CBD Golden Hour

[NormanSelvaraju]

CBD - Golden Hour



1. in what area is critique to be sought?
Composition/Post-Processing/Technique
What can I do to improve?

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
I wanted to capture the colour of the sky as the sun set in the backdrop and the buildings of the CBD in the foreground.
However, when the colour of the sky was most vivid, the building lights had not come on yet and resulted in a flat picture. This was one of the subsequent photos I took and was the best that I could get with a good mix of both colours up background and building lights that had come on.

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
Golden Hour 7:28pm
301s f/8 ISO 200
CAnon 6D, Tamron 24-70@24mm ND400 filter
Light processing to straighten buildings (cos my lens wasn't wide enuf),
Upped saturation, contrast, clarity. Exposed the shadows a little bit cos image was slightly too dark.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
I like how the sky turned out.
I don't like the noise on the water and the bothersome boat trails. But I was already at 300s to remove all unnecessary artifacts. (It was a busy day. Lotsa water traffic.)
I don't like the trees in front of the Fullerton. I should have captures a shot exposing for the trees and blended it in. Didn't realise till after all the light was gone.

Thank you in advance for the feedback.

 

[zaren]

the pano crop works well here, good balance in the composition and placement of the buildings. white balance seems to be off though, too much red. more shadow details in the trees would be an improvement.

 

[NormanSelvaraju]

the pano crop works well here, good balance in the composition and placement of the buildings. white balance seems to be off though, too much red. more shadow details in the trees would be an improvement.

Hi Zaren. Thanks for dropping by with the comments. Pleased to know that the composition works for you too.

I would have to agree that more details in the trees, especially the ones in front of the Fullerton, will make the whole image more complete.

Thanks for your interpretation. On fact yours would be closer to depiction of the actual scene. However, I deliberately pushed the WB up to make it warmer to suit my vision of the scene ; Golden Hour. Also I had another version of it as well with darker and more blueish hues. So I wanted to keep this one warm.

Here is the one with the darker hues.

 

[richiemccaw1]

Hey Norman,

I can see why your original picture was so warm and can appreciate it better now. My personal preference is for the latest version you have just showed. Probably seen one too many times but this is a nice composition.

Thanks.

 

[NormanSelvaraju]

Hey Norman,

I can see why your original picture was so warm and can appreciate it better now. My personal preference is for the latest version you have just showed. Probably seen one too many times but this is a nice composition.

Thanks.

richiemccaw1 >> Hi! Thanks for dropping by and viewing the photos. Yeah both do have their own appeal. Glad one works for you!

 

[derrickder]

Very lovely!

 

[NormanSelvaraju]

Very lovely!

Derrickder- thanks! Glad you like this interpretation!

 

[XavierShoot]

Lovely composition and beautifully exposed.
I myself have faced this problem which i don't like. which is the blue lights/reflection below the bridge~ normally i will try to make them to white or yellowish. This is due to the fact i think the blue looks freakish~

 

[NormanSelvaraju]

Lovely composition and beautifully exposed.
I myself have faced this problem which i don't like. which is the blue lights/reflection below the bridge~ normally i will try to make them to white or yellowish. This is due to the fact i think the blue looks freakish~

XavierShoot-- thank you for dropping by with the encouraging comments. And yeah the blue lights are sorta out of place. I toyed with the idea of adding a layer mask with a slightly desaturated blue. But decided against it in the end.

Thanks again!

 

[Override2Zion]

Hi NormanSelvaraju, did you shoot the first picture in RAW? If you did perhaps you could push an additional 2 stops to bring out some details in the trees and shadowy areas of the bridge/buildings before performing a manual blend with your existing image. I like the cloud movement and colours of that scene. Taking a closer look at the hi-res image posted in flickr, it seems quite noisy, did you shoot a high ISO or boost the exposure in post process? Nice work though

 

[d2xpeter]

love the color of the sky in yr original pic.
That is what golden hour should be. Nice warm glow.
Prefer this to the bluer one.
nice shot there.
what WB did you use for the first pic?

 

[NormanSelvaraju]

Hi NormanSelvaraju, did you shoot the first picture in RAW? If you did perhaps you could push an additional 2 stops to bring out some details in the trees and shadowy areas of the bridge/buildings before performing a manual blend with your existing image. I like the cloud movement and colours of that scene. Taking a closer look at the hi-res image posted in flickr, it seems quite noisy, did you shoot a high ISO or boost the exposure in post process? Nice work though

Hi again override2zion,

I did shoot the original in RAW. And the final image is not a blend but a single shot.
I had only pushed the exposure up by +1EV during post processing. And surprisingly so much noise turned up from the river. But I'm guessing that's probably cos I was shooting at ISO200. And the shutter speed was at 301 sec. So that could have been the problem. But in not sure and hope to hear from others.

