City Lights at Twilight

[Brownbear]

The following two images are of the city lights of downtown Vancouver as photographed from the North Shore. Photographing a cityscape at sunset and post sunset is one of the things I wish to learn how to do well sometime this year. Sunset was a bust (So no images)

In hindsight I think I should've used my longer lens or try this scene in closer proximity so there is more of the subject filling the frame. (both images are cropped)


#1

f/11 SS 4.4 sec ISO 100 Focal length 52 mm (18-200 mm lens) WB as set



#2

f/11 SS 6.5 sec ISO 100 Focal length 52 mm (18-200 mm lens) WB set to daylight (post processing)

For this image I ran a black strap over my lens to lessen the exposure. It is something I learned when photographing fireworks. If anyone knows more about this technique I would love to know more about it. I would also like to hear if perhaps the resulting darkness in the image is appealing or not.



C&C truly appreciated. Thank you.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done, you have so much subject matter that zooming could work just as well.

[Rita]

Christina, I really like number 1 more so than 2. In number 1 there is a thin white streak in the sky, maybe a plane going by, it is about 1 inch down from the top on the left hand side. Should be easy to clone out.
The reason I like 1 better is because I find the lights on Canada Place (??) a bit too bright.
Another thought would be to crop both of them with less sky and have them as a panorama.
Now, having said that, the images are really good!

[Stagecoach]

Hi Christina,

For me No 1 works better with the detail and colour in the sky and I suspect improved by cropping some of the water.

Cityscapes such as this I believe very much depend upon sharpness and IQ which would suggest cropping horizontally is something to be avoided if at all possible.

It's one area I will certainly not be able to tackle here as there's nothing other than water in front of our city view

Grahame

[NorthernFocus]

Nicely done, Christina. Like others I like the first image with a bit of detail in the sky and water.

[TonyW]

Christina, I prefer #1 too but I wonder why there is not a good definition of the building outlines. As I look at it, there is some softness in the image but that could be a result of the downsizing for posting. Using a longer lens without so much cropping would help. Perhaps it would be better if taken slightly earlier in the evening so that the buildings stand out a bit more.

[deetheturk]

Lovely capture Christina, #1 for me too P.S. you seem to have a dust bunny visible in both images, just down from the top R/H/S.

[Colin Southern]

Hi Christina,

What you have - in my opinion - is the aviation equivalent of "letting the plane fly the pilot" instead of the other way around.

It's a great image, but instead of meekly begging the pixels to do what you want, my suggestion is to GRAB THEM BY THE THROAT and SHOW THEM WHO'S BOSS! Push the levels - push the clarity and saturation - push the sharpening. And when you're done, don't just serve it up like slops in an army mess tent ... PRESENT IT TO THE WORLD (after all, it's your baby - be proud of it!).

Here's a "before and after". Same image - world of difference. Do you agree?

GO GET EM!

[ied]

Beautifully captured Christine. I prefer #1 - especially the edit Colin did on it: there is more detail in both the sky and water.
Irene

[ShaneS]

Wow! I liked Christina's first shot but must admit that I didn't think that is had the potential that Colin showed us what happens when one tells the pixels who's boss. Now that's an lesson right there...

Thanks to both of you for your work

[Mike Buckley]

Nice composition, Christina. Nice changes, Colin.

[dubaiphil]

I'd imagine your 18-200mm lens being quite long when zoomed and without a tripod mount on the lens itself. You may find that when zooming in you will not have a particularly stable setup for long exposures so I'd watch out for that. I know with my 70-300 I've had that problem in the past.

With a scene like this I'd be tempted to bracket (-4, -2, 0, +2) and shoot for a panorama, ending with a 4:1 ratio shot. Downloading a free trial version of software like Photomatix and PT Gui might get you hooked. Why down to -4EV? To isolate the starbursts from the buildings with +2EV pulling more building detail around those starbusts. Then using Exposure Fusion when blending to maintain a more natural look. That will give you a better IQ image to start with before sharpening and adding clarity.

[wilgk]

Definitely more punch in the first one, with both either your or Colin's edit.
Great subject matter, well done.

[IzzieK]

My vote goes to #1 Christina. It is very beautiful and makes me want to go there. It will be a good wall hanger for one. Remove the dust bunny first. I agree with others that it would have made a good pano.

[Mark von Kanel]

Great work Christina made fab with Colins edit. Whats a camera strap technique?

[Colin Southern]

With a scene like this I'd be tempted to bracket (-4, -2, 0, +2) and shoot for a panorama, ending with a 4:1 ratio shot.

I agree.

