Train with after sunset sky

[precious]

Hello everyone,

I took this picture yesterday on way home. I took it for the "assignment:commute". Hope it is ok to ask for critique.

we don't get a lot of sun here and it was really nice to see a after sunset sky. As I was setting up the camera, I saw the train come by, so I quickly metered (evaluative) , underexposed by 2 stops and clicked. I underexposed hoping to get brightness back, if needed. and I wanted a fast shutter speed to freeze the train.

But, it turned out very dark, and if I use "fill light" in Picasa, the road and the train show, but the texture becomes grainy and/or noisy.

I understand the train along with hills will be silhouettes since they are back-lit from the sun.

but, there would be a better way to capture the scene, no? this pic just seems like a disaster to me.

It was challenging since the light changed fast and I had to watch the road to not get run-over.

I need advice on focus/how to meter, and composition. Thankyou



Mar 16, 2010
2344×1877 pixels – 947KB
Filename: 2010_03_16_0387_3.JPG
Camera: Canon
Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XSi
ISO: 200
Exposure: 1/400 sec
Aperture: 5.6
Focal Length: 250mm
Flash Used: No
no tripod

[abhijnanm]

I like the sky.But I really cant make out a train,just tht u mentioned i saw the streak and the two bulbs.Did u try to shoot it in centre metering mode?try that when the subject is in front of the light and you want the subject to be lit.Accordingly u choose the EV.Moreover its always better to capture a moving vehichle as moving,tells the viewer tht it was moving.
Another tip on the composition, try to keep a blank space in front of your moving vehichle(show the viewer which direction it is moving)

You can also try spot metering (Ur camera may have different names for the metering modes,read manual to know more)

[Photosbykev]

This shot was crying out for a graduated neutral density filter so you could balance the sky and foreground exposures in the camera. Trying to recover some detail in the underexposed black regions in post processing is just wrong as the noise will go through the roof.

[precious]

Thankyou both for the input. I dont have a ND filter yet.

I will give it another try.

[KansaiGreenie]

Hi precious,

I don't think this image is a disaster. You've got a beautiful sky and a wonderful silhouette.

But to get the image that you want, you've got a few choices for this scene. You could shoot with a graduated ND (not a 'regular' ND filter.) and this would work well for this scene because you have a relatively straight horizon. But I don't think that is the right choice for this situation because, you are standing the street trying not to get 'run-over' and using a GND filter without a tripod is very, very difficult.

You could change the metering mode, but I don't think you need to. You are trying to balance the sky and the foreground and 'evaluative' will give you the best choice for that.

If I had shot this image, I would have 1) shot in RAW so that I had the most flexibility in post processing. 2) I would have exposed for the foreground, that way I could bring the dramatic color in the sky back in post. (This can be done in many ways: bringing the sky down by using recovery in adobe RAW or add a GND filter or adjusting the brightness/exposure and masking off the foreground or layering two images or HDR. There are tons of choices.) 3) I would have bracketed the exposure so I would have multiple files to chose from.

My guess is that if you have shot this scene underexposed by 1/2 stop, not 2 stops, you would have an image that you liked. There would still be nice saturated color in the sky and detail in the foreground. And if you still wanted a dramatic sky, you could punch up the color with any of the methods that I mentioned above.

The good news is that you can try this image again. You know the exact time and place and since you were on your way home from work, I assume it is a location that you can get to easily. I'd go back this weekend and see what happens.

Good luck!

KG

[EMansfield]

I agree with the comments above. The sky should have been a good complement for the main subject if only it wasn't underexposed and we can see sufficient details of it. But I think this can still be worked out in post-processing.

Cheers!

Eric Mansfield