As for recovering the details in the tree line, in afraid that wont be possible as it is clipped. But you are right. I should have exposed for the trees and a nice blend would have made the photo more complete. Ill certainly take note.

Thanks for dropping by!

 

[NormanSelvaraju]

love the color of the sky in yr original pic.
That is what golden hour should be. Nice warm glow.
Prefer this to the bluer one.
nice shot there.
what WB did you use for the first pic?

Hi D2xpeter,

Thanks for the comments! Appreciate it.

However, I've got an anti climactic answer for you. I used AWB. To be specific, I checked my DNG file and this was shot at 6600. And I added a hue/saturation later in post.

If I were to try and match the exact colour using the temperature slider in camera raw, I'd have to go up to about 8400.

Thanks for dropping by!

 

[daredevil123]

Few things to note bro.

1. Exposure 300s that is 5 mins. Such a long exposure caused the noise you see, caused by heat on the sensor. For what you are trying to achieve, I do not think you really need a 5 min exposure.
2. WB works for me for both versions.
3. Take note of the detail, like CA/fringing on the edges of the buildings near the edges of the frame. Most people fail to correct this, even some seasoned photographers.
4. I think the view is a little tight, giving me the feeling of being constrained. Might be the lens limitation but for composition, you really need to start to give more room to your subjects. If your focal length is not enough, try stitching a little.

 

[NormanSelvaraju]

Few things to note bro.

1. Exposure 300s that is 5 mins. Such a long exposure caused the noise you see, caused by heat on the sensor. For what you are trying to achieve, I do not think you really need a 5 min exposure.
2. WB works for me for both versions.
3. Take note of the detail, like CA/fringing on the edges of the buildings near the edges of the frame. Most people fail to correct this, even some seasoned photographers.
4. I think the view is a little tight, giving me the feeling of being constrained. Might be the lens limitation but for composition, you really need to start to give more room to your subjects. If your focal length is not enough, try stitching a little.

1. Super long exposure- you are right. I went overboard with the exposure. It was one of my first few attempts at long exposure. I didn't really know what I was doing.

And yeah. I read up after seeing your post and understand more about noise and sensor heat. Thanks for pointing it out.

3. Haha. Oops. I keep forgetting those details. Must take note. Thanks for reminding. I'm still trying to get the hang of the post processing. But yeah. No excise to not include it on my workflow.

4. Looks like it's time to hunt for a new lens! Haha. Yeah. The 24-70 has been serving me well. I shall, just as you suggested, explore stitching or getting a wide angle lens.

Thanks DD123. Always appreciate your comments.

Cheers!

 

[daredevil123]

1. Super long exposure- you are right. I went overboard with the exposure. It was one of my first few attempts at long exposure. I didn't really know what I was doing.

And yeah. I read up after seeing your post and understand more about noise and sensor heat. Thanks for pointing it out.

3. Haha. Oops. I keep forgetting those details. Must take note. Thanks for reminding. I'm still trying to get the hang of the post processing. But yeah. No excise to not include it on my workflow.

4. Looks like it's time to hunt for a new lens! Haha. Yeah. The 24-70 has been serving me well. I shall, just as you suggested, explore stitching or getting a wide angle lens.

Thanks DD123. Always appreciate your comments.

Cheers!

Ultra wide is really fun to use sometimes. I heard the 17-40L is quite good. Not too expensive too!

 

[Override2Zion]

Few things to note bro.
...300s that is 5 mins. Such a long exposure caused the noise you see, caused by heat on the sensor...

Good eye on that, read too fast and thought it was 30s exposure all along till you pointed out. :thumbsup:

 

[NormanSelvaraju]

Ultra wide is really fun to use sometimes. I heard the 17-40L is quite good. Not too expensive too!

You have certainly piqued my interest. I'm reading up on the diff wide angle lenses now!

Thanks!

 

[Nehalem]

I like the 2nd composition since there is more depth when you showed more of the bridge

I love several of your street shots. I'm curious, even with a crop body, aren't you too distracting your subjects while you shoot away with as big of a lens as a 24-70?

 

[NormanSelvaraju]

I like the 2nd composition since there is more depth when you showed more of the bridge

I love several of your street shots. I'm curious, even with a crop body, aren't you too distracting your subjects while you shoot away with as big of a lens as a 24-70?

Thanks for dropping by with the comment. I can see what you mean when you say that the longer bridge provides for a better composition. Thanks.

As for the street photos, it's pretty much about catching the moment. Opportunity and chance help me a lot. My setup is pretty big and bulky and has caused me to lose many shots. In fact i have been told to delete my shots twice by the random people i was photographing. But I try not to let that nor my bulky equipment stop me. I guess the key is to be bold and just keep an eye out for a good shot and go for it. Worry about the consequence only when it happens. Well, that's my take on this anyways!

Cheers!