Tampa, FL skyline

[andrewhaimerl]

So the 1st shot is a very typical shot of the skyline however I got kind of lucky with the unusual cloud arrangement. I really like the 2nd shot but I must have bumped the camera a bit because the building lights are a slight bit blurred. I'd appreciate any comments or critique. Thanks

Both shots taken with Nikon D90, 18-55 lens, 30 sec exposure, 200 ISO

[laura.wilkerson1333]

First of all, your horizon's crooked at that's about to drive me crazy. Also, I think you split the frame a little too evenly. I wish there was more water and less sky.

[andrewhaimerl]

How should I fix it? I figured if I rotated the picture so that the bridge was straight it would give the appearance of an even horizon, guess that didn't work.

[LeeR]

First of all, you have picked the perfect time of day to take this shot; it's dark enough to see the lights on the buildings but still light enough to see some detail in the sky and surrondings.

Normally we would like to use the horizon as a place reference to level our shots but you don't have that luxury here. That means you need to make sure that at least the building in the center is plumb. There is a tool in PS that will straighten that up and another that will straighten the other buildings as well. However, I don't know what software you have but I'd be happy to help if you have PS or something similar.

[RLucas]

First of all, I want to say it is a very lovely cityscape image. Typical or not. I will have to say that it could be rotated 1 or 2 degrees back to the left, and it would help. The bridge isn't straight at all. What is making it more noticable though is the converging verticals. If you will look, the buildings on the left lean in toward the right, and the buildings on the right lean in to the left. It's just the nature of shooting buildings with a wide angle.
I don't have much of a problem with that in iself (actually I like that kind of distortion), but when you pair it with the bridge line being crooked, it just adds to the problem.

And like someone else said, you might want to try a different crop. The general rule of thumb is to place the perceived horizon at either on the top third area, or the bottom third. It just depends on what you want to be more prominant. The sky? Or the water? Actually I like the way it is composed now, because the sky has just as much impact for me as the silky water.
Overall, I think it is a well executed image. Just needs a little rotation, and it will be golden!
Happy shooting!

[Ben Holder]

Personally, I think the crop is great the way it is. If you try to guess at where the horizon is, it's most likely a little ways under the bridge, which would put it at about 1/3 up which is perfect. If you take the center building as vertical, I think everything will fall into place. Great reflection on the water by the way!

[Yorkie]

I'm with the others on the quality of the shot. I took the liberty of fiddling with it to show how it might be improved, especially to correct the converging verticals. Just a few tweaks in perspective in (bargain) Photoshop Elements and a crop at the top to remove just a little of the sky...

Any better?

Yorkie
Yorkiepix - Welcome home

[andrewhaimerl]

Yeah that does look better, thanks for tweaking it for me