When I'm tucked away somewhere - camera on a tripod - it's always good insurance. I did that with my recent 3 shots and it's almost being a little "spoilt for choice" being able to cherry pick the best exposure for "the chosen one". In the case of "Deliverance" it turned out to be the -2EV bracket. Expecially important with extreme contrast scenes like this where something is always going to need to blow if you want to get the bulk of the midtone detail cleanly.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Christina, I like #1, listen to Colin

[Brownbear]

Wow this is a lot of replies to wake up to!

Thank you to everyone for your replies, feedback, advice and helpful suggestions, and an special thank you to Colin for showing me the potential in the image when pixels are pushed, and Phil and Tony for the detailed tips on photographing a scene like this, and for everyone for pointing out my permanent dust bunnies. Usually I never miss zapping these guys but I missed them this time around likely because of the darkness of the scene (something I'm not used to)

It is also very interesting to see that everyone prefers the look of #1 for the detail in the sky and water, and a good thing for me to learn.

Rita - Thank you for pointing out that mystery streak. I missed it... Likely a plane or a big bird. Indeed Canada Place is bright so I need to be more aware of this. I photographed this scene with a huge sky (interesting clouds or so I thought) with the highrises and the water making up just the lower portion of the frame. So they are cropped quite heavily. After the fact I realized that the highrises didn't fill the frame sufficiently. When I try this again I will fill the frame more... ie; Grahame is correct about image quality.

Grahame...

Image quality - indeed. When I try this again I will try filling the frame more to create a panorama. The very thought of the complications is somewhat daunting. ie; how does one know where to start the next frame, and with such long exposures the light will be changing. I could venture downtown to photograph the scene so I'd be closer (more detail) but I think the scene with just water in the foreground is nice, so I will try this first.

I miss my palm trees!

Tony...

Thank you for pointing out the lack of definition. Perhaps it is the crop or maybe I should've used f/8 with this lens. On my next try I will fill the frame more. At the time I was swayed by the big sky (cropped out)

Phil...

Thank you for the detailed advice. Truly appreciated. A lot of new things for me to try which sound a little daunting at this moment but I will give it a go, perhaps in steps. I used bulb mode for these shots but I see if I used aperture priority with EC it would allow for a lot of different exposures for the overall scene, including silky water which I could combine in one image. My 300 mm lens has a tripod mount so I will try it with this lens.

Colin...

Thank you for the extra details on exposing for a scene like this. Truly appreciated, as is your extraordinary edit which I will reply to separately.


And also thank you to John, Dan, Mark, David, Irene, Shane, Mike, Kay, Binnur and Izzie for your comments, advising on your preferences and why (detail in the sky and water) and ensuring that I'm fully aware of my dust bunnies!

[Brownbear]

Hi Colin,

Thank you so much for taking the time to show me your version, and teach me how to push pixels. Night scenes are new to me as is post processing them and for me this is a learning exercise, and you have made it even more so. I didn't think of pushing the saturation because the colours seem so blue already.

The difference in your image is extraordinary! Thank you for showing me this. Your version shows me that I need to show my pixels who the boss is and it also shows me how pretty night scenes of skyscapers can be, inspiring me to try this again. For sure!

Did you also add clarity to the water and sky? I ask because my tutorials in Lightroom state that one should never add clarity to sky and water.

I will try processing this image later today, pushing my pixels to the max, and I hope to post an image closer to your extraordinary version.

Thank you!

Hi Christina,

What you have - in my opinion - is the aviation equivalent of "letting the plane fly the pilot" instead of the other way around.

It's a great image, but instead of meekly begging the pixels to do what you want, my suggestion is to GRAB THEM BY THE THROAT and SHOW THEM WHO'S BOSS! Push the levels - push the clarity and saturation - push the sharpening. And when you're done, don't just serve it up like slops in an army mess tent ... PRESENT IT TO THE WORLD (after all, it's your baby - be proud of it!).

Here's a "before and after". Same image - world of difference. Do you agree?

GO GET EM!

[Brownbear]

Hi Mark,

Thank you. Yes, Colin's edit is amazing.

Honestly, I'm not quite sure and I would like to know more about this technique. When I was photographing the fireworks I read up on the topic prior to the event. One of the techniques I read about was running a black piece of paper over your lens sometime in the exposure (when in bulb mode for an extended time).

While photographing the fireworks I noted another photographer doing just that, and I asked him about it. He advised that it was like painting with light, a hit and miss technique that is artistic rather than scientific. I didn't have a piece of black paper with me but the strap on my the tripod carrying gizmo is black so I tried that. I noted that the scenes in which I tried this had a jet black sky and water, and tried it on a few of these scenes.

It is just something that I tried because I was curious. That said it seems that no one is overly fond of the black sky and water!

Great work Christina made fab with Colins edit. Whats a camera strap technique?