Another bridge pic

[Steph_B]

Yep! Another bridge pic...

This one is of the Lions Gate Bridge, a landmark of the city of Vancouver. It was taken on Velvia 50 with a 24-85mm G ED lens at sunset (slight post processing PS work).

I took another few more later during the same day. However, all my later pics are plagued by strong flares from the bridge lights. This is one of the only pic which did not have this problem.

Once again, your opinion/tips will be strongly appreciated. Thanks!

Steph.

[Steph_B]

This is a 'later in the day' version. Some cloning work was necessary to get rid of most of the flares.

Cheers.

[Seb]

This is a 'later in the day' version. Some cloning work was necessary to get rid of most of the flares.

Cheers.

Hello Steph,

I like both but I prefer the second one as the bridge is perfectly perpendicular to the viewer (plus I like the bridge lights). Frankly, the second picture is very neat. I'd like to have this one in my porfolio!. The funny thing is that I or a friend (can't quite remember) took a rather similar picture during daytime (from the bus of the Stanley Park tour) but it looks nothing like this. Your's are arguably much better.

Seb

[SmartWombat]

I looked at the top photo first and thought "photoshopped" first before I looked at the rest of the message. I don't know what it was that gave it that feel, but it looked unreal somehow.
But who says it has to be realistic? It looks good.

I like #2 better, but somewhere in between would be just perfect !
In #1 the exposure seems too short for the bridge lights, and in #2 the exposure appears too long for the bridge lights, all the while you've kept the mountains and sky nicely exposed.

[shesells]

Good Greif! Those are magical! I like the second one best because more detail shows in the forground, like those figures on either side of bridge. One nit pik... could you clone out the no parking sign? These are just beautiful and elegant. What did you climb up on to take them??? I never get to see a scene like this.. guess I'm gonna have to go to Canada.
Kit

[Steph_B]

Good Greif! Those are magical! I like the second one best because more detail shows in the forground, like those figures on either side of bridge. One nit pik... could you clone out the no parking sign? These are just beautiful and elegant. What did you climb up on to take them??? I never get to see a scene like this.. guess I'm gonna have to go to Canada.
Kit

Oh, well, yeah, I tried to clone them out, but to no avail. On a low res. pic you would not see the difference, but any larger print will show some 'fuzziness' at the site of the signs. So I decided to let them in....

There is a small overpass that allows pedestrians to have a look at the bridge. So I did not have to climb on to anything. Thank God!

Cheers,

Steph.

[Steph_B]

I looked at the top photo first and thought "photoshopped" first before I looked at the rest of the message. I don't know what it was that gave it that feel, but it looked unreal somehow.
But who says it has to be realistic? It looks good.

I like #2 better, but somewhere in between would be just perfect !
In #1 the exposure seems too short for the bridge lights, and in #2 the exposure appears too long for the bridge lights, all the while you've kept the mountains and sky nicely exposed.

Hi Paul,

In terms of the colors, I did not do too much PS work. I mostly compensated for some cast that my scanner is adding to the pic. However, when I took the pic I used a warming pola. to increase the exposure time and I used a split ND filter to tone dopwn the sky a little bit. Now this particular filter, beside degrading the quality of the pic and being mostly responsible for the flare problem, adds also a slight unatural magenta cast. Maybe you picked this up!

I do agree totally with you that I should have an intermediate exposure between #1 and #2. I am waiting for an 'interesting' sky to go back there and try again.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Cheers,

Steph.

[Steph_B]

Hello Steph,

I like both but I prefer the second one as the bridge is perfectly perpendicular to the viewer (plus I like the bridge lights).

Seb

Hi Seb,

I did have a tough time to decide which composition would work best. Most of the shot were taken with the pic #1 composition because I thought this would give more dynamics to the pic and thus it would not look so flat... But I was wrong. I changed the composition (pic #2) as an afterthought, and mainly to finish the film! I thought it would not work. I was wrong.

Thanks for your comment!

Cheers,

Steph.

[another view]

I'm going to go with the first shot here - I like the slightly off to the side position, it helps show depth. I also like the exposure better due to more available light. The clouds look great too.

The one thing that I don't like is the incomplete light trails of the headlights on the left. You can only get a shutter speed so long depending on available light - but if you used a two stop ND you might get it long enough. The lights on the bridge look nice being lit, but it still looks good without - but the two at the base of the bridge (on the columns) look much better lit. The thing I've run into is that by the time lights are on, the ambient exposure is so low that the feel of the shot is totally changed. Not always better or worse, just different. I think that the overall feel in the first shot more than makes up for the lights on the bridge though.

Glad to see you changed your title; it used to say something about how you're a newbie - that would be false advertising! It's pretty rare to see a skyline shot with a tilted horizon that works! Saw that one in Viewfinder but couldn't say anything about it in a no-words thread...!

[Steph_B]

The one thing that I don't like is the incomplete light trails of the headlights on the left. You can only get a shutter speed so long depending on available light - but if you used a two stop ND you might get it long enough.

Yeah (sigh!) I know! Disapointing, isn't it? The trick is to be there when traffic is flowing (which does not happen too often!).... and as you said, to have a long exposure. In that respect, I recently bought a 3 ND filter from Singh Ray. I am only waiting now to get it and go and try again. But I have been waiting for 1 month now and I will be leaving soon! I hope there will be still some opportunities. They recently charged my visa, so it should get here soon!

On the other hand,I just don't know how it is going to look like with bare trees. But then, the hills in the BG are covered with snow which might be quite nice! With a bit of high altitude clouds and the conditions will be just top-notch...

It's pretty rare to see a skyline shot with a tilted horizon that works! Saw that one in Viewfinder but couldn't say anything about it in a no-words thread...!

Is it working? Really? I was not too sure myself... Somehow I think that I should have tilted the horizon the other way to make the water flow towards the camera. Well, you made my day ! Thanks!

I also liked your follow up post and the moody rainy atmosphere. The colors are so warm and yet you can't help feeling cold and wet somehow. And the viewpoint makes the BG skyline menacing, almost alienating. This was a very good use of the portrait format.

[another view]

Is it working? Really?

Answer: Yes! I've never tried tilting the horizon on a skyline shot - I always do them on a tripod with a level to make sure they're straight, and never thought it would work. Then I saw your shot. Very cool. And thanks for the comment about my shot, it's from last year's gathering in Chicago. That day we had the typical heavy overcast grey skies and I experimented with white balance on digital to get that effect.

Back to your shot - I understand about waiting for the conditions to be right and you raise good ideas about the leaves on the trees. The thing I've noticed is that if I keep waiting, I never get any shot! ;) Can't remember gets credit for the quote, but something like "Chance favors the prepared mind". With that 3 ND and the right conditions, you'll have a killer shot.

[Nina]

I think the composition on both are fantastic. It's an usual bridge shot. I do prefer the upper shot though. The lights give the bridge more life and the angle is alot better. How'd you'd manage this shot anyway?

[Steph_B]

I think the composition on both are fantastic. It's an usual bridge shot. I do prefer the upper shot though. The lights give the bridge more life and the angle is alot better. How'd you'd manage this shot anyway?

Thanks Nina for your feedback. I also do prefer the brighter lights, even thought I think Paul is right and something in between would be better.

The exposure time was probably around 20-30 secs on Fuji Velvia 50. I think the key of this shot was the use of a split ND filter to tone down the sky. As a result, I could avoid getting the washed out colors that the sun-setting sky would have otherwise given me. The price I paid for this was a flare problem and a limited resolution.

I hope this helps!

Cheers,

Steph.