First Attempt at Night Shots - Long Exposure

Went to the local carnival this past weekend for some night shots. Every time I see night shots posted on this forum, I am amazed at how dramatic and impressive they look. When I look at these shots, I am not that impressed. Be interested to get feedback and input on what I could have done differently to make them better. Thanks so much.

1.

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The first 2 are great (they are all good) but I think they'd look better after the sky is dark. A few too many distractions IMHO.

GorgeShooter wrote in post #10204751
The first 2 are great (they are all good) but I think they'd look better after the sky is dark.

I totally agree about the darker sky but it was Sunday night and my wife and I wanted to get home to watch Survivor season finale. We're going back this weekend to stay later. I forgot it stays lighter longer now. But thanks for your input.

4th one.
I love it.

I can(and will) darken that sky in photoshop for you.
Because I have nothing better to do.
I'll just do the first photo.

Is this better?
I put it on my flickr to host it, but I credited you.

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I like the one with the clown, but I can't tell if it's two photos put together or if the clown really stood still long enough for that shot. The balloons have a few rough edges that make it look like you cut out the clown and put it in the photo. It might just be that you added balloons and the clown really did stand there. Either way, looks fake to me. Great photo, but not 100% real.

Please let me know if I'm wrong (or right).

It looks like two shots to me.. not sure though. Maybe the OP can tell us.

I really like number 2 as well as number 4, but number 2 is really neat!

Wow #4 is great. Really jumped out at me for some reason when i first seen it. Good job!

Yup, Prob 2 shots. Backround blurred but balloons are not.

Viva-photography wrote in post #10205463
It looks like two shots to me.. not sure though. Maybe the OP can tell us.

OK. The jig is up. Maybe this will solve the mystery.

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What I would certainly do if they were mine is to clone out those intrusive power cables. Like the kid throwing, good timing and the long exposures.

Try using the advance selection/masking tools
http://www.taranfx.com​/adobe-masking-photoshop

What sorts of shutter speeds were you using it? I'd really like to get to a carnival since it was suggested to me a few days ago.

NitroAGGIE wrote in post #10207668
What sorts of shutter speeds were you using it? I'd really like to get to a carnival since it was suggested to me a few days ago.

Yes... carnivals are fun. Lots of good junk food and lots of interesting people.

For the "Orbiter" the shutter speed was 5 seconds.
The Ferris Wheel was 3.2 seconds.
The ring toss was taken earlier in the day so it wasn't a long exposure.
The last photo is a composite of the 2 other images shown later in the thread.
The clown was also taken earlier in the day and had lots of light.
The background to the clown shot was taken when we were leaving and the shutter speed was 6 seconds.

If you are using Firefox for your web browser, go to https://addons.mozilla​.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3905/ and install the EXIF viewer plugin. When I first joined this forum, I always wondered how everyone knew the details of each photo when it was obvious that the OP never posted the details. Then I stumbled upon a thread that talked about the EXIF plugin. It's an awesome tool.

Viva-photography wrote in post #10205141
Is this better?
I put it on my flickr to host it, but I credited you.

Viva. I like the edit. Much better. Thanks. Like I said, we're going back this weekend and going to stay later so I'm looking forward to getting more night shots.

wizcreations wrote in post #10206202
Try using the advance selection/masking tools
http://www.taranfx.com​/adobe-masking-photoshop

Thanks for the link. I'll definitely check it out.

corkneyfonz wrote in post #10206192
What I would certainly do if they were mine is to clone out those intrusive power cables. Like the kid throwing, good timing and the long exposures.

I'm going to try to clone out those power cables but the Ferris wheel shot is going to be very tricky. Not sure how I'm going to get into some of the intricate areas of the blur. Maybe it's time to try the new content aware healing tool in CS5. I'll let you know how things turn out.

if #2 was a bit wider with no encroaching building coming in right side of frame and was missing the phone lines and had a line of people in front of it, I would likely buy that print Of course, those weren't really in your control. Love the moon "hangen out". Good control of exposure.