less in greater comfort gives you better results because it is just that - you are more comfortable.

No worries,

upon looking at the picture again, yes you are abosulutely right. The HDB portion has too much blur. And it really spoils the whole picture (or at least what i intended the composition to be - i could've cropped off the hdb half... but i wanted to convey that something "extra-ordinary (hehe)" was happeining above "ordinary" flats). i was using autofocus, cos i can't peek at the picture while shooting...

at 100% the 2/3 upper portion is sharp. in fact the moon circle is visible and sharp.

at this stage of my fledging interest in photography, i think i'll be contented if i can take a good, sharp picture without having to photoshop or take 2 shots to combine into 1 (dun know the exact tehnical term for this). tribal snake did suggest this course of actions in his comment of my previous pic post. although i must qualify i did "photoshop a bit", by cropping and adding another 5% contrast..

As for your take on "travelling" to take a good picture. yes i agree with you totally . no excuses here .