Parting Ways

[tickintime]

Shot during my drive home from West Philadelphia on Market Street. I liked the way the underside of the tracks were lighted blue. I shot several straight down the street, but this is my favorite due to the curve. City of Philadelphia is the background.

• Is this shot interesting? If so, what part?
• How is the composition?
• How can I help reduce the blow out from the street lights and still retain detail in the darker areas (Is this a subtle HDR appropriate shot?)
• What should I change, look for, avoid next time?

EXIF
Camera: Canon EOS REBEL T1i
Exposure: 0.25 sec (1/4)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 30 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire

[offwhitedog]

Hi, I agree - the blue lighting makes the shot.

Couple of comments:

- it looks kinda tilted, if there was a horizon I'd say it would dip down at the left side; not sure why I get this feeling, there are not many horizontals to judge it by, and the verticals on the left side look ok

- the car headlights just below the centre spoil it for me

- I'd say too much of the road, could do with bringing the blue lights slightly lower to get more of the dark sky to contrast against (but then I like dark sky shots )

You asked about the flare of the streetlights - myself, I'm a proponent of shooting RAW, which does help with this kind of thing, but tbh I'd say it's not a problem: the colour of the lights complement the overall tone of the shot (as opposed to the car lights) so it looks ok to me

[ricklumpas]

It looks like a perfectly exposed shot for me. I like the rwo tone color because of the blue light.
But it doesn't look interesting enough for an image.

[tickintime]

Originally Posted by offwhitedog

You asked about the flare of the streetlights - myself, I'm a proponent of shooting RAW, which does help with this kind of thing, but tbh I'd say it's not a problem: the colour of the lights complement the overall tone of the shot (as opposed to the car lights) so it looks ok to me

I shot in RAW. Teach me what to do...

Seriously, this was shot in RAW I can upload the file and link it if you want to have a stab. It is in .DNG format.

IMG_0764.DNG

[offwhitedog]

I got a problem with internet access right now
Can only got online from the office... when I get it fixed at home I'll try to remember to come back to this - feel free to remind me

[offwhitedog]

I had a go at unflaring the lights, but no joy when working with the full image... I think you'd have to break it down and work layer by layer to do this. But I still say they look ok as they are anyway

[Toppro]

My main problem here is that there is a lot of elements in this composition but no real subject. My eye is jumping all around the shot without being drawn to anything in particular. The curve of the highway with the blue lights is lovely, maybe it should more dominate the shot?

[tickintime]

Originally Posted by Toppro

My main problem here is that there is a lot of elements in this composition but no real subject. My eye is jumping all around the shot without being drawn to anything in particular. The curve of the highway with the blue lights is lovely, maybe it should more dominate the shot?

I completely agree.. The only 'subject' really is the contract between the rails above and the street below. Maybe I should go back and catch some train light trails...

[henson]

cool picture.

[Toppro]

Originally Posted by tickintime

I completely agree.. The only 'subject' really is the contract between the rails above and the street below. Maybe I should go back and catch some train light trails...

I would love to see those shots.