Montreal Building

[Kyle]

I was in Montreal for a few days last November for my birthday. I wanted to make use of my wide angle lens and I found this neat looking building. I couldn't really set up for a long exposure since cars and people kept passing by so I had to up the ISO. I've got two slightly different versions of it. I was really hoping to get more night photos around the city but it was just too cold on the hands that night.
C&C welcome.

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[Kyle]

While I'm posting building photos of Montreal here's one of the Olympic Stadium:

[dje]

I was in Montreal for a few days last November for my birthday. I wanted to make use of my wide angle lens and I found this neat looking building. I couldn't really set up for a long exposure since cars and people kept passing by so I had to up the ISO. I've got two slightly different versions of it. I was really hoping to get more night photos around the city but it was just too cold on the hands that night.
C&C welcome.

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2.

Hi Kyle

It is a nice building and looks nice lit up at night. I appreciate that you're shooting conditions were not ideal but the image quality looks quite good for the ISO settings used. The images would probably benefit from a reduction in the highlights a bit and also a little more sharpening.

This is just a personal thing with me but I find the severe perspective distortion a bit off-putting. I realize it probably wasn't possible to get further away. A stitched multi-shot pano might have worked well here with the camera in portrait mode, still using the wide angle, and pointed as close as possible to horizontal. Including space all around the building would allow more perspective correction to be applied too.

Nice work though.

Dave

[Shadowman]

I like the exposure, control of lights/darks, too bad you couldn't get the base of the building within the frame. The second image is really wonky, but at least different from the typical shots.

[Downrigger]

I like this - can see why you sought this image. The perspective adds drama.

Near the bottom of the develop options, there is "lens corrections" and in the "Manual" panel, you can fool with and create or correct distortion as you like. You're probably fully aware of this but I thought I'd mention it as this image is a great example of perspective challenges. The "vertical" slider might do some interesting things with this, but as you would want to constrain the crop, you'd lose some of this interesting shot of a handsome structure. Just a thought - something to play with if you haven't. And another time might have fun shooting wider, manipulate Lens Corrections - Manual, and get a different perspective than originally landed on your sensor.
Somebody more advanced might comment on what happens to sharpness, saturation, etc. when you do that. I'd be interested.

[John 2]

First one for me Kyle for some of the reasons already given (exposure). The perspective distortion doesn't bother me. It's so deliberate it sort of works as an image. I'm less sure of the Olympic Stadium. The distortion plus the actual lean of the tower goes a bit too far. A head on shot with the tower central behind the dome might have sat better with me. But that may just be my take on things.

[Manfred M]

Kyle - you've picked a couple of difficult subjects to photograph.

First one of Montreal City Hall; as I recall you come up the hill to it from Place Jacques Cartier. Tough call to get a good shot, and even with your 10mm lens, you couldn't get all of it in. That is one heck of a difficult shot, and I think you've done remarkably well getting what you did.

To do any better, I suspect you would have to resort to a pano using a perspective adjustment lens and would have to shoot at some odd time of day (like 03:00AM) where traffic on the street would be less of an issue. I can't ever remember taking a shot of that building; next time I'm in the area, I'm going to have to take a look.

The shot of the Olympic stadium is a tough one too. Again, the location really does not make it easy on the photographer, and while I've been on the ground its another building I've never shot (although I did get a crappy shot from the air a few months ago as we were coming in for a landing in Montreal). The roof support tower is going to look a bit goofy unless you shoot it straight on, as the complex angles and curves are working against the photographer.

I think you've done a good job, given the challenges of buildings and their locations.

[Kyle]

The images would probably benefit from a reduction in the highlights a bit and also a little more sharpening.

This is just a personal thing with me but I find the severe perspective distortion a bit off-putting. I realize it probably wasn't possible to get further away. A stitched multi-shot pano might have worked well here with the camera in portrait mode, still using the wide angle, and pointed as close as possible to horizontal. Including space all around the building would allow more perspective correction to be applied too.

Thanks for the comments Dave. I'll go back and adjust the highlights. I'm not great at sharpening yet so I found that since I shot at a high ISO I was fighting the noise with noise reduction while also trying to keep it sharp. I haven't really done panoramas before so I don't have experiences with them but I'll try to keep that in mind next time I need to shoot a subject like this.

I like the exposure, control of lights/darks, too bad you couldn't get the base of the building within the frame. The second image is really wonky, but at least different from the typical shots.

I did get the base of the building but there was a parked car right in the middle so I had to crop it. I had taken quite a few shots so I was around the building for awhile. At one point someone moved their car and just as I got set up to shoot, the offending car moved in!

Near the bottom of the develop options, there is "lens corrections" and in the "Manual" panel, you can fool with and create or correct distortion as you like. You're probably fully aware of this but I thought I'd mention it as this image is a great example of perspective challenges. The "vertical" slider might do some interesting things with this, but as you would want to constrain the crop, you'd lose some of this interesting shot of a handsome structure. Just a thought - something to play with if you haven't. And another time might have fun shooting wider, manipulate Lens Corrections - Manual, and get a different perspective than originally landed on your sensor.

Thanks for the tips! I use the lens corrections on almost all my shots but I leaving it set to auto. I've never thought of why I would need to adjust it manually (I'm not that creative in my pp just yet.). I'm definitely going to go back and see how I can manipulate this photo!

First one for me Kyle for some of the reasons already given (exposure). The perspective distortion doesn't bother me. It's so deliberate it sort of works as an image. I'm less sure of the Olympic Stadium. The distortion plus the actual lean of the tower goes a bit too far. A head on shot with the tower central behind the dome might have sat better with me. But that may just be my take on things.

I'm new to the wide angle. So far I've really only used it on my trip out west to capture the mountains. I'm aware of the perspective quirks that can happen to a subject when you shoot close up with a wide angle but I haven't shot with it enough to really use those quirks properly. I wouldn't call the perspective distortion deliberate (more a fluke!) but I'm glad it worked out.

Kyle - you've picked a couple of difficult subjects to photograph.

First one of Montreal City Hall; as I recall you come up the hill to it from Place Jacques Cartier. Tough call to get a good shot, and even with your 10mm lens, you couldn't get all of it in. That is one heck of a difficult shot, and I think you've done remarkably well getting what you did. ...

The shot of the Olympic stadium is a tough one too. Again, the location really does not make it easy on the photographer, and while I've been on the ground its another building I've never shot (although I did get a crappy shot from the air a few months ago as we were coming in for a landing in Montreal). The roof support tower is going to look a bit goofy unless you shoot it straight on, as the complex angles and curves are working against the photographer.

I think you've done a good job, given the challenges of buildings and their locations.

I like a good challenge. It's really the best way to learn and grow. I don't often shoot architecture so these buildings were a first real shot at that.
City Hall is a beautiful building. I got back as far as I could but unfortunately the street is only so wide. I did attempt to take shots from other angles but I don't think they worked out.
Next time I'm in Montreal I'll have to try the Olympic Stadium from other angles to see if I can get a shot that works.

Thanks for the comments everyone!