Pittsburgh Bridges

[jc79]

Please let me know what you guys think.....Only started with photography in January. This shot is taken with a Canon T2i, Sigma 18-250 lens.

[mwanafunzi]

The first thing that stands out is that the image is blurry. I would suggest that if you want to take long exposure shots, or shots that require slow exposure times then you need to invest in a tripod [and a shutter release cable]. Or you should find a way to steady your camera while taking the shot.

The other thing is that I do not feel that scene has been composed very well.

Also, to get more useful feed back from the community, you should follow the forum rules. Be as specific as you can be with what you want critqued and at least provide the following camera setting info: aperture, shutter and iso settings.

[windrider86]

Welcome!
In order to get the full benefits of the critique section we have offered a set of guidelines to read. They offer all kinds of wonderful info, including information we all need about your photos that should be included.
Knowing info such as: your camera settings, more about your photo, your likes and dislikes and what you want help with, will only help us to help you better!

Thank you in advance for your post and editing it! If you should need help with that, just holler~

[jc79]

Sorry for the NOOBness...
As far as critique; I'm not sure what to ask which is why it's so vague. I really do not know what makes a good photo vs bad photo.

Here's the EXIF info:
Manual Exposure
Tripod was used
F/ 6.4
Shutter 6.0 seconds
Focal length 95.0 mm
ISO 200
WB Auto

Re: mwanafunzi, thanks for the feedback. A cable and tripod were both used. Some of details are in focus but I noticed a lot of the lighted areas were out of focus. Is there any way to correct this? As far as composition, anything other way you would like the photo to be setup? Thanks again guys!

[windrider86]

I personally like the fact that the entire photo is NOT in focus. It gives it more depth. I also like that there are so many things to look at within the photo. For me, its keeps it interesting as your looking deeper into the photo trying to find even more cool things to look at

If you wanted it sharper for some reason you can use the unsharp mask tool or the smart sharp tool to add some to it

[jc79]

Thanks windrider!.
I tried to use the sharpen tool; however, with some of the aberration (sp?) , it came out a bit too fake looking- if that makes sense. I also tried to use the aberration tool but with no success.

Thanks though for the thought- really appreciated!

[mwanafunzi]

Hey jc,

I too struggle with getting my night shots in focus. A way that I am trying to deal with this is to zoom into part of the image, in camera, immediately after taking the shot. That is parts that I think are important. As an example, zoom into the outline of the bridges.

When I first looked at the pic, I felt the same as windrider. But after giving the image more time, I felt that the out of focus look only works in parts of the image.

[jc79]

Great info..thanks. I'll def. do that for future shots. Any tips on how to keep the image in focus? I know I can weigh down the tripod for stability. Any other ideas? I've heard to turn the OS off when doing shots like these.

[mwanafunzi]

I usually [in camera] try and zoom into the image, the parts of the image that I think should be infocus, immediately after I have taken the shot.

[EOBeav]

Did you use a noise removal tool of some kind? It looks like a lot of detail might be lost because of that.