Focal Point, which of which?

[Phoenix_Jackson]

Actually, it's focal point and composition but that'd be a dull title.

Hello again, good people. I come for another help with my struggles in photography.

This scene had been catching my eye whenever I pass by riding my motorcycle. So to avoid risking my life staring at it while driving, I might as well take a shot. I really liked it when I previewed it from the LCD screen. But when I saw it blown up on my computer, it's a little heartbreaking.

Firstly, I'm struggling with the perspective (I think). At a different angle, the river would've formed a different shaped reflection of the street lights rather than just following its pattern. But I'll lose this good view of the shadows of the trees. In here though, I don't feel like the image is really leading to eternity. It looks more like just a pattern.

Next thing is the focal point. I'm guilty of forgetting on establishing that (aside from bringing a tripod). But as I plan to revisit this scene, I'm confused to whether I focus more on the foreground shadows, or more on the background distant lights. Furthermore, I want to get rid some of the highlights as I feel like it's overwhelming.

It also seems a little too busy but, so far, I still like this shot, but I think I can do better. The question is how.
Please help out a whiny newby (me), or just tell me if I'm over thinking it (sometimes I have the feeling that I do).

Canon EOS 60D
Canon 50mm 1.8 II
Exposure = 6 seconds
Aperture = f/2.0
ISO = 100
Exposure Bias = 0 EV
No Flash
Mode = Manual
Metering = Evaluative
Focus = Centered
PP = little cropping, white balance adjustment, and contrast.


_MG_0792 by phoenix_jackson2002, on Flickr

[navcom]

Hi!

A couple things for my two cents worth. I thing the exposure looks good so you are ok there. I would crop the image into a more panoramic-type configuration by cropping off the bottom of the image to just above that cement block in the lower right. This will tighten up the composition and make better use of your curved lines. It might also force the viewers eye to follow the path a bit better.

Definitely bring a tripod next time so you can use a smaller aperture...say around f/13. That will bring more of the image into focus.

Neat shot. Hope that helps!

[Phoenix_Jackson]

I have never cropped this way before. It really helped! I can see how the lines lead now. Thank you very much! And with this frame, I can see which point I will be putting my focus point too.

But I got a bit worried with the f/13 part. But there's nothing more than try to achieve it. Yay! I can imagine how the next shot would be already. Thank you gain!

[Fun4all]

Try a shot from a lower view point to let the trees block the lights, you will still get the nice curve , reflections in the water and some nice lighting coming through the trees.

Tripod, high f-stop, focus 1/3 into the image and long exposure. Then show us what you got!

Good Luck!

[navcom]

Originally Posted by Phoenix_Jackson

I have never cropped this way before. It really helped! I can see how the lines lead now. Thank you very much! And with this frame, I can see which point I will be putting my focus point too.

But I got a bit worried with the f/13 part. But there's nothing more than try to achieve it. Yay! I can imagine how the next shot would be already. Thank you gain!

You're welcome! Looks much better. You might even rotate the image just a bit to level the horizon. It looks like it might be leaning a bit to the right. Don't worry about using a small aperture. With landscape photography, it's a must. You will be hard-pressed to find landscape images that use an f-stop larger than f/8-11

Apertures between f/11 and f/16 give the best depth of field with the least amount of diffraction. Wider apertures (smaller number) will have a reduced DOF while apertures smaller than f/16 (larger number) will start to experience diffraction, which is softening of the image...which will work against sharpness.

The only thing with f/13 is that it will make using a tripod mandatory....which you should use anyway. A tripod is a landscape photographers best friend.

Hope that helps!

[JFSanders]

I took a stab at this photograph, what do you think? I felt it needed a tighter crop to eliminate the concrete box at the bottom left and the bright light at the top right. Then I ran it through the process to set a black point this brought down the overall light in the photo and makes the colors more saturated. Then ran a high pass filter at 1 pixel to delineate the edges and cloned out the other boxes in the water.

Jim

[Phoenix_Jackson]

I wish I could get that much better image in-camera. Photoshop is something I still have to touch. But you're right. I remember, I noticed those boxes but was more bothered with the curve.

We're having typhoon for now so I could only take all info in.

Lower Viewpoint
Smaller Aperture (but not too small)
Tripod (or none at all)
Horizon (for crying out loud, I should've seen that)
Panoramic view

So I should ditch the bigger aperture for night shots idea. I always thought that's the only way to go. At least with this, I can use the kit lens's 18mm (still investing on a much better tripod and ballhead Gitzo GT 2541 + Markins Q20, before going for either of the 10-20mm or the likes of it... still debating which of the big three brands).

I guess I should also buy a remote ASAP too (SMDV RFN4, extremely longer exposure scares me) since I only use a 2s timer.

[navcom]

If you are mainly concerned with getting the fastest shutter speed, you are correct in your aperture choice. But for most landscape scenes, shutter speed is really irrelevant. The main purpose of the aperture in landscape photography is to control depth of field. The larger the opening (smaller the number), the less DOF you will have, thus the fuzzy areas in your image. It appears you've focused on something about half way into the image. Note how the foreground and then the background are out of focus. This is due to the very small DOF at f/2.

Inversely, the smaller the aperture (larger the number), the more DOF you will have. But when you get smaller than around f/16, you start to get diffraction which is a softening of the image due to light bouncing off the blades of your aperture in such a small opening. This is why most lenses produce the best DOF with the least diffraction between f/8 and f/13-16 or so. It's true either night or day. It's also the reason a tripod is vital for landscape photographers.

[JFSanders]

I wish I could get that much better image in-camera. Photoshop is something I still have to touch. But you're right. I remember, I noticed those boxes but was more bothered with the curve.

Be aware that your camera captures in a 2x3 format so there will be times especially in landscape photography that there will be excess information captured around what you actually visualize the scene to be. So don't let post capture development scare you. Start with an easy to learn program such as NX2 which was developed by Nikon for their cameras but will work with any TIFF or Jpeg capture. So if you have a Canon you can convert your RAW to a TIFF and still use the powerful U-point tools to develop your digital negative. Development for digital is just as necessary as it was with film. With the added benefit of no chemicals and you get to work in the light!

As Navcom said go with the high middle apertures and let the shutter speed be what it needs to be. Tripod even a cheapy will be a big plus over no tripod at all. You don't really need a remote but they make things easier. Just use the shutter delay function and set it for 10 seconds. If you are using evaluative metering you may need to bracket your exposures with 1/3 over and under what the camera's meter tells you. This shot would have come SOOC better had it been exposed for the lights in my opinion as the flare on them is pretty strong. But without actually doing it I can't be certain. Getting it as close to right in camera will help in the development stage but you still can't avoid it altogether unless you want to shoot in auto mode. And then you have to accept what the camera gives you to a large extent do to the fact that all that information that is captured in RAW is converted and thrown out when it is down sampled to 8bit.

Jim

[Krusty79]

I find that string of bright lights distracting and I think they are fooling your camera's meter into underexposing the ground. So, I would suggest bracketing your shots and making sure you take a shot that is overexposed. Hopefully, the ground will be correctly exposed (easier if you shoot RAW and adjust the RAW file) and you can PP the lights so they're not so bright.