San Francisco Night on the Water

[PhotoGnat]

Hello Everyone, haven't been on in a while but I've still been working and trying new techniques, finally got to try my hand at night shooting. Please let me know what you think. Composition, Exposure and overall feel.

Exif data
Camera Canon EOS REBEL T2i
Exposure 2
Aperture f/3.5
Focal Length 18 mm
ISO Speed 200

[Krusty79]

I like this shot a lot. You have the walkway in the foreground, the buildings with the golden glow in the midground and the white-ish distant buildings. I do wonder why you used f/3.5 when I would think you would want more DOF in a shot like this. Also, is your horizon level? The rail on the right is higher than the left.

[Gingersnap83]

I agree with Krusty. Think you should have had your aperture around f9 to get more D.O.F and upped your exposure time to compensate.
I really like the photo though and your composition is good. Having the bridge in the foreground leads the eye into the picture and the colours are good.

[Infinite Monkey]

I really like this shot. The exposure captures the lights and colors quite nicely. You do seem to have some distortion on the right side, with the shoreline seeming to run slightly uphill from the right railing to the right edge, resulting in many of the buildings on the right side leaning towards center. It's particularly noticeable in the two tallest buildings on the right side but it's there for some of the other buildings too. Maybe some of the people here who are better with Photoshop than I am can suggest ways to correct that.

[shruggy63]

I'm no Photoshop expert but I'd suggest a teensy (a degree or less) rotation anti-clockwise & using lens correction to straighten the converging verticals a bit but not too much.

[flytyer57]

Originally Posted by Krusty79

Also, is your horizon level?

Cut some slack here!! It's a picture of San Francisco. There are no level horizons there! Everything's on some slanted hill or another.

(But yes, I really do hate slanted horizons in pictures. It's not hard to fix, and I really don't see why people don't fix them more often.)

[Doug Sundseth]

Yeah, in SF, even the water tilts left.

[PhotoGnat]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for the great feedback, I hadn't even realized the tilt in the buildings or the railing. Now that you mentioned it, it kind of sticks out like a sore thumb. I did use a bigger f stop as well but the lighting looked so much better in this one so I edited this one and used it instead of the higher f stop. I had also started using a smaller f stop because I was doing some shots of the Bay Bridge and wanted more detail in the water and not just the smooth sheet look that you get with a longer exposure. I'm still really new at night shooting, or rather still pretty new in general still being in my first year. So I really appreciate all the advice and suggestions

Thanks again