Night

[LeeIs]

What would one call the light coming out of the open doors and windows? light spill? I like phrase 'light spill' as the source of the light isn't shown. It just spills on to the street.

Though I think that is a negative strobist term for unwanted light. Help me in naming the kind of light here. I don't know what to call it.

All feedback appreciated.

[armando_m]

it is like the inverse of window light

wonderful night street shot

[LeeIs]

Thanks Armando. You're right. It's like being indoors and catching light coming through a window. I don't even know what that's called!

[DurtGurl]

Lovely shot! The light spill onto the street is very effective and makes me wonder what's going on behind all those open doors and windows. The only thing that might have made this shot more interesting would have been a person in the doorway to the left, or maybe a dog in the foreground to the left or right.

[draymorton]

I really don't know what could make this better.

[GB1]

Nice shot. Spill light sounds about right, but I'm not sure. And it isn't a negative here, but a positive.
PS - not sure the darks are as dark as they should be?

G

[PatBranch]

Awesome shot! I really like that look.

[Photo-John]

Awesome shot! I really like that look.

Why? What do you like about it? There are a bunch of vague positive comments here but no real criticism. Remember, if we want this to remain a really useful critique forum, we need to make an extra effort to always offer some real analysis. So, if there's nothing wrong with it, what makes it so good? Analyzing why it works can be criticism, too

Go!

[draymorton]

I really cannot think of much I'd do differently - or be able to do better.

I love the "almost-HDR" look (however it was achieved), the detail, the immediacy, the way the frame seems tilted to the right (which lends a sense of dynamism), the light patterns spilling out onto the alley. Color saturation is perfect, as well.

I *might* try taking the darkest shadows down a little, but that would merely be an experiment.

[LeeIs]

Lovely shot! The light spill onto the street is very effective and makes me wonder what's going on behind all those open doors and windows. The only thing that might have made this shot more interesting would have been a person in the doorway to the left, or maybe a dog in the foreground to the left or right.

Thanks. I agree. I think a person in one of the doorways would've been real good for this.

Nice shot. Spill light sounds about right, but I'm not sure. And it isn't a negative here, but a positive.
PS - not sure the darks are as dark as they should be?

G

Thanks GB, I think it might be a monitor issue with either yours or mine. Because on mine the blacks are real dark. When i'm at work and look at my photograph they render a bitter darker even. So I try to be middle of the road. maybe your screen is way too bright?

Awesome shot! I really like that look.

Thanks!

I really cannot think of much I'd do differently - or be able to do better.

I love the "almost-HDR" look (however it was achieved), the detail, the immediacy, the way the frame seems tilted to the right (which lends a sense of dynamism), the light patterns spilling out onto the alley. Color saturation is perfect, as well.

I *might* try taking the darkest shadows down a little, but that would merely be an experiment.

Thanks Seth. I shoot with a wide angle 10-20mm sigma and a lot of time, I'm correcting the distortion. I usually don't end up removing it completely. There is some of that still in here and hence why it might look titled.

Taking the shadows down meaning making them darker or lighter? Because GB thinks the blacks aren't black enough on his screen. on mine they look dark.

[GB1]

Thanks GB, I think it might be a monitor issue with either yours or mine. Because on mine the blacks are real dark. When i'm at work and look at my photograph they render a bitter darker even. So I try to be middle of the road. maybe your screen is way too bright?

Hey Liban - I originally looked at this at work where the monitor isn't the best. Though that monitor looks brand new, it seems to throw things off quite a bit (and is fuzzy too). Looking at it here at home, it looks spectacular (!), but if you wanted to do an expt and darken the blacks a tad, it may be worth the effort.

What I need to do is buy one of those monitor calibration systems.. They're expensive though.

G

[Greg McCary]

I like the quiet emptiness in this one. Liban you are almost beyond being critiqued. Maybe a few lessons or blogs teaching technique. Nice as always.

[hminx]

Only minor nitpick for me is I would have liked those people in the distance a bit closer. Open doors and nobody near in this setting .. well ! but then I've never been to Cuba so have no idea about how things are there. Still its a damn cool shot .

[srblough]

Beautiful. One thing I think that makes it work so well is the color progression following the converging lines of the building - cool blues close warming to oranges in the center. And the hues are interesting, deep purple sky is gorgeous.

[jkriminger]

Try rotating it slightly counterclockwise .5 deg.

[mattb]

Nice shot. I like the depth and leading lines drawing the eye to the distant lights in the street. The starbursts are a nice touch there too. It looks dark enough on my work monitor, but this one isn't calibrated so it's hard for me to comment on light/color from here.

At home where I do my photo work I have a fairly inexpensive calibration system called the Pantone Huey. I think I got mine on sale for about $50 and it's definitely been worthwhile. My only real gripe about it is I can't set the nag interval for how long it waits to start nagging that calibration is due. I think it's hard coded at one week which seems short to me. Besides that it's great and was a good value.

[llewpics]

Night Illumination.

[Avalanche]

looks like Sujo from "Socom2"

[LeeIs]

Thanks Greg. One day I'll do some blogging when I'm done with this 'two full time jobs' routine I've been on for the last 2-3 years!

Pete, thanks. yeah it's missing a human element perhaps.

Thanks srblough. good description.

Thanks J

Thanks for the tips Matt.

Thanks la and Avalanche.