Club Hubba Bubba Neon Sign

[ShaneS]

The Club Hubba Bubba was in its heyday just after WWII and is now closed but the neon sign remains. This image was captured with my new Sigma 17-50mm 2.8 lens on a photo walk around Honolulu's Chinatown.

It was my first time out with the lens under circumstances that weren't ideal for me (I'm not used to shooting at night or high ISO) so any and all C&C would be welcome.

Settings f4 1/160 ISO 3200



Processing wise it was a challenge to control the light bleeding from the neon to the background of the sign. A little bit of dodging to that area seemed to add some clarity. From a composition standpoint I took some time to figure out the best angle to get the most pleasing reflection of the sign in the window and to show the character of the old brick building.

I shot the image at 50mm but still had to crop a fair bit to get this composition.

What do you think?

[NorthernFocus]

IMO you did quite well. Both the reflection and the lighting on the face of the building are very effective. Nice job.

I really liked that lens but the OS doesn't turn off when used on a D7100. It was so sharp that I'm thinking of getting one again for landscape work and simply not using the OS.

[mknittle]

Very nice Shane, The reflection really makes it.

[Shadowman]

Nice capture.

[Geoff F]

Obviously a tricky exposure but it works, thanks to the reflection. Without that, I think it would appear too complicated.

[jcuknz]

I think, on my un-calibrated monitor, that the sign is a touch too bright and holding it back but not the rest works better.

[Brownbear]

Hi Shane,

Looks great to me, beautifully exposed and sharp. I also love the reflection because it makes the ordinary special.

[Mike Buckley]

Very nice Shane, The reflection really makes it.

Ditto on both counts!

[ShaneS]

Thank you everyone! You really made my day I was ready to have the image picked apart and your comments really give me some confidence to give this type a shooting another try.

[Stagecoach]

Hi Shane,

Looks good to me and well done for getting the reflection so good. The lighting has also worked well with the building structure and detail.

[Mike Buckley]

There is just one detail I've been thinking about to no avail: Why is the reflection of "Hubba Bubba" green but the source fluorescent tubes are white? There are also other discrepancies between the color of the source tubes and their reflection but not to such a great degree. That characteristic pertaining to the tubes doesn't weaken the image for me but it would be interesting to learn from the technically-minded among us what causes it.

[mknittle]

There is just one detail I've been thinking about to no avail: Why is the reflection of "Hubba Bubba" green but the source fluorescent tubes are white? There are also other discrepancies between the color of the source tubes and their reflection but not to such a great degree. That characteristic pertaining to the tubes doesn't weaken the image for me but it would be interesting to learn from the technically-minded among us what causes it.

I am thinking the sunlight has faded the outer sides of the tubes causing them to appear white. Where the inside(shaded) sides have remained green?.

[Texas Dave]

Good job.

[ShaneS]

My response to Mike about the reflection color...

Why is the reflection of "Hubba Bubba" green but the source fluorescent tubes are white?

...is I don't know I opened the raw file and there was some clipping in the neon so I moved the exposure and highlight sliders way down to see if there was green there and there was not. So this is either a clipping/recovery issue or as Mark said:

I am thinking the sunlight has faded the outer sides of the tubes causing them to appear white. Where the inside(shaded) sides have remained green?.

The latter seems like a real possibility as this sign has been there since at least 1953 give or take...

Oh and BTW the sign really says Club Hubba Hubba...not Hubba Bubba as a was told and assumed.

Here is an interesting article on the club with some (and I mean some) photos of the interior near it's closing: http://www.honolulumagazine.com/Hono...b-Hubba-Hubba/