The sunset tram by vikdaddy

The sunset tram

I slept for ten hours last night. Part of me feels like I wasted my morning, but at the same time I do feel so refreshed today. Thing is, it only took a few hours since I woke up for it be dark already!

Before night fell I went for a quick shoot around Basford Cemetery, and when I was done the sunset was approaching. I quickly drove a few streets away and found this area behind a factory, and took some photos of the sunset. I also took a few of the tram lines that were nearby. The tram line shots were behind a tall railing with sharp spikes, so I had to raise my camera above my head and use the live view mode to get today's photo.

In my desire to retain a low ISO of 100, I did the entire shoot using the largest possible aperture. Upon reflection I should have shot at a higher ISO of perhaps 200 or a little more and a smaller aperture, so more of my photos were in better focus. I still got a few shots I was pleased with, including a few others you can see by visiting my Flickr page ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/vikdaddy/).

I think my eye for a photo is better than my technique. Today's chosen photo could have been improved; if I waited a split second longer and got the tram a little more to the right, I would have been more pleased with the composition. The thing is, I knew it as soon as I pressed the shutter button! The Canon 7D can shoot something like eight shots a second, so I could have set it to continuous shots and fired away. Although I got some photos I was pleased with, today's shoot has taught me that I still need to get to grips with my camera and I still need to go on more shoots, so certain skills become second nature.

Canon 7D, f/3.5, 1/60, ISO-100
Has a HDR feel to this... good shot Vik
December 19th, 2010  
this is the beauty if 10-22mm lens! is it single exposure? quite HDR-ish pic...
December 19th, 2010  
err... it should be efs 10-22mm
December 19th, 2010  
@andycoleborn @wahyusp single exposure, I over-exposed the foreground and did the opposite with the sky in post-processing.
December 19th, 2010  
oooh very beautiful. loving all the purples and pinks....
December 19th, 2010  
Very nice Vik, but I was kinda thinking the same thing, glad you saw it too, with that nice foreground I think it would be better if it was seperated from the train a bit and the train was a bit to the right. Lovely sky and a solid shot still though.
December 19th, 2010  
Great composition
December 19th, 2010  
love the processing vik.. cool!!
December 19th, 2010  
amazing shot!
December 19th, 2010  
Great shot,love the clouds and processing.
December 19th, 2010  
Must've needed it!
Awesome pic, the sky is just impressive!
December 19th, 2010  
This is fantastic! I love your explanations too, but I still think that you did a really good job! An eye for a photo is much more valuable than technique, in my opinion - you can learn the technique, but the creativity is something you just have. :)
December 19th, 2010  
Awesome shot!!!!! Such depth
December 19th, 2010  
This is just gorgeous! Can't imagine how you could improve it....I love the processing, love the colors. Nice!
December 20th, 2010  
clever shot , very dramatic which suits it
December 20th, 2010  
Great Skies, vik... love the shot...
December 20th, 2010  
Ooh I love this!! It really jumps out of the screen!
December 20th, 2010  
Nicely done!
December 20th, 2010  
Definitely got a HDR feel to this ... those colours are sensational - nice timing I say ...

Wonderful that you can reflect back on your photos to see what you'd do differently "next time" ... I have all these ideas in my head when I'm composing a photo and get so frustrated when it doesn't appear the way I pictured it ...
December 20th, 2010  
@pocketmouse I agree Teresa, having an 'eye' is the most important thing but you need the technique to implement your vision! Sometimes in situations where I need to think on my feet I still feel that I'm not fast enough at using the right settings. With time and practice it will come!
December 20th, 2010  
Stunning!
December 20th, 2010  
Being quite a beginner in photography I find this photo very beautiufl and satisfying. I learn from your frelections and thank you for thar.
December 20th, 2010  
@vikdaddy ~ I'm the same - hoping that practice will get me there. :D
December 20th, 2010  
you are being so critical with yourself...! I still think it's a great shot! I love the plastic waste bag and the spare rails in front of the image - this balances the shot so well!
December 21st, 2010  
Nice one!
December 21st, 2010  
Azi
I am so glad I have come across your work. Beautiful shot.
December 21st, 2010  
I too immediately thought HDR. Nice one!
December 23rd, 2010  
Fantastic!
December 26th, 2010  
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