Sailboats in Harbor Under Moon

[GB1]

Full moons are nice to do night photography in. The boat shadow was almost undetectable to the eye, but a long exposure and some PP brought it out. comments? Sharpness is still my hob goblin - this is the best I could do with sharpening.


G

[Greg McCary]

I think you could lose most of the bottom of the image, I also see quite a bit of noise in the sky.

[PhoebeG]

Very handsome image. I might give some consideration to the back of the boat showing in the bottom right. Not sure what to do with it, but its attracting my eye away from the main scene.

Phil G.

[GB1]

Greg, are you kidding? You don't value the reflection there? And yes, quite a bit of noise. It was really really dark there, and I was surprised how well the camera brought out the image - but with noise.

Phil - Good point. That white adds nothing but distraction.

Let me look for noise reduction software and give it a whirl...
G

[Canuck935]

Have you experimented with different WB? I wonder if less yellow does anything for the image?

[GB1]

C, I haven't really experimented with WB settings.. I have always set it to Auto which seems to work most of the time. I did do some PPing here and had to change the colors , think I actually injected in some of this yellow - will have to check the original.

Here's a crop with some noise removed. I used a program called Neat Image (trial version).

G

[jetrim]

Looks to me like the white balance isn't too far off (if at all). In the background there are distinct instances of murcury vapor, sodium vapor, and floresecent lights (red, yellow, & blue) I agree that getting the transom of the boat on the right front would have been optimal, but I like the composition of this shot with its long reflections in the foreground, thc atwalk jutting out to the left but not extending to the end of the frame, and of course the hilly backdrop. Nice shot GB

[MichaelD]

I'm with Greg, we see too much of the reflections. Cropping only makes it worse like in your second example because the image gets so busy that you almost hear someone yelling in that scene "I wanna get out of here!".

Personally I would have loved to see a different approach, like the one I attached (ignore the quick awful cloning, it's only to get the idea across). This gives the scene more breathing space and makes it more peaceful. Anyway, that's what my approach would be for this particular image or in other words, more focus on the whole composition instead of mainly focusing on reflections.

[natgaines]

GB1-first let me say I love the picture. My only original thought when looking at your first post was what was already mentioned. I'm very much a beginner and the noise in the sky was something I picked out right away. The boats, reflections and background are all very clear and really make this a strong image. Once you cropped it though I felt like you crammed the picture. For me, the little boat on the side wasn't that distracting? Maybe I was looking to hard at the sky?

[GB1]

Thanks for comments. I see where the wider angle works better than the tighter crop. One of the issues I have with digital is the way it converts my wide angle lenses to mid range ones Yeah that noise sucks But that noise reducing plug in seemed to help (I also have some dust inside the lens from my Africa trip and I think that it MAY be contributing to the specks you see in the sky in the original shot, way at the top.. I need to get that lens cleaned).

But I still like the reflections myself

I think I'll hit this place again during the next full moon and see what I can do!

G

[LeeIs]

Hey GB,

I quite like it aside from the strong lights in some areas. Also it seems to have a bit of noise. A lower iso and longer shutter speed would've not only got ridden of the noise but made the water even glassier and more reflective. i still like it though.

I like the original btw. hte noise reducers are really mini-smudging which ticks me off . lol

[alexkhoo82]

Did you try doing this shot on landscape?

[GB1]

Liban - Yes, those NR filters do appear to be smudging weasels, but I guess you can't get something from nothing. I just resharpen afterward (matter of fact, this app has a setting that can automatically do that at the end and a control to set the amount...)

I will try the slower SS, if I can get away with it (the boats can bob around, making the masks very soft or blurry). It depends on the winds, waves, if people are in their boats walking around ...

Alex - Not sure what ya mean, shooting it from the land? or shooting a similar shot of land objects?

-GB

[readingr]

GB,

I like the original better than the others, however, It seems to be a picture of two halves and the composition therefore breaks down for me.

Roger

[GB1]

Roger - I agree, but not sure what other composition there was when trying to get the masks and shadow in. What a dilemma..

[readingr]

Roger - I agree, but not sure what other composition there was when trying to get the masks and shadow in. What a dilemma..

GB,

As I said in the other post - I have 1000's of these and still trying to find the right recipe. When you crack it let me know the recipe.

Roger