SpiritofAmerica

nice exposure.

best regards.

Una buena toma nocturna, acertada exposición y color. Saludos

Hi Sunil,  You certainly have captured some dramatic and interesting shots of the Golden Gate at sunset.  As your others, I like how the striking orange and yellow bridge contrasts with the water, distant cityscape, and sky.  I wonder if you might be able to capture more detail in the road on the bridge.  As you know, I try to eliminate any white blowout possible in images.  Don't take this as a negative statement. I have edited the image a bit; I sharpened it, and used the levels adjustment to try to darken the bridge deck (not really successful).  I also added more vibrance that deepened the colors in the sky a tiny bit more.  This may not be visible on the edited version.  Nice image.  I've never had the fortune to capture a dramatic Golden Gate image.  Happy Spring - even though I haven't yet seen it emerge. I'd rate this a 6.

Larry

hi sunil.

i like this image, the light is magical and the colors are nice as well. i have the same concerns as larry, that there seems to be a bit of overexposure and not enough detail in the bridge itself. wondering if you shot this at base ISO and with ADL off. the light trails from the cars just kind of blend together and dont add a whole lot to what you already have. additionally, i think you could have emphasized the strongest part of the composition, which is the middle and right-hand side of the pic, more.

dont get me wrong,i think it's a strong image, but it could be even stronger from a compositional standpoint. these kind of photos are very difficult, however, because they require a combination of both technique and guesswork, as well as perfect lighting--which is asking a lot, as this can be unpredictable and dependent on conditions outside one's control. also, there's a short window when this type of light happens.

i wonder if a shorter exposure would have worked better at this time of day-- which could have resulted in less blowing out of the highlights-- or, perhaps a long exposure at a later point in the evening -- which would have made the light trails stand out more against a darker, contrastier background.

it's a trade-off, though; you have to decide what elements of composition you want to emphasize and de-emphasize. i would also think about maybe combining exposures in post-, if you can't get the background light and the bridge on the same page. keep practicing and experimenting with different exposure times until you nail it absolutely.

-eric

ps, hope you don't mind, but i cropped your pic a bit to give a more dramatic view of the bridge and remove the distracting stuff on the left-hand side.

so, looking at your tech specs, you have a 20-second exposure at f/10 and base ISO (200). 20 seconds will turn light trails to mushy blurs on a heavily trafficked bridge. this also likely affects the quality of light reflected back onto the bridge. when i do light trail shots, i find that 2-4 second exposures is usually enough to capture streaks and get the light trail effect. so, mathematically speaking, your exposure is 5-10 times that, which may be overkill. if you look at the sunstars on the bridge lights, they are completely blown out, which is usually an indication of overexposure.

however, if you reduce the exposure time, you will have less overall light in the background. i wouldnt go past f/13 in any event b/c of diffraction, but you could stop down to f/11-13, and also raise the ISO (i would try 400 first) to try to recapture some of the light you will be losing. again, taking pics at sunset is very difficult because you have a limited window of available light to work with, and the light will never be exactly the same on two different days.

Thanks a lot for all of you for your time.

@ Larry - I agree that if i could pull some highlights from bridge then image could be better. Thanks for pointing.

@Eric - Thanks a lot for your comments. I do agree if i could pull some details in traffic lights of bridge the image would be better.Anyway i have raw file and i will try if i can pull some details.

Regards,

Sunil