@jbucovetsky -- I always appreciate tips. This one, at least I had a tripod, albeit a very lightweight one that wasn't all that steady. for the Victoria Peak photo, it was handheld in a VERY crowded place.
Okay. The first thing my eye is drawn to are the small bricks of solid lights on top of the buildings. I'm assuming they are lit signs. I would use an adjustment brush and tone down the highlights, so they are not solid bricks. It might be different on the full sized version, but these look blown out. Just enough so there is some shape to the lights.
Second. If not using a cable release, and shooting city scapes with water. I try to adjust my exposure so it is 30 seconds. This will make the water smoother. In this case I would probably up the aperture or take two shots at F11, forcing one to be @ 30 seconds then merge them. Does that make sense?
@jbucovetsky -- THANKS for taking time to give me tips. I took one at 30 seconds also but the lights were even more blown out -- should I have taken it at a higher aperture and then merged the two into an HDR? I have my original files for this date on an external so I'll see what adjustments i can brush in when I get back to that external (I don't have photoshop and I only use Aperture and Nik HDR Efex. I sincerely appreciate your tips. But why do your EXIF data not show up on your photos? I need to get a cable release -- I used 2 second delay for this one.
I strip the exif, as it contains the GPS data from my camera, and don't want that posted on the web.
I don't use a HDR program. I simply combine the two exposures manually in different layers. It is easy when dealing with large areas like water and skies.
The key to a cable release is to allow exposures longer than 30 secs. I would recommend one for long exposures.
Layering is a key part of my workflow. Photoshop Elements is a great program and not too expensive. You might want to consider picking it up.
January 15th, 2014
Leave a Comment
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
The Macau one is even darker! http://365project.org/jyokota/365/2013-12-03
Second. If not using a cable release, and shooting city scapes with water. I try to adjust my exposure so it is 30 seconds. This will make the water smoother. In this case I would probably up the aperture or take two shots at F11, forcing one to be @ 30 seconds then merge them. Does that make sense?
I don't use a HDR program. I simply combine the two exposures manually in different layers. It is easy when dealing with large areas like water and skies.
The key to a cable release is to allow exposures longer than 30 secs. I would recommend one for long exposures.
Layering is a key part of my workflow. Photoshop Elements is a great program and not too expensive. You might want to consider picking it up.