Night photography

[Lawlyh]

1. in what area is critique to be sought?
Composition

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
Area for improvement

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
Leisure and relaxed

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
I think the shot is ok and it captures both the Merlion and the Fullerton Hotel as the background.

 

[coolthought]

exposure on the fullerton building generally looks ok but on the merlion lower right highlights are blown. Probably you want to ev-0.3 or -0.7.

Just stating my frank opinion if you don't mind.

There are 3 main problems in this photo.
1. The obvious tilt to left and the perspective "distortion" of the fullerton make it look worst. Feel like things are slowly sliding down towards the left.
2. The "arrangement" of your subject and other things in the photo looks totally haphazard. Just like any form of art arrangement be it flower, still life painting, etc. there should have a sense of balance, or some sort of harmony or colour or geometry or lines or a way to draw the eyes attention. Basically, there are just too many distracting element in the photo, eg, the road sign, a human, the stainless steel guard, palm trees (are they palm trees...??)
3. Choosing where to crop the building. First the top, its like taking a photo of a person with the top of this head "chopped". Doesn't looks good. Second the sides too.

PS. I actually have a bit more comments if there is exif data in this photo.

 

[jed091270]

Horizon is tilted to the left and its too tight!

 

[Lawlyh]

exposure on the fullerton building generally looks ok but on the merlion lower right highlights are blown. Probably you want to ev-0.3 or -0.7.

Just stating my frank opinion if you don't mind.

There are 3 main problems in this photo.
1. The obvious tilt to left and the perspective "distortion" of the fullerton make it look worst. Feel like things are slowly sliding down towards the left.
2. The "arrangement" of your subject and other things in the photo looks totally haphazard. Just like any form of art arrangement be it flower, still life painting, etc. there should have a sense of balance, or some sort of harmony or colour or geometry or lines or a way to draw the eyes attention. Basically, there are just too many distracting element in the photo, eg, the road sign, a human, the stainless steel guard, palm trees (are they palm trees...??)
3. Choosing where to crop the building. First the top, its like taking a photo of a person with the top of this head "chopped". Doesn't looks good. Second the sides too.

PS. I actually have a bit more comments if there is exif data in this photo.

Hi,

Thanks for the comments. Will look into those areas as part of my learning process.

 

[Lawlyh]

Horizon is tilted to the left and its too tight!

Hi,

Points noted. Will be be mindful of ensuring the horizon is level instead of tilted.

 

[Jonathan Ang]

Horizon is tilted to the left and its too tight!

What horizon? There's no horizon on this photo.

Anyway, as coolthought said, the main issue to me is the composition and elements in this photo are too messy. I'm sure you were attempting to be unique with interesting angles but you have to place the elements in your photo wisely. When looking at objects, don't see it for what it represents. Eg, the merlion is not the merlion. Look at it's fundamental shape as well. It's organic, curvy, etc etc. Similarly, the fullerton. Especially in urban settings take note where the lines lead.

Yup.

 

[allenleonhart]

What horizon? There's no horizon on this photo.

Anyway, as coolthought said, the main issue to me is the composition and elements in this photo are too messy. I'm sure you were attempting to be unique with interesting angles but you have to place the elements in your photo wisely. When looking at objects, don't see it for what it represents. Eg, the merlion is not the merlion. Look at it's fundamental shape as well. It's organic, curvy, etc etc. Similarly, the fullerton. Especially in urban settings take note where the lines lead.

Yup.

erm... buildings are tilted. sure sign of tilted horizion...:dunno: if there was a horizion.

 

[coolthought]

What horizon? There's no horizon on this photo.

Anyway, as coolthought said, the main issue to me is the composition and elements in this photo are too messy. I'm sure you were attempting to be unique with interesting angles but you have to place the elements in your photo wisely. When looking at objects, don't see it for what it represents. Eg, the merlion is not the merlion. Look at it's fundamental shape as well. It's organic, curvy, etc etc. Similarly, the fullerton. Especially in urban settings take note where the lines lead.

Yup.

no horizon but still can see it is tilted. look at the trees and road sign.

 

[Kit]

To be honest, its not what I'd consider a commendable attempt.

There's just too many apparent flaws(some of which were mentioned earlier) in this photo which makes one wonders if enough thought were invested prior to taking the photo. Putting 2 subjects (Merlion and Fullerton Hotel) together in a photo is only the beginning and just because they both appear in a single frame does not warrant this a good photo. They were put together badly.

Deciding what you want to capture in the frame is the first step towards working on a design of the photo. Them come the pain-staking process of searching for the best angle to capture what you want to capture. This is missing from your photo-taking process. In essence you came, you saw and you snapped without much thought or exploration.

See what other people had done in the past and learn from these examples. Be critical to their work and your own. Discover what works for you and what doesn't. Don't be too quick to take the photo the next time you get out there. Spend time walking around your subjects and observe the light and work out a composition.

 

[Kit]

If all the straight lines in the photo are tilting towards one angle then technically, your horizon is tilting, regardless of whether you see the horizon in the frame or not.

 

[Lawlyh]

Hi Kit,

You are right to say that I have not put in much thought in the picture taken and there are just two many subjects in the same picture. Will have to pick it up from here though.

 

[coolthought]

Hi Kit,

You are right to say that I have not put in much thought in the picture taken and there are just two many subjects in the same picture. Will have to pick it up from here though.

yes. As with a painting, there is a main subject (as with this photo), other things inside the frame have to help "add interest" or make the subject stand out in such a way you want it to be portrayed. In a nutshell, for this case main subject merlion, secondary element fullerton hotel (at least the words) rest are just distractions if they don't help in bringing out your main subject.

 

[daredevil123]

Hi Kit,

You are right to say that I have not put in much thought in the picture taken and there are just two many subjects in the same picture. Will have to pick it up from here though.

Start reading... then apply...

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/digital-photography-composition-tips

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/framing-your-shots-photography-composition-technique

A very famous (late) photographer said:

"You don't take a photograph, you make it. - Ansel Adams"

 

[Doctor Inferno]

The only way I have found to properly expose the merlion is to go HDR... perhaps you can try it? The highlights look blown out.

 

[Lawlyh]

Hi Doctor Inferno,

Do you mean using photoshop to do HDR?

 

[Kit]

The reason why Merlion was over-exposed is because the photo was taken too late in the evening. The contrast between the spot lights and lights in the background became too great. The Merlion will inevitably become over-exposed if the buildings in the background were to be given enough exposure for you to make out the details. Post-editing isn't the only way to solve the problem, its merely an attempt to salvage the bad exposure. To eradicate the problem, you need to learn to observe the ambient lighting and take the photo at a better time.

 

[Doctor Inferno]

Hi Doctor Inferno,

Do you mean using photoshop to do HDR?

Yes, merge maybe 4 or more exposures together to get a decent dynamic range.

I took a shot last month with 6 images 1 stop apart and everything was well exposed. The backgrounds, Merlion, foreground etc.