Nightscape


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Esper

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Jul 21, 2013
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www.flickr.com
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Full Image : flickr.com/photos/esperchoo/9333073819/

1. in what area is critique to be sought?
Exposure & PP Effects.
2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
Flaunting SG's wealth & might / Capturing the perfect shot of SG's Scrapers.
3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
Cloudy, Night Sky.
4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
A Near Disaster Picture.

Camera & Lens Used :
Sony A65
Sigma 10~20mm F4-5.6 EX DC


EXIF Data :

ISO100
12mm
F18
25s
8:15pm.
 

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"Perfect" seems a strong word to use......

The photo is lacklustre. Its too late into the evening and most of the buildings are not adequately lit to give you a dynamic composition. Certainly didn't "flaunt SG's wealth & might". Reflections are nice but not in this instance. They are scattered across the frame with varying intensity. Throws the composition off balanced and are more of a distraction than anything else. Watch out for that perspective distortion. You know this photo is a disaster. What do you think can be done to make it better?
 

Reflections are nice but not in this instance. They are scattered across the frame with varying intensity.
Hmm.. Perhaps make the shot earlier in the evening ? Thinking if should use a shorter exposure also to less 'scatter' the reflections .. How copy ?? :bsmilie:
 

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Better to take in the blue hour around 7pm to 740pm latest... you get blue skies that will distinctly separate the buildings from sky!
Also its better to zoom in more on the buildings unless you have great cloudscape... if not, there are too much empty space at the top
Lastly of course (without tilt shift) the buildings will seem to be tiling backwards always... but however you can adjust your camera view point to be more parallel with the building and hence the skyscrapers will look more domineering... if not it seems that they are falling backwards....

Just my opinion... I have taken a few shots if you are interested, I can post here ....
 

Please take note if you do not wish to receive further comments, you can lock the thread,

when other members posted comments on your thread, do respect they taken the time to write you a comment (and a simple thank you to them would be nice), the least thing you can do is leave the thread there and it can help other members as well, the thread is not entirely yours now, so delete the thread is no so appropriate IMO. thread restored.

Noted.. Thanks, & My Bad.




Better to take in the blue hour around 7pm to 740pm latest... you get blue skies that will distinctly separate the buildings from sky!
Also its better to zoom in more on the buildings unless you have great cloudscape... if not, there are too much empty space at the top
Lastly of course (without tilt shift) the buildings will seem to be tiling backwards always... but however you can adjust your camera view point to be more parallel with the building and hence the skyscrapers will look more domineering... if not it seems that they are falling backwards....

Just my opinion... I have taken a few shots if you are interested, I can post here ....

I see. Thanks many, noted ! Mind if post some of your shots too ? Easier to digest when comparing 2 images side to side..
 

I see. Thanks many, noted ! Mind if post some of your shots too ? Easier to digest when comparing 2 images side to side..

Here are 2 shots I taken,

#1 Blue Hour

LANMAR-1210-035 by Joshelerry, on Flickr

- Took this from Marina Barrage at blue hour, on the day itself there are some clouds and actually it will be better to have without IMO. But sometimes you can do a long exposure to blur out the clouds which can be nice as well. The most important thing I want to highlight here is how the blue sky differentiates from the building and at this time the lights in the building will be up and hence it gives a nice city light view.

#2 Building angle


LANMAR-1211-022 by Joshelerry, on Flickr

- Its always very challenging to get upright landscape of buildings without tilt-shift and post-editing. I used 24mm though and must say UWA, it will be quite hard I suppose since I didn't use that. However what I did is to tilt my camera to almost parallel to the building in order to minimize the effect of the building falling back. Of course if you want straighten building, consider investing in a tilt-shift or use post-editing more extensively.

These are the 2 shots I have taken and hope they can be useful. Anyway feel free to comment on my pics as well... will like to hear too! cheers

:)
 

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A hotshoe mounted spirit leveller can guide you in levelling out your setup. Its only a $10 accessory. If you have had enough experience(practice), all it takes is 2 mins. Don't know about you folks but I see most people are using ball heads. That caould be tricky in goind levelling work since its harder to manage minute adjustments with them. Not impossible though. If the tilt is not that much, you don't have to correct it extensively when you edit your photos. The things with correcting ketstone effects in editing is you loose some real estate at the edges. That can potentially screw up your composition if you hadn't allow for the adjustments when you take the photo.
 

