Hong Kong Lantau Island - Tai O

[TonyWoo]

http://www.travellereyes.com/travellereyes/photo/album/23/01_TaiO_2002.jpg

http://www.travellereyes.com/travellereyes/photo/album/23/04_TaiO_2002.jpg

I picked up this hobby 9 mths ago and I really need some comment on my picture...

Location: Hong Kong Lantau Island - Tai O
Camera: Canon D60

[RbnDave]

The sky in the top photo is great, but the land and buildings are underexposed. You could fix that with photoshop.

The second photo is very nice. I like the colors and I like how parts of the photo fade into black.

Dave

[Conk]

I agree with Dave and to add farther, the first photo is slightly tilted. Try rotating a little to bring things level.

[eland]

Tony

Your pictures are excellent, particularly as you have been in photography such a short time.

Keep it up. You are doing exceptionally well

regards
eland

[TonyWoo]

No wonder I felt uneasy when looking at the 1st picture myself (some area are underexposed), thank you RbnDave and Conk.

[TonyWoo]

Thank you eland, I am too green to spot the problem in my own picture, that is why I need all kinds of comment. It's better to have bad comments.

[AgileM3]

Nice shots ! Is the first one have some sort of a fisheye effect going on around the outside edges of the buildings?

Well done !

[TonyWoo]

AgileM3...
I took the picture with a 16-35mm lens which I borrowed from my friend. The picture does seem tilted as Conk said.

[nsxpower]

TonyWoo wrote:
AgileM3...
I took the picture with a 16-35mm lens which I borrowed from my friend. The picture does seem tilted as Conk said.

Ah, so the photo is not "tilted" but exibits some "wide angle" distortion which is to be expeceted. The photos are excellent and I personally like underexposed buildings/land in the first one since the focus is really on the sky and the mountains in the background.

Did you use a polarizer to get greater defenition in the sky?

I looked at your galleries, excellent. I love ¤j¿DMagic Hour 1, ¤j¿DMagic Hour 2, ³Â³¶¥J2 and your flowers are beautiful too.

[TonyWoo]

nsxpower
Thanks for visiting my gallery and your comments. The lens had a UV filter on it.

I looked in your gallery, may I ask where was the first picture taken at? I really like the texture of the rocks, it gives a distinct contrast with the sea and sky. I have never seen a clear blue sky over here in Hong Kong!
I specially like "Columbus Column", may I ask: Normally I'll get an overexposure of lights which is in front of me(close to the camera). How did you control that?

[nsxpower]

TonyWoo,

Thank you for taking time to look at my gallery.

The first photo was shot at S'Agaro, a small resort town about 60km NE of Barcelona, Spain. We get completely clear bright blue sky a lot here, so I have to use a polarizer most of the time to keep it from blowing out completely on me. However, most of the time it looks like an impenetrable greyish haze (very unattractive in photos), but that keeps people from "frying" completely in the sun ;)
I will try to post a few more photos that I took there, so check back some time next week if you are still interested.

"Columbus column" was actually one of the first long exposure night shots I took that I though came out OK. For night shots I usually use the following settings:
- ISO 50 to 100. At higher ISOs noise really becomes an issue on my G3.
- F 8.0, however I try to keep it at 4.0 - 5.6 when I have bright objects close to me since that seems to rid of some blooming/purple fringing on lights.

I am still getting the problem of "star effect" on lamp posts etc. and blooming around bright lights.

If the photo comes out overexposed, I either reduce the exposure time or turn on the ND filter (G3 has one built-in). D60 does not have an ND filter built-in as far as I know, so you may have to buy one. However if you have a circular polarizer you can use that as ND filter on your camera. I have also discovered (through sheer luck) that using a circular polarizer when shooting long exposures in the evening/dusk near water can still add greater defenition to the sky/clouds + rid of glare on the water.

I hope this helps.

[TonyWoo]

nsxpower:

I'm having a lot of problem in night shooting...Thanks for the info and that really help for I didn't join any photography club. There's so much to learn...
I've checked through the net on circular polarizer, can't wait to try it out. :)

[new girl on the bloc]

i love the way the skies in these photos look - esp. in the second photo!

[Griffin]

Hello Tony,

First of all, excellent work.

The problem with the first photo could be fixed rather easiler using 1) a ND filter and/or 2) PS and/or 3) Highlight Recovery action from Fred Miranda.


Griffin.

[TonyWoo]

Griffin
Wow,FredMiranda is great! I'm only using photoshop to resize and do a bit of color adjustment work. Guess I have to spend quite a bit of money in FredMiranda.
I like the "People" in your galery.

new girl on the bloc
Seldom we have weather like that particular day over here in Hong Kong. I have never seen a clear blue sky without clouds before, except in the pictures.

[nsxpower]

I've updated my PBase gallery ... the link/address is in my sig.

[TonyWoo]

RbnDave
This is the best I can do with the underexposed part... guess I'm not good in using photoshop....

http://www.travellereyes.com/travellereyes/photo/album/23/01_02_TaiO_2002.jpg

[mwinog2777]

I worked on your picture in PS. What do you think? Picture has great potential.


http://members.cox.net/mwinog2777/test.jpg

[nsxpower]

mwinog2777 wrote:
I worked on your picture in PS. What do you think? Picture has great potential.


http://members.cox.net/mwinog2777/test.jpg

But now the bottom part of the photo is oversaturated, overexposed and posterized :D

[mwinog2777]

I think its perfect just the way it is.

[TonyWoo]

mwinog2777
Thanks for helping, but I'm thinking of going back to Tai O again...

nsxpower
Waiting for your new personal site...