City Photo
Feb, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken from the balcony of my dads apartment in Birmingham uk. I've only recently taken to photography and I'm constantly trying new techniques and imitating great images I've seen to understand how my camera works and improve my skill set.Time
It must of taken me an hour to take this photo. It was roughly midnight, the city was still alive with night owls and people out to enjoy themselves. The sounds from the city were electric, nightclubs and car horns almost reflected in the bokeh. So many attempts it took me to get the correct sharpness and focusing and also straightness to the phone.Lighting
So much light is shed from this view that it can be overwhelming in images. I wanted to strip that all away. This helps to pull the foreground focal in a lot more without the rear distractions and draws your eyes to the detailing on the phone.Equipment
For this i used a Nikon D3200, Manfrotto tripod and a Nikon Nikkor 35mm f1.8 lens.Inspiration
I was sitting up late one weekend fiddling with my camera and decided to check out Instagram and see what new photos were up as i find that to be a source of inspiration. I stumbled across a great photo in a similar style and thought it was such a striking shot, one I'd like to practice with. It was a day time image so i thought I'd see what fruit the city at night would bare and if i could work out the style and technique to capture the desired image.Editing
Yes, as you can imagine the image was full of colour and the eye was flooded with light. I fiddled with the colours to get them how i saw fit, adjusting the basic shadows, highlights gets and then flipped in to black and white. I then raised the contrast as high as i could to strengthen the tones.In my camera bag
My Nikon D3200 takes pride of place. For an entry level DSLR is takes an amazing image. I always make sure i pack my wireless shutter release button so i don't have to set timers etc on my camera. My Nikkor 1.8 35mm prime is a must, clean, crisp shots for portraits and street shots. Another essential is my Tokina 11-16mm f2.8. I'm a massive outdoors guy and love those wide angle shots especially at night. It just takes in so much light you can almost use it night vision. Head torch is a must as i tend to venture out along cliffs and across moors in the late hours and my tripod for those steady shots.Feedback
Practice and be patient. It's quite tricky when you have your hand in front of the lens and your looking on your camera screen to try and get the composition correct. Especially so at night when you need to work the camera to take a quick shot at night while maintaining as much of a noise free image as possible. Use as los of an aperture as your lens allows for soft bokeh. The most important element is having a straight phone in your hand, so it's not tilting towards or from the lens. You'll know when you have it.
