The Calm Before The Storm(s)

[ShaneS]

This one is all because of Binnur and Colin...

As we patiently await the arrival or hurricane Iselle and Julio (hopefully tropical storms by the time they blow through) I decided to step out onto the lanai (balcony) to take a night shot of my view with a 30 second exposure...



f8, ISO100

I know that I blew the highlights in the street lights but I'm not sure that it matters in a scene like this. The sky is another matter...it is pretty much SOOC with a small amount of noise reduction. Any adjustment that I made seems to add a ton of noise.

When I look at the histogram I see the blues and greens are peaking off the chart near the center and the reds are blown on the left (I believe that would be the lights I mentioned above). Is that causing the bit of posterization that I see in the upper portion of the sky? Would my ideal shutter speed been a bit slower?

I'm trying to get my head wrapped around longer exposures (I don't have any filters except a polarizer) so any tips that you can offer would be appreciated. I can re-shoot this scene pretty much anytime I want unless there is a hurricane blowing through...

[Mark von Kanel]

Hi Shane,

What exactly are you after? if you want even exposure and sharp clouds then you need either to bracket exposure and combine in PP or you need one of them there graduated grad filter thingimyjigs to darken the lights.

[ShaneS]

Mark, I expected the movement in the clouds and I am fine with that. It just seems that there is a bit of posterization in the blues at the top and I don't think it has to do with my processing so it must be the exposure itself????

I'm just trying to figure out the 'best practice' technique for this type of shot.

[ShaneS]

Here is one looking in the opposite direction. This one was only 10 seconds.

[Kaye Leggett]

Compositionally (if there is such a word) I prefer the second as the bush in the bottom left in the first distracts from the image. However I like the long exposure of the first because of the movement in the clouds - very effective.

[Stagecoach]

Hi Shane, good practice shots, both have their appeal with the different skies.

As for blowing the lights I don't think there's much you can do about it without darkening the sky unless you use a graduated filter which is going to give different results depending on horizon or light positioning across the scene and graduation type.

The lights can always be taken down in these a bit by using 'Darken Highlights' over the offending area if you want.

I can not see the posterisation at this size but I have also been getting similar in some of blue areas of the recent seascape pics once I have done a bit of PP so I have to watch it very carefully. Not sure why.

Love the sky in No 2

Grahame

[Mark von Kanel]

Hi Shane try reading these articles, they helped me.

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...terization.htm

http://photonaturalist.net/3-ways-to...posterization/

[Shadowman]

Agree with Mark about the lights in #1, I think they can be toned down somewhat as shot. I like the 2nd image as is.

[IzzieK]

I like the clouds in the second photo, Shane, but then I am bias towards water and clouds that they should look most natural instead of unrecognizably milky. The city in #1 looks very nice with the green palm trees though...

[bnnrcn]

Hi Shane I like #2 very much as is. IMO the movement of the clouds in #1 would look much better if there were more clouds with different shapes. I think a 30 second exposure is too long and that's why you have blown out street lights and the sky looks as if it is a midday sky. So I suggest you should try different exposures for the same scene. I usually take about five shots with different exposures and I try to avoid a lot of light sources in the frame if it is a long exposure. I believe that the experience comes by trying , so I keep trying I suggest you should do the same if you are a fan of long exposures.

BTW, if you have a dramatic sky to shoot with a long exposure, use your widest angle and hold your camera close to the ground level and tilt it upwards while shooting

[truonda]

Great shots. I personally like the second shot a lot more than the first.

[ShaneS]

Thank you everyone...

Kaye, I don't have much leeway between the two compositions shown as there is a large pillar in the middle of my balcony

Binnur, although I agree that getting low would be a good idea...that is also a bit challenging as I live on the 6th floor I like the idea of capturing a scene with varying exposures and will do that next time.

Thanks for the links Mark and Grahame for your encouraging words. I think that I will try to live 'filterless' until I find that I miss having one more often. Or, I will ask Santa for one and see what happens...

I will likely continue to practice with this view since it is a pretty easy location to get to when the mood strikes

I want to have a better set of skills for when the occasion arises to put this into practice on a more serious shoot. I need to get out and scout some of those that area a little farther afield and start to work the scene as Grahame has been demonstrating of late.