Tilt-shift lenses aren't cheap. If you are not making a living out of taking photos, there isn't really much point in getting them. Although I have a few T/S lenses, I've never really felt the need to use them for cityscapes, especially around Marina Bay area. You have so much space to work with.
 

Thanks Josh & Kit... On point #2, I don't think I will be able to get the buildings as straight with my current lens.. 10~20mm. Don't think its the best choice of lens for this scenario. The fisheye effect is sure hard to fix, will try out experimenting more with the lens/PP correction methods..
 

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Thanks Josh & Kit... On point #2, I don't think I will be able to get the buildings as straight with my current lens.. 10~20mm. Don't think its the best choice of lens for this scenario. The fisheye effect is sure hard to fix, will try out experimenting more with the lens/PP correction methods..
to correct keystone effect when shooting, just keep your camera pointing level, sacrificed the bottom part of images.

if lens is not wide enough, can do a pano stitch.
 

Thanks Josh & Kit... On point #2, I don't think I will be able to get the buildings as straight with my current lens.. 10~20mm. Don't think its the best choice of lens for this scenario. The fisheye effect is sure hard to fix, will try out experimenting more with the lens/PP correction methods..

Technically, I don't see why you can't keep the buildings straight. Like I said before, you have so much space to work with. You were point the camera upwards. That explains the keystone effect. not fisheye. All you need to do is level your camera parallel to the buildings. You lose some sky but then again, its completely dark. A rough guide...... if you have more or less levelled the camera, the horizon will be somewhere in the middle of the frame. Its not rocket science but sure takes a bit of practice.
 

to correct keystone effect when shooting, just keep your camera pointing level, sacrificed the bottom part of images.

if lens is not wide enough, can do a pano stitch.


Technically, I don't see why you can't keep the buildings straight. Like I said before, you have so much space to work with. You were point the camera upwards. That explains the keystone effect. not fisheye. All you need to do is level your camera parallel to the buildings. You lose some sky but then again, its completely dark. A rough guide...... if you have more or less levelled the camera, the horizon will be somewhere in the middle of the frame. Its not rocket science but sure takes a bit of practice.

AHHH. Finally I get the point. Abit slow to realize.. Neverless, many thanks for patiently explaining ! Will try out the next time i get to shoot scrapers.. :bsmilie:
 

I have never favoured shooting this scene in the evening. You need the buildings to be lit up to create that visual impact of a bustling city. Weekdays are best. This was taken earlier in the evening before the sky turned completely dark when you can still make out the building outlines. Distracting reflections on the water is quite minimal.


central business district by arkitectural photography, on Flickr

I prefer to take photos of this scene early in the morning when the water's still. You get much better defined reflections and you don't have to deal with the sun shining from the back of the buildings.


central business district by arkitectural photography, on Flickr​
 

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I have never favoured shooting this scene in the evening. You need the buildings to be lit up to create that visual impact of a bustling city. Weekdays are best. This was taken earlier in the evening before the sky turned completely dark when you can still make out the building outlines. Distracting reflections on the water is quite minimal.

I prefer to take photos of this scene early in the morning when the water's still. You get much better defined reflections and you don't have to deal with the sun shining from the back of the buildings.


Thanks Kit, really informative points you shared here.. Looking to learning more from you.
 

I have never favoured shooting this scene in the evening. You need the buildings to be lit up to create that visual impact of a bustling city. Weekdays are best. This was taken earlier in the evening before the sky turned completely dark when you can still make out the building outlines. Distracting reflections on the water is quite minimal.


central business district by arkitectural photography, on Flickr

I prefer to take photos of this scene early in the morning when the water's still. You get much better defined reflections and you don't have to deal with the sun shining from the back of the buildings.

Man, that's one of the best shots I've seen of the Singapore cityscape! Something about the b/w conversion is just magical
 

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