Keep Right

[Tww]

Taken in Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, CO.
Nikon D90 with an 18-105 lens (tripod mounted) set at 18mm. 30 second exposure, F-stop 6.3, ISO 200.

I only have PSE9 and I am struggling on how to use it. Any suggestions and critiques would be helpful.
Sorry about the earlier poster size print!

[Tww]

Oops, I think I uploaded too large of an image. This is my first time to post and I am learning as I go.

[Krusty79]

Looks like an interesting shot. I wish I could see all of it at once! Try to limit the size of your image to 740 pixels on the long side so we can see all of it.

[windrider86]

Can you try again with a smaller size? Also here is a link that you might want to read. Thank you!

[Michael_2010]

How did you create those light trails?

[Tww]

I ran up the road while twirling a very bright LED flashlight.

[Krusty79]

Ok, now I can see it. I'm not sure how to critique a shot like this, but here are my impressions. First, I think the shot could be improved if you could get rid of the reflections on the sign. Also, having that one rock on the right so brightly lit relative to the rest of the scene is a little distracting. It's still a unique and interesting shot, though.

[Tww]

Thanks for the input Krusty. I am a PSE9 newbie but I will give it a shot to darken the rock and remove the reflection on the sign. I'm sure my son can help me out... I wasn’t even sure if this was the proper place to post this photo since it is a combination landscape and effects photo. I plan to post more photos as I become more confident.

[SwissJon]

Oh... I like that.. tend to agree with Krusty about the bright rock and the reflection.. I'm not sure you needed the light trail.. Weren't there any cars on that road?

You could have dealt with that rock with an ND grad filter at the time you took the picture I think. I like the composition, the colouration although I think I'd probably have knocked 5 seconds off the exposure time as the whole picture appears slightly too bright for a night time shot.

Nice though.

[Tww]

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by SwissJon

Oh... I like that.. tend to agree with Krusty about the bright rock and the reflection..

I agree with the bright rock being distracting - The light illuminating the rock is actually coming from my son who was shining a 3million candle watt power spotlight at the rock. He was also taking a time exposure at the same time I was. I should have waited until he was done. Below is my crude attempt to darken the rock. I think darkening the sign is way out of my league at this time.

I'm not sure you needed the light trail..

I'm a bit ambivalent about the light trail. I like painting with light on time exposure shots. However, it would have been nice to have a natural shot as a comparison.

Weren't there any cars on that road?

It was quite dead in the park except for the occasional tourist driving through, which made for some interesting trailing taillight shots.

You could have dealt with that rock with an ND grad filter at the time you took the picture I think. I like the composition, the colouration although I think I'd probably have knocked 5 seconds off the exposure time as the whole picture appears slightly too bright for a night time shot.

I think the coloration is coming from my editing (lack thereof) ability. I am currently learning how to use PSE9. My goal is to procure a copy of Lightroom3, but until then I will struggle with my cheap version of a photo editing tool. I kind of like the lighter version myself but this may have a lot to do with my monitor.

Here is a copy of the original photo with no edits.


I’m inspired by the critiques. I plan to go back out and take more shots under different lighting conditions.