Otaru River

[jasony8]

This was taken at a small famous river in Otaru, Hokkiado.
Took this shot freehanded without a tripod, I am quite worried about the overall sharpness.
I haven't done any PP on this photo. . . hoping to get some suggestions



Exif Data:
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Exposure 0.167 sec (1/6)
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 32 mm
ISO Speed 800
Exposure Bias -1 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire

Do you guys think that this photo overall is too warm in color?
What should I do in PP to make this photo better?
Do you guys think that the composition works?

Thanks you reading! Any comments/suggestions appreciated!
Please check out my entire set on Flickr: 日本.北海� - a set on Flickr

Jason

[AndrewPDX]

I really like it! The only part that feels a bit too warm / bright is the flower section in the lower right.The bright orange flowers and the purple/white ones feel like they have too much color, compared with the rest of the scene. It looks like they're catching too much light from one of the nearby lamps. Other than that, I really like the shot.

Edit: Ahh, damn work monitor. Now that I'm at home and on my regular screen, your shot looks much better. Ignore the remarks about the warm flowers- they look great as is.

[Michael_2010]

I like the colors, the textures, the diminishing lines leading to the river and beyond, but...... at first glance the old lamp post looks like the primary subject of the capture. I'm not sure that was your intent.

[LeeR]

This is a wonderful shot, one I would love to have in my portfolio, but I wouldn't be too worried about sharpness if I were you... your challenge is going to be noise. Canon is famously good at higher ISOs, but at 800 you are definitely getting some noise, especially in the sky. The problem is that sharpening will likely accentuate the noise. I think I would download the free community edition of Noiseware and run that before doing any sharpening. You'll lose just a bit of the sharpness in the process but the image is likely to take on a kind of painterly quality I think you'll really like.

[leviathan]

Wow! I can't believe you took this freehand and with no PP! When I first saw it, I thought to myself, "is this HDR?" I think it is a beautiful photo. No real need to change anything, imo. Totemo itsukushii desu. Totemo kiniiri mashita.

[jasony8]

Thanks for all your kind comment and useful suggestions!!

Really appreciate it!

Jason

[Krusty79]

Originally Posted by Michael_2010

I like the colors, the textures, the diminishing lines leading to the river and beyond, but...... at first glance the old lamp post looks like the primary subject of the capture. I'm not sure that was your intent.

I thought the colors were very pleasing to the eye, but I agree about the picture not having a clear subject. I don't know what you wanted to feature as the main subject in the picture or how you wanted to emphasize it/lead the viewer's eye to it. I'll leave the PP questions to others, since I'm a relative noob to that.

[jasony8]

Originally Posted by Krusty79

I thought the colors were very pleasing to the eye, but I agree about the picture not having a clear subject. I don't know what you wanted to feature as the main subject in the picture or how you wanted to emphasize it/lead the viewer's eye to it. I'll leave the PP questions to others, since I'm a relative noob to that.

Thanks for your comments

I really wanted to capture the river itself and the small line of industrial houses at the back (as this place was really famous of it's location :P ) I thought that the lamp post add to the whole feeling but I guess it has acted more distraction :S

Jason

[Krusty79]

Originally Posted by jasony8

Thanks for your comments

I really wanted to capture the river itself and the small line of industrial houses at the back (as this place was really famous of it's location :P ) I thought that the lamp post add to the whole feeling but I guess it has acted more distraction :S

Jason

After looking at your shot again, if you could go back there, I would like to see what it would look like if you took the shot on the OTHER side of the lamp post. That way, you would having the leading line of the river and the walls leading towards the houses/lights in the distance and from what I can see, you would not have any distracting elements in the picture. My two cents.

Greg