View of Chicago Skyline from Lake Shore Drive

[Hanging Skull]

Chicago Skyline from LSD

 

[Walter de la Internet]

Chicago Skyline from LSD

I like it. High contrast with some subtle tones. In terms of constructive criticism I would say that when viewed at full size it seems that the camera moved a little during the long exposure, and the details on the buildings suffer from this. A non-issue but a point worth mentioning perhaps is that the verticals on the buildings are not perfectly aligned to the frame, this is fine but there are techniques either in capture (another expensive lens!) or post-processing to resolve this. I don't think it detracts much here. Finally I would say a little more of the foreground and a little less sky might have balanced the image a little more.

 

[Hanging Skull]

Chicago Skyline from LSD

I like it. High contrast with some subtle tones. In terms of constructive criticism I would say that when viewed at full size it seems that the camera moved a little during the long exposure, and the details on the buildings suffer from this. A non-issue but a point worth mentioning perhaps is that the verticals on the buildings are not perfectly aligned to the frame, this is fine but there are techniques either in capture (another expensive lens!) or post-processing to resolve this. I don't think it detracts much here. Finally I would say a little more of the foreground and a little less sky might have balanced the image a little more.

Thanks for the comments. I zoomed in on the original and it is much more clear than this version. The 'Prudential' text on top of the building is legible in the original, but not on this when zoomed in the same amount. Not sure if the lack of sharpness is due to the RAW to JPEG conversion or because of my post processing. Regarding the buildings being vertical, I used Lightroom to correct this somewhat. When I went further and made the buildings completely vertical, the image looked a bit odd so I backed off. I was also losing a lot of it due to cropping when I adjusted the verticals.

 

[Walter de la Internet]

Chicago Skyline from LSD

I like it. High contrast with some subtle tones. In terms of constructive criticism I would say that when viewed at full size it seems that the camera moved a little during the long exposure, and the details on the buildings suffer from this. A non-issue but a point worth mentioning perhaps is that the verticals on the buildings are not perfectly aligned to the frame, this is fine but there are techniques either in capture (another expensive lens!) or post-processing to resolve this. I don't think it detracts much here. Finally I would say a little more of the foreground and a little less sky might have balanced the image a little more.

Thanks for the comments. I zoomed in on the original and it is much more clear than this version. The 'Prudential' text on top of the building is legible in the original, but not on this when zoomed in the same amount. Not sure if the lack of sharpness is due to the RAW to JPEG conversion or because of my post processing. Regarding the buildings being vertical, I used Lightroom to correct this somewhat. When I went further and made the buildings completely vertical, the image looked a bit odd so I backed off. I was also losing a lot of it due to cropping when I adjusted the verticals.

The lack of clarity I referred to was of course when viewed at full resolution. I was almost certain that the camera moved during the shot, as if you look at the buildings every detail is blurred. It should be crisp and sharp. If you had already done a verticals correction, this may be an alternative explanation for the lack of sharpness.

 

[bosjohn21]

Chicago Skyline from LSD

great skyline. I think in this case I would like a bit more of the foreground and you should straighten out the buildings unless you have a reason for leaving the tilted. My thinking about more foreground is to make what ever those things are look grounded

--
John aka bosjohn21

 

[Hanging Skull]

Chicago Skyline from LSD

great skyline. I think in this case I would like a bit more of the foreground and you should straighten out the buildings unless you have a reason for leaving the tilted. My thinking about more foreground is to make what ever those things are look grounded

--

Thanks for the comments. Both your comment and the previous one mentioned the buildings should be straightened, so I will fully straighten them. I'll also check if the straightening introduces blur. I agree with the comment about the foreground, wish I had captured more of it. Those vertical posts are part of a pier which is in Lake Michigan.

John aka bosjohn21

 

[gavin]

Nice night shot

 

[bosjohn21]

if your using photoshop you can use the warp tool found in the edit menu as a sub menu from transform. you will need to open a new layer via copy. this tool allows you to do a lot of straightening without loosing much image but you will need to practice as its not altogether intuative

 

[Hanging Skull]

if your using photoshop you can use the warp tool found in the edit menu as a sub menu from transform. you will need to open a new layer via copy. this tool allows you to do a lot of straightening without loosing much image but you will need to practice as its not altogether intuative

 

[Hanging Skull]

Chicago Skyline from LSD

I like it. High contrast with some subtle tones. In terms of constructive criticism I would say that when viewed at full size it seems that the camera moved a little during the long exposure, and the details on the buildings suffer from this. A non-issue but a point worth mentioning perhaps is that the verticals on the buildings are not perfectly aligned to the frame, this is fine but there are techniques either in capture (another expensive lens!) or post-processing to resolve this. I don't think it detracts much here. Finally I would say a little more of the foreground and a little less sky might have balanced the image a little more.

Thanks for the comments. I zoomed in on the original and it is much more clear than this version. The 'Prudential' text on top of the building is legible in the original, but not on this when zoomed in the same amount. Not sure if the lack of sharpness is due to the RAW to JPEG conversion or because of my post processing. Regarding the buildings being vertical, I used Lightroom to correct this somewhat. When I went further and made the buildings completely vertical, the image looked a bit odd so I backed off. I was also losing a lot of it due to cropping when I adjusted the verticals.

The lack of clarity I referred to was of course when viewed at full resolution. I was almost certain that the camera moved during the shot, as if you look at the buildings every detail is blurred. It should be crisp and sharp. If you had already done a verticals correction, this may be an alternative explanation for the lack of sharpness.

I compared the image above with another very similar image I took on the same night and now I notice that indeed the image above is blurred, especially when compared to the other image which is much sharper. I used a tripod for both shots, but the tripod may have moved slightly for the image above due to wind or other factors.

How does one tell if the image captured is sharp in the field? Obviously, I can zoom and examine the image on the camera's display, but it's difficult to gauge sharpness based on this. Any other methods/tricks?

 

[Walter de la Internet]

Ninja. :-D

 

[Hanging Skull]

Ninja. :-D

Ninja?? More details, please.