A nights walk

[jonesy]

It was a cold, dark night and my son asked me to go for a walk along the river to see the newly restored suspension footbridge.

Here are a couple of shots from the walk...
Firstly, the bridge, all nicely lit showing its new paint job and restored stonework


Walking back towards home, I noticed how the reflection of the memorial gardens gateway in the river just shimmered, and gave off an eerie glow.




As this walk is only a mile or so from home, does anyone have any advice on how to improve these shots?

Thanks for taking the time to look

[Adagio]

Re: A nights walk

Tracey I am not sure I am qualified to make critical comment but I find both pleasing shots. The second though does not, in my view, require you to go out again on another cold night but rather to crop out the light on the left and its reflection. I find it draws my eye away from the main subject too readily. Try it and see what you think. The building would then be better framed by the trees.

[Adagio]

Re: A nights walk

Looking at number 1 again I wonder whether cropping out half the sky might be an improvement. It is a large expanse of black and would put the bridge nearer the magical 'rule of thirds'

[jonesy]

Re: A nights walk

Tracey I am not sure I am qualified to make critical comment but I find both pleasing shots. The second though does not, in my view, require you to go out again on another cold night but rather to crop out the light on the left and its reflection. I find it draws my eye away from the main subject too readily. Try it and see what you think. The building would then be better framed by the trees.

Thanks for that comment. I'll have a look at what I can do about cropping that light out and re-framing the image. I did take a closer shot, but that had no trees, and therefore did not seem to show the scale of the structure... so hopefully I can make something out of this one

[jonesy]

Re: A nights walk

Looking at number 1 again I wonder whether cropping out half the sky might be an improvement. It is a large expanse of black and would put the bridge nearer the magical 'rule of thirds'

Thanks again, I will have a look at this tomorrow and try your suggestion.

Thanks for taking the time to look and comment.

Tracey

[snaarman]

Re: A nights walk

That second one.. It registers as 22mm, so I guess you might have had the 11-22 with you. ?

I might have been tempted to wind it out to 11mm and go portrait to get the building, the relections and a lot of dark sky in the shot.. But I quite often do both landscape and portrait versions of a scene just in case...

They are both atmospheric shots BTW..

Pete

[Zuiko]

Re: A nights walk

I'm no expert in night photography and David and Pete have already given good advice. These shots were certainly worth going out for and show how ordinary scenes are transformed at night when the lights go on, particularly when they are reflected in water.

[jonesy]

Re: A nights walk

That second one.. It registers as 22mm, so I guess you might have had the 11-22 with you. ?

I might have been tempted to wind it out to 11mm and go portrait to get the building, the relections and a lot of dark sky in the shot.. But I quite often do both landscape and portrait versions of a scene just in case...

They are both atmospheric shots BTW..

Pete

Both were taken on the E620 and using the 14-54 lens. I will go back and try at least one of the photos as a portrait shot... thanks for that idea!

[rsh1960]

Re: A nights walk

Two very nice night shots

[Barr1e]

Re: A nights walk

I like them.

Regards. Barr1e

[jonesy]

Re: A nights walk

Thanks Barrie and rsh1960

This is the alternative I had for the memorial gardens entrance, even though I like it, it doesnt seem to give an idea of size, and there seems to be nothing to frame with it... what do you think?

[AlistairJ]

Re: A nights walk

Hi Tracey,

I like your pictures. I assume you were using a tripod?

The only thing I would suggest is to stretch the exposure out as long as you can, by using the lowest ISO and smallest usable aperture. A really small aperture may add "rays" to the lights you might not want this though. And the long exposure will smooth out the water surface even more.

[Adagio]

Re: A nights walk

This is the alternative I had for the memorial gardens entrance, even though I like it, it doesnt seem to give an idea of size, and there seems to be nothing to frame with it... what do you think?

I think I prefer it to the first post. I have taken the liberty of trying this. I hope you don't mind.

[jonesy]

Re: A nights walk

Hi Tracey,

I like your pictures. I assume you were using a tripod?

The only thing I would suggest is to stretch the exposure out as long as you can, by using the lowest ISO and smallest usable aperture. A really small aperture may add "rays" to the lights you might not want this though. And the long exposure will smooth out the water surface even more.

Thanks, yes I was using a tripod (though its only a cheap thing, it seems to hold the camera steady)
As I am going back to try a portrait, I'll also go back and reshoot on a longer shutter time and see what I get.
Thanks for your advice