russragsdale
FollowNight time shot of the Roman Coliseum, Rome, Italy
Night time shot of the Roman Coliseum, Rome, Italy
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Zenith Award
Way To Go
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
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Peer Award
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Behind The Lens
Location
Night time shot of the Roman Coliseum, Rome, Italy. It's too bad you travel to Rome, and there's nothing to take a picture of !!!! Kidding !!! This picture is proof, that it's not the gear as much as it is the photographer. This was taken with a $200 Cannon Point and Shoot, on a tripod. I learned how to shoot manual on this camera and going as far as experimenting with a poor mans way of doing HDR.Time
This was the last photo taken on a week long trip to Italy. I'd taken lots of daytime pictures of the coliseum, but wanted to come home with a good night time shot.Lighting
The lighting was provided by Italy and the stars above, all I had was a camera and tripod. However it was a beautiful night, magic in the air, everything golden.Equipment
I wish I still had that Cannon point and shoot, well I do, it's just shot. Phone cameras are just as good of example on what can be done on the cheep.Inspiration
Inspiration is everywhere in Italy, if you can't get inspired in Italy, you might as well hang it up and go back to coloring. In fact I was so inspired, I booked a second trip and landed in Sicily 360 days later, for a whole new region. I can't wait to go back, now that I've got better gear.Editing
Post-processing starts with a Lightroom Catalog where I adjust white/black points but not much else. Next I shoot over to Photoshop and that becomes my hub for a while. In Photoshop I'll heal any imperfections that are bothersome, and I'll start stacking up the layers. I next use a variety of Topaz plugins starting with deNoise. I usually drift off into textures and Impressionistic directions, but for the Roman Coliseum all that was used was deNoise and some Sharpening, then back to Lightroom for final adjustments like color balancing and Tone Curve.In my camera bag
I'm excited to try out a New Sigma 10mm-20mm lens I just bought, I think it will work well for Interior photography and I'd like to get into Astral photography now that I live in a place without light pollution. Travel light, it's more fun, I only pull out the big guns during certain times ... like NOW .. Baby Deer Season, but that stuff gets heavy.Feedback
I'm surprised at the amount of Photographers who don't own a tripod, get yourself a tripod and learn to shoot in manual. You'll mess up a few times, but that's how you'll get stunning night time shots. In manual if there's action at all, it's sometimes easier to set the ISO on Auto while everything else is manual, then at least you won't miss anything. Experiment and have fun.