Airy Collision

[leight]

Okay, so it's far from a collision in the sky... but it is still an 'airy collision'. I captured this photo latish last night on the bridge between Southbank and the Casino in Brisbane.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/218/505569505_3d16492cae.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/leight_k/505569505/)

I called it 'Airy Collision'. The reason for this is the Stop and Go are shown on the same sets of traffic lights, streams of light collide in the middle of the intersection.

I didn't use my tripod, but thankfully it turned out fine - thanks to the rail! The settings that I use are below.
Camera: Nikon D80
Lens: Nikkor 18-200 VR
Exposure: 30 seconds
Aperture: 22
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO: 100
I started the capture just as the 'tail lights' went green. Since they aren't as bright as the white lights, I needed as much red tail lights as possible. I also didn't want a car to end up in the middle of the image, as happened in a 25 second exposure that I tried after this. I didn't want to use a high ISO either, hence the LOOOOONG shutter speed :)

The only post production work that has been applied to this image was to boost up the contrast in Aperture a smigeon, that's it.

It may be a good idea to crop out the lights up the top left. What do you guys think?
Thanks,

- leighton

[ovidius]

Great photo and you must have a very steady hand. Did you use a remote or the 1sec delay?
I love the colors

O

[windrider86]

I would have to agree with you about cutting out the street lights. The bright lights take your eyes directly to them instead of the enite picture

[xxpinballxx]

I think rather than cropping it out try dodging it if you crop you'll lose alot of the picture.
I played with it a bit and found that no matter how i cropped it it lost some of its appeal. I think the surrounding are an great part of the shot. Real steady hand considering you used a rail!
Great photo!

[leight]

Hey thanks guys :)

Nah I didn't use a 1 second delay, I just had to hold the camera as still as I could on the rail - which wasn't perfectly flat either! Didn't use a timer or have that 'mirror lock' thing going... woah, must have been pretty lucky to keep it that still aye!

I'm liking that burning thing, maybe I'll give it a go when I've got a bit less uni on - or in my procrastinating breaks :p I tried cropping it before, but you do lose a lot of detail about the shot.

- leighton

[purplepixie]

I'm impressed - I'm "allergic" to tripods, so I often try and get away with not using one. Interesting shot - Well done :)