Midnight Stairs

[Eruditass]

Was playing around with my first OCF one night. This one came out the best, and was actually a test shot (tilt unintentional), but I liked the effect.



Camera Maker: PENTAX
Camera Model: PENTAX K-x
Lens: Sigma Lens
Image Date: 2010-11-15 22:25:11 -0500
Focal Length: 26.0mm (35mm equivalent: 39mm)
Aperture: f/4.0
Exposure Time: 0.0063 s (1/160)
ISO equiv: 400
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: Yes (Manual)

[dandellion]

I like it. Especially that you have strong light in the mid-plane with all those nice rays and stars in the back. I'm still puzzled how you managed that.
And I fall for nice tilts

[EOBeav]

It's a nice abstract shot, if a little uninteresting. Just a nitpic, though.

[Eruditass]

Originally Posted by dandellion

I like it. Especially that you have strong light in the mid-plane with all those nice rays and stars in the back. I'm still puzzled how you managed that.
And I fall for nice tilts

They aren't actually stars (look at my exposure time). I believe it just started sprinkling and the flash lit it up like that. Hilariously lucky, I might add. I did clone out some "stars" that were on the steps.

[Eruditass]

Originally Posted by EOBeav

It's a nice abstract shot, if a little uninteresting. Just a nitpic, though.

Can you think anything in the setup, processing, framing, etc. that would make this sort of subject/idea more interesting?

[katia]

i personally find this photo quite interesting. the "stars" are great, the angle is a nice rule-breaker, and it's almost as if the stairs are beckoning you to climb them.

[curelightwounds]

Originally Posted by Eruditass

Can you think anything in the setup, processing, framing, etc. that would make this sort of subject/idea more interesting?

Just for my tastes, I'm not a big fan of the angled shot. It just makes an image disorienting instead of interesting.

One can't really make something interesting once it's been shot, it has to be that way to begin with and you're just capturing it for posterity. The problem here is that it's just stairs. The funny angle makes it just stairs at a funny angle.

That said, the base image you're working with isn't that bad, it's just not interesting. To make it interesting you need to add something to it, in this case you added that flash, which does make it a little more interesting, but it's still just stairs. Maybe if it was a super long flight of stairs you might have something, but it looks like the kind of thing I need to storm up to get to my car. There isn't anything in the image to make me stop thinking of it that way.

The stairs climbing up to the stars would be a great concept, but I don't think you've caught it.

First and foremost, this pictures is begging to be shot in vertical. The eyes will start at the stairs and follow them into the sea of stars. Keep the stairs in the bottom third and fill the rest with the night sky. Do a long exposure so you have a chance of catching the subtle contrasts between the stars themselves.

You want people to think about what's at the end of those stairs to make climbing them worth while.

Second, the beams of flash are a little distracting. Bring down the intensity or bounce the flash off of something so that it's not as strong. Anything to take the focus off the stairs since it's just stairs.

[curelightwounds]

Originally Posted by Eruditass

They aren't actually stars (look at my exposure time). I believe it just started sprinkling and the flash lit it up like that. Hilariously lucky, I might add. I did clone out some "stars" that were on the steps.

Oh... forget what I said before.

Retake in vertical. Leave the "stars" in. A "starry" stairs leading to a "starry" sky might work.