Harbour at sunset

[adam.alazki]

Would like some general feedback on this, and in particular the post processing. I'm worried that the picture looks too soft (as if the lens was fogged up). Comments would be much appreciated...thanks!

Harbour at sunset resized.jpg

Nikon D3000, 18-55mm kit lens
1/20s, f/3.5, 18mm, ISO 200

[dbevisjr]

It does look a little soft. Unfortunately I am new to all the digital processing so I don't really have a suggestion as to how to correct it. I will say that even though it looks soft, I really like the image.

[Lightwriter]

Was this a hand-held shot? It looks like it was. To get a shot taken in this low light sharp you would need a much higher ISO or a tripod (if you don't have a tripod at least rest your hand on a post or a chair.) I prefer to use photoshop's high pass filter to sharpen my images. (To do this make a copy of your image on top of the image. Run in through the high pass filter until it looks sharp enough for you. Set the high pass layer on soft light or overlay.)
Next time try to keep distracting elements (such as bikes) out of the foreground. Pretty shot, though

[adam.alazki]

Thanks for the comments, yes the picture was hand held unfortunately! However, i think the softening is mostly due to the post-processing (i went too far with it i think!) rather than camera shake (1/20s with a VR lens at 18mm should be quick enough?).

Thanks for the high pass filter tip as well! the picture looks a lot sharper now...the motorbikes however remain in the foreground (definitely something i'll try to avoid in future!)

[JessicaO]

Nice pic! I like the composition and the color a lot.

Never tried the high pass overlay, I'll have to give that a shot. I usually use an Unsharp Mask in PS for sharpening my images. What does high pass do exactly?

1/20 sec for shutter speed is ok I think w/ image stabilization. I had a Canon IS lens and was told that it could go to 1/13 sec with reasonably steady handholding. But faster is always better. ISO 400 shouldn't cause too much noise and would ensure less camera shake blur as well.

[Harrison]

Nice picture!

It does look a little soft but it looks like just the unprocessed picture would look fine