LA Nights
Sometimes a view captivates you in unexpected ways. This building is like nothing I have seen before. I ended up spending a considerable amount of time explorin...
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Sometimes a view captivates you in unexpected ways. This building is like nothing I have seen before. I ended up spending a considerable amount of time exploring various angles. Every time I changed where I was standing, the camera angle, almost anything, there was something new and different in front of me.
A three shot HDR long exposure bracket.
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A three shot HDR long exposure bracket.
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Apr, 2018Views
487
Likes
Awards
Winner in Building detail Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Top Ranks
Top 30 rankTop 30 rank week 1
Top 20 rankTop 10 rank week 2Top 10 rank week 1
Categories
Forrest_Imagery
April 06, 2018
An extraordinary Architectural Abstract !
The strangely warped patterns and forms of the building, receding into the night, give a it surreal and almost menacing presence. Additionally, its odd hue enhance the highlights and deepen the murky shadows, providing almost a sense of motion, as if the building were alive.
Excellent perspective, composition, exposure and post-processing !
The strangely warped patterns and forms of the building, receding into the night, give a it surreal and almost menacing presence. Additionally, its odd hue enhance the highlights and deepen the murky shadows, providing almost a sense of motion, as if the building were alive.
Excellent perspective, composition, exposure and post-processing !
MyPhotoAdventure
April 06, 2018
Thank you! It is an amazing building, with more angles to shoot than time. This was my favorite though. The post processing added to it for sure.
MagyK
June 14, 2018
Congratulations on your Winning!!!
Very well deserve is an Amazing image, from the composition to the editing.
Very well deserve is an Amazing image, from the composition to the editing.
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken in Los Angeles, CA at The Broad art museum, which is next to the Walt Disney Performance Hall. I had initially gone to see the performance hall, but this building truly grabbed my eye.Time
This was taken on a calm, cloudless night. The lighting on the building and the street lights made the architectural features that much more interesting.Lighting
This is a three shot, long exposure HDR at +/-2.0 to capture the widely varying range of light on the building. The longest exposure of the three frames was 30 seconds. The building overall has truly unique features, but the front corners have some amazing angles to explore. The biggest challenge may have been where to place the camera pointing nearly straight up to get the angle I wanted. Placement took some time, along with trying to ensure the triangle was balanced within the frame. My goal was to not have to crop the final image. This was shot at f/18 to try and ensure the desired DOF. As I didn't have my remote timer with me, I was having to balance my desire for ISO 100 with the longest exposure I wanted to work with being 30 seconds.Equipment
I used my Canon 1Ds MkIII with Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, mounted on a ProMaster tripod. The camera was set for bracketing. Because I did not have my remote with me, I used a ten second delay to minimize any vibrations.Inspiration
I spent over an hour slowly walking from one end of the building to the other, looking at many interesting angles. Lots and lots of shots were taken. With each shot came new ideas for another shot. The corner of the building with the main entrance intrigued me, but there were parts of it that felt on the busy side. When I got to the other corner, the structure was similar, but without the busy aspects. Looking up at the night sky, the outline of the building seemed nearly perfect against the blackness. I have seen night images like that before, and wanted to see if I could do justice to the style with this building.Editing
I did end up having to do a little rotating to get the center vertical as straight as could be. With that, a small crop was needed, but it did not feel quite right in how the tip of the triangle was spaced from the top of the image. In PS, I extended the canvas slightly to create the amount of gap I wanted and adjusted the crop to where I wanted. Although it was a cloudless night and the city lights washed out any stars, the sky was not as black as I wanted after merging the frames. I selected the sky in PS and filled with black. The same was done for the lower triangle to mask some building features that were distracting. Once the image was processed at that level, the rest of the look was done in Nik Silver efex pro. The only other major adjustment was done in LR. The cement of the building felt a little too grainy with the texture, so I reduced the clarity until it had the right look and feel.In my camera bag
My bag is pretty consistent. My Canon Canon 1D MkIII is always in it, along with a Canon 7D MkII. These two bodies give me a huge amount of flexibility, and ability to really look at the shooting conditions. Sometimes I may want the 7D's 10fps to capture the right instant of an egret taking flight, or for it's video capability. Other times I may want the color depth and added details the 1Ds provides. I have three primary lenses. My "walking around" lens for the 7D is a Tamron f3.5-6.3 16-300 VC. The range it offers, combined with the image quality, is simply amazing. As a general shooting lens, it has never failed me. My "wildlife" lens is my Canon EF 100-400 f4.5-5.6 L IS. I can't say enough about how great it is for wildlife, and works equally well on both the 7D and 1Ds. I also keep a Canon 1.4x III Extender handy for use with this lens. For the 1Ds, my walking around lens is a Canon 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM , which is great for many types of shots. Past that, spare batteries for both bodies, polarizer for each lens, 1-8 ND filter for the Canon 28-135mm and Tamron, a remote trigger for most tripod shots, and spare 64GB cards just in case. Although not "in my bag", I have a ProMaster XC525 tripod, and a Really Right Stuff MC-34 monopod with the MH-02LR head, which are always ready to go.Feedback
This is the type of shot you should be able to visualize before getting started. You can virtually see how it will turn out before you touch your camera. From there, you need to be able to know your camera well enough to setup the shot effectively. What ISO is needed? What DOF do you want? Do you want to bracket shots? For long exposure and bracketing, a truly stable tripod is critical. Weight it if it has a hook. A remote makes life easier so there is no risk of camera shake when hitting the trigger. Mirror lockup is always a good idea when possible to help prevent camera shake. Are there any distractions you may need to account for? Lights from other buildings that may make odd shadows or lighting? Are you on a street where cars may come by with headlights to change the lighting or pass through the shot? Knowing your camera controls without having to look at them is a BIG help. Can you work your camera in the dark or near dark? If not, a small flashlight can be helpful or use the light on a smartphone. Once the capture is finished, the rest is in post processing. The better you have done with the capture, the easier time you will have in post processing. Take a few shots or brackets just in case anything changes that you may not have noticed. You may want to make slight adjustments based on how each shot turned out. HDR merge can be done in several applications, but each may do the merge slightly differently. Experiment with more than one application if you have them to see which merge you like the best. I tend to think Nik HDR efex does the best job of the applications I have. Take your time with the post processing. There is no rush.
