Under the Pier at Night

I'm trying to branch out and develop my photography skill but taking

non-sunrise/sunset shots. This is one of my first attempts at being

more creative, black and white photography, and a long exposure so

please be gentle. :) With that said, I would appreciate any and all

feedback so I can improve. If you think it deserves a 3 or 4, please

let me know how to improve it! As always thanks for viewing my work

and all the help!

I love this type of image, it pulls the eye along the pillers. The contrast could be more dramatic though. Why don't you try different lens lenghts, and try being off centre to to get different ballance - 1/3,2/3 shift. Good luck, keep shooting.

I would try the vanishing point at a different part of the photo. This is fine but the imbalance in the fact that you can see the sky on one side and not another is an issue.

 

Keep experimenting. Not bad but not great to be honest.

Thanks for the reviews and suggestions. I actually have shot this picture from many different angles. You can see the sky on the right because to the left there is another row of pilings like this. I picked those shot because I actually like the symmetry of putting the vanishing point smack in the middle. I see the point about the sky, although if I shoot so as to not include it I lose the symmetry I was going for. I'll try to post a different vantage point later to see what people think--maybe I chose the wrong shot to post. I also have this in color, which gives you a bit more contrast and detail. Thanks again for the thoughtful reviews and suggestions!

I don't have a problem with the vantage point being in the middle in this shot because of the way the geometries in the support boards work. The long exposure worked well for you. Did you record any of the details for the shot? Like what exposure did you use ... lens length? I was just thinking about how much I love my 75-300mm lens .... I'm always SO happy with the shots it gives me!

First off I think you've found a great angle, the perspective leads your eye though the picture perfectly. You could as someone else suggested add more contrast, that should make it "pop" a bit more. I'd be interested in your set-up here - did you use a tripod?

 

All in all I like it, but I think it would benefit from more contrast.

 

Dominic.

Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate each of them. To answer questions, yes, this definitely required a tripod! Exposure time was 30 seconds (I think that was probably slightly under exposed but since I didn't have a cable release I couldn't use the bulb setting since my XT requires you to manually hold down the shutter button, which obviously would cause too much camera shake). I was using my 75-300 lens at 80mm, F/32, and ISO 100.

 

I will attach 3 more photos to this thread--there is one color shot of this same composition and then another slightly different composition with B&W and then color.

 

Lou Ann, I still haven't had a chance to play with my software to shrink these--probably will do that tomorrow. Do you think you could just save them to your desktop so you can view them without scrolling? Thanks! :)

Another shot...

Lastly, one more shot. Please let me know what thoughts you guys have--I value them greatly!

 

Lastly, does some kind soul mind throwing my original in photoshop, adding some contrast, and showing me how you guys are envisioning this picture? Several of you said it needed more contrast and I've never done B&W shots before so I'm having a hard time knowing what the image is "supposed" (I know this is subjective...) to look like. Thanks!

Hi Tyler, I opened up PS and clicked on image,then autolevels. You should also open up levels and experiment with that.

Now - here are your attachments to this one....

Next....

And the third....

Hi there again Tyler... So you wanted to know some info. about my overgrown tracks image, first thank you so much for your comments, I happen to love this shot, its one of my personal favs. So How did I accomplish this? First, I was laying on the tracks, flat on my stomach, using a mini makeshift tripod, that was about 4 in tall. I had the f5.6 setting equivelant to an F8, I was using a single reflex lens digital, wth a 2x telephoto lens on. No alterations were made post capture, except adding my name to the image. I dont own photoshop:)The the exposure was set to auto, 1/125 and I made my disaperaing point a point behind the tracks. I also took the light reading from the green grass next to the tracks. I have the same image taken with my canon elan 7 with a 70-300 lens at 105 mm. I used a F stop of 11 with a exposure of 1/60. It turned out better some of the crispness of the grasses are softened, given a real pictureque apperance, but I havent scanned in the results. I've been playing with taking the same shot digital then again no postion change, and taking it with the Film. I hope this helps, and thanks again for your comments.. Cole

I like this Image Tyler, i think your next investment must be Photoshop, like you i am new to Photography (and PS), with PS you can make a average photo look so much better. If you do get PS i have a link on my home page for a book on PS CS2, great buy. Heres one i tweeked too, hope you like it. Terry.

I also noticed that the large files are in jpegs, if you get PS you will can shoot Raw, this is so much better, you get much more info in the image, and it allows for better adjustments in PS too. Terry.

Hi Tyler,i know the tweeked image i did does not look like night time, i did it just to show what you can do with PS. Terry.