Golden Horn

[KevinSmith]

Hi, I recently bought my first DSLR (Canon 1000d) and gave myself the assignment to carry it around with me this week (nice weather this week).

This picture was taken after a long day at the office, just as I turned the corner to my street. I live in the center of a small town that does not allow cars and my street is the narrowest in town. now that i see the picture, I guess I know why they call it the Golden Horn.

Anyhow, please let me know what you think and if anything could have been improved. I'm not sure what to ask for specifically as I am reasonably new to this but any help would be welcome. Just want to know if I'm headed in the right direction...

Thanks

picture :



Exif data
Camera Canon EOS 1000D
Exposure 0.167 sec (1/6)
Aperture f/4.5
Focal Length 18 mm
ISO Speed 800
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire
Image Width 3888
Image Height 2592
Bits Per Sample 8 8 8
Photometric Interpretation RGB
Orientation Horizontal (normal)
Samples Per Pixel 3
X-Resolution 72 dpi
Y-Resolution 72 dpi

ps. when giving this link to the FILE UPLOAD FROM URL box, it keeps saying 'invalid file'.

[windrider86]

Try copying and pasting the html code to load your photo here. Its under the share this tab above the photo in Flickr!

[KevinSmith]

great, thanks !

[SwissJon]

Ok, First, i think the idea is a good one, I like it.

I would like to have seen someone leaning against a wall smoking, or walking down the street, as it is, it looks rather empty.

It would have been good to move a few feet to your left, so the centre of the road is coming from the centre of the picture.

You might want to think about using a lower perspective. Put the camera nearer the ground.

The picture is rather orange and under exposed.. If you're shooting to JPEG (why?) change your white balance settings to match the circumstances. If shooting RAW (much better) then fix the settings in your computer. You need a slightly brighter picture too, I understand you were probably at the slowest setting you could go to without camera shake, and the highest ISO that would get you a not too grainy photo, so if you're interested in taking night photos, invest in a bean bag or a gorrillapod so you can put your camera down and use the self timer to take the photo without camera shake.

[KevinSmith]

Thank you very much... I will surely give this another try tonight !

Kevin

[milosh]

Hello Kevin,

I think you did a pretty good job exposing this shot, I would just increase the exposure a little bit. The lights do look very yellow, but maybe they really are like that (lights in a park in my town are this yellow). If not, you can change them in post-processing if you want to. I think it is a good image, regarding exposure and composition, but I would only like to see something interesting going on in the street. If someone rode a bicycle pass you or if there were some kids playing and running around, it would be much better.

[Krusty79]

Visually, you have a nice looking shot. However, I find myself asking, "What is the subject here?" "What story/message/feeling was he trying to convey?" And I can't answer those questions.

It helps to have a subject or focal point for your viewers. That's why Jon suggested using a person in the shot. What did you want to convey in this shot? The emptiness? If so, I think you need to use a less "cheerful" color. If you wanted to convey the gold color, you have done that, but I still think you need a subject. Right now, it looks like you were walking down the street and said, "Hey, I should get a picture of this street" without really planning the best composition to convey your story/feeling IMO. It's still a good picture, but I am just suggesting ways to improve it and adjust your thinking.

[KevinSmith]

hi all,

Thanks for the great feedback.

the lights actually are this yellow.. giving the buildings this nice glow.

as for the other comments regarding subject/comp/... : you are correct, I did not think this picture through...I just turned the corner, saw something pretty and wanted to get it on camera. will be sure to keep all you tips in mind the next time and try to add the 'thinking' step to my 'wow this is nice, lets snap it' step .

Thank you again, tips like these really help a lot.

[jeanneholverstott]

Although a minor point, I would have liked to see all -- or none -- of the stairs in the bottom right of the photo.