What’s Your Preference?

RainPacket · #1 (**permalink**) 02-03-2007, 09:41 AM

I took this tonight, close to midnight, as an experiment. I'm visiting friends in Vancouver, BC, Canada this weekend, and I wanted to do a bit of night photography, given how clear it is. I took a lot of different shots... water at night, lamplight on water, some variants on my rapidly-becoming-trademark lamppost and lantern shots. Some of them were quite nice, but I wanted to try something different than my usual. And since I'm somewhere different than my usual, it seemed like a good night to experiment.

I used my 'nifty fifty,' which is pretty much my customary lens for night shots. However, rather than the wide aperture (f/2.2, give or take two f-stops) that I usually use at night, I used f/6.3 for this shot. I shot it at ISO 100, and exposed for 30 seconds. The low ISO gave me a very smooth image, which is a lot of what I was aiming for.

In truth, the long exposure made the scene far, far brighter in the image than it was in reality! To my friend and I standing there, the lights were pretty enough, but the details of the buildings were mostly obscured to the naked eye, and the sky looked completely black. I expected to get more detail in the shot than we could see ourselves, but the city-light glow casting the sky in that color was an unexpected bonus. In all, I'm quite happy with the results!

(Though, admittedly, being in out of the cold and under the blankets of the guest bed, while I post this before keeling over, may bias my opinion slightly.)

steevdavis62 · #2 (**permalink**) 02-03-2007, 09:57 AM

Mate... very very nice photo...reminds me of a segment we used to have on a variety show here called "rove live"... where he would put a roving camera out into the city and focus it on a densley populated apartment building or area of housing. and he would say, if you are watching this show right now, flash your lights.. and you would slowly see more and more lights start flashing...

Anyhow, sorry... love your photo, really clear. Good capture. Goes to show its good to shoot outside ur comfort zone sometimes

Nicole · #3 (**permalink**) 02-03-2007, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steevdavis62

Mate... very very nice photo...reminds me of a segment we used to have on a variety show here called "rove live"... where he would put a roving camera out into the city and focus it on a densley populated apartment building or area of housing. and he would say, if you are watching this show right now, flash your lights.. and you would slowly see more and more lights start flashing...

Great show that

I was always amazed how many lights would be flashing.

RainPacket, great shot. Really nice and clear, good colours, great lighting. Really good shot.

steevdavis62 · #4 (**permalink**) 02-03-2007, 10:12 AM

LoL, i know... usually at least half the place would be flashing.... rememeber the time they got the Prime Ministers house lights flashing? Even though he refuses to ever go on the show, and claims he doesnt watch it, ever!.... and then he did a press release after that show, claiming it was his staff watching it. Not him!!

sorry, not meaning to like, get distracted from your photo... i do love it, great job

jiminyClickit · #5 (**permalink**) 02-03-2007, 11:15 AM

RainPacket,

In another forum a post showed reflections on water that nearly out-shone their sources, blown. As I recall, 8-10 second exposure, 17-85 mm, -1/3 exposure value. Your reflections are as they should be, at 30 seconds. What's the critical factor (don't know their ISO)?

And if I can find the Roget I'll post a different word for 'fantastic' to describe this photo (could you see the boats in the dark?).

jiminyClickit · #6 (**permalink**) 02-03-2007, 11:35 AM

RainPacket,

Your camera: was it set in cement and does it have a 10 megapixel sensor?!
The only reason I couldn't read the name on the boat - it's in chinese characters! And the apartment on extreme left near top has a huge-screen TV, not sure what's on. Chriminy . . .

It does lean to the left about 2 degrees. Was the cement wet?

RandomConnections · #7 (**permalink**) 02-03-2007, 01:18 PM

I agree with Jiminy's assessment. The sharpness is amazing. I almost feel like a voyeur looking at some of those lighted windows in the buildings.

RainPacket · #8 (**permalink**) 02-03-2007, 05:51 PM

I used a tripod -- I love my Manfrotto -- perched right on the walkway alongside the water. The nifty fifty is great for sharp, long-exposure shots. I'd think the critical factor here was not merely the ISO, but the smaller aperture that I used.

And no, I couldn't see the boats in person; I could see the masts outlined against the lights, but it was far too dark to see the boats.

(As for the apartments, I took a 300mm shot later, and was startled to realize you can see the pictures on the walls through windows, in that one.)

Glad folks like it!

RainPacket · #9 (**permalink**) 02-03-2007, 07:03 PM

Took the photo into a tool to give it a quick straighten; this should fix the 'listing to left' problem.

Nicole · #10 (**permalink**) 02-03-2007, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steevdavis62

LoL, i know... usually at least half the place would be flashing.... rememeber the time they got the Prime Ministers house lights flashing? Even though he refuses to ever go on the show, and claims he doesnt watch it, ever!.... and then he did a press release after that show, claiming it was his staff watching it. Not him!!

I do remember watching that one! That was too funny.

He's supposed to be back on air sometime this year, isn't he?

Sorry for derailing the thread RainPacket. Still really like your shot