How could I fix this picture?

[onlylivingboy]

Advice or comments would be much appreciated. Thanks
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2091/2179530643_8cec9a269f_b.jpg

[spamster]

Cool ... I'm a bit amateur ish but I like it.

[onlylivingboy]

Thanks :) Yeah, I'm an amateur also and I'm not really sure about how to approach night photography with my camera or with PP.

[jonnythan]

Ok.

1) Print it out

2) SET IT ON FIRE!


No, I'm just kidding. It's a pretty cool picture actually. It seems like it's trying to be symmetric but it's off by just a little, so maybe crop it just slightly. I think I'd like it more if the gap wasn't centered.... maybe if the camera were moved back, then to the side, and angled with the gap in the right-hand third of the frame next time?

[flipstyle72]

nice apparition...spookyish. What did you do to get that shot?

[shannyD]

your white balance is off.but exposure looks good..its in focus. i wanted to try something like this with a friend.. where she would be still, and people would be walking by her. ill get to try in the summer time though.it will be cool.

[onlylivingboy]

I just made the shutter time 30 seconds, and ran to the middle of the shrubs and stood there for a while. When I tried it with other locations, the lighting was too strong and the picture was always over exposed. It was getting a little cold out so I couldn't experiment for long. I can't wait for summer. Maybe I'll go back there again later this week.

[joedlh]

I agree with the poster who suggested cropping a little on the right. The subject is too centered. Somebody else said the white balance was off. Well, yeah, maybe it is. But I could see where that would be intentional. I think the shot has more impact the way it is. That's my opinion.

[flipstyle72]

was it complete dark outside except for the artificial lights out? what other settings on the camera?

being new, this may be a silly question...but if shutter speed is 30 seconds and you run out in front, how come there is no "trail" of you running to your spot and then running back?

[jonnythan]

If *that* image took 30 seconds of shutter, it probably took him a small fraction of that (like half a second, or 1/60 of the exposure time) to actually run across the frame. That's not really long enough to be significant.

[rs2sensen]

Sometimes on long exposures, I set the camera to the 10 second timer to take the shot. It eliminates a lot of blur from my pushing the shutter, and would allow you even more time to get into whatever sort of position you'd like to try.

[onlylivingboy]

Yeah, it was completely dark outside.
Aperture: f/16
Exposure Bias: -2/3 EV
It took me a short amount of time to run to the spot

I just cropped a tiny bit on the right. Does this look better?
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2015/2181585872_de3d29caa6_b.jpg

[flipstyle72]

Thanks for the explanation guys... something I'll play with.