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Photography Area~Our Photos => Night / Low Light => Topic started by: Barbarian on February 14, 2010, 10:34:59 PM

Title: Construction night
Post by: Barbarian on February 14, 2010, 10:34:59 PM
(https://www.christianphotographers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm5.static.flickr.com%2F4044%2F4358407268_ba7b8f443f.jpg&hash=102ebafb74c7ad8f2ea988ff966a25703b719b44)
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4358407268_ba7b8f443f_b.jpg
Title: Re: Construction night
Post by: ScottyBoy on February 15, 2010, 01:53:03 AM
Nicely done! The brown sky really makes the shot.
Title: Re: Construction night
Post by: Jeanne Lee on February 15, 2010, 10:28:20 AM
Interesting shot.  I noticed that there are two different colors of light - possibly one is the light and one is the reflection?
Title: Re: Construction night
Post by: JudyB on February 15, 2010, 10:59:45 AM
I like this one too.  Did you play with it before you posted it?  If so I would love to compare to the original!
Title: Re: Construction night
Post by: Barbarian on February 15, 2010, 04:34:20 PM
I did an HDR, which requires combining three exposures of different EV levels.  I then did a noise reduction to clear up stray pixels with NeatImage.   And then I played with levels to get the best definition of details.

So you get an idea, I'll give you the three images I used:

(https://www.christianphotographers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm5.static.flickr.com%2F4005%2F4360625564_bdc59a0dea.jpg&hash=c47d8ac6719d7c905df38f176089fadc0c37cb61)
(https://www.christianphotographers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm5.static.flickr.com%2F4058%2F4359879095_cb1a959a0e.jpg&hash=109fc0107354b0cb926d9d71bfea8b1b351a855a)
(https://www.christianphotographers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm5.static.flickr.com%2F4010%2F4360613154_8e5a2c5d1f.jpg&hash=2cde3e9543ad8e088bfad493e6a20982266b7b93)

The green light was also faintly green to my own eyes.   I imagine it's cheap fluorescent lighting.   The orange light is probably incandescent or sodium vapor lighting.   Why there are two kinds, I don't know.

BTW, NeatImage comes in a freeware package and for low-light or noisy images, it can greatly improve quality.  Easy to use, too.   Check it out.



Title: Re: Construction night
Post by: Jeanne Lee on February 15, 2010, 06:59:47 PM
Thanks for the explanation.  It sure made a difference from the original. 
Title: Re: Construction night
Post by: mfarley on February 21, 2010, 09:07:15 PM
I'm assuming you left the aperture open for quite some time but maybe you could help explain what the horizontal lines going from middle to left of the image.  Good job in post retaining the structure of the building and lighting the background enough to offer up some contrast.
Title: Re: Construction night
Post by: JudyB on February 21, 2010, 09:18:00 PM
Wow that is amazing how you did that!  Beautiful end result!
Title: Re: Construction night
Post by: Barbarian on March 05, 2010, 07:35:56 AM
QuoteI'm assuming you left the aperture open for quite some time but maybe you could help explain what the horizontal lines going from middle to left of the image.  Good job in post retaining the structure of the building and lighting the background enough to offer up some contrast.

The only way to get this was by shooting across a freeway.   One car got by while I was shooting.

Title: Re: Construction night
Post by: juanital on March 17, 2010, 06:20:23 AM
Nice job on your post processing and explanation. I used Neat Image for awhile but after I got the new computer I couldn't get the settings to work. I tried the trial version of Topaz Labs' Denoise, I liked and decided to buy-it does a nice job, too!
Title: Re: Construction night
Post by: Barbarian on March 17, 2010, 07:21:39 PM
When they get it to work well with GIMP, I'll take a look at it.

Title: Re: Construction night
Post by: juanital on March 17, 2010, 10:13:38 PM
Works with Irfanview-i use it the most with this free program mostly cos I like its easy viewing-a lot of photoshop plugins are compatible...Don't know if it works with Gimp, which I don't use... :)
Title: Re: Construction night
Post by: mfarley on June 02, 2010, 10:59:55 AM
Quote from: Barbarian on March 05, 2010, 07:35:56 AM
QuoteI'm assuming you left the aperture open for quite some time but maybe you could help explain what the horizontal lines going from middle to left of the image.  Good job in post retaining the structure of the building and lighting the background enough to offer up some contrast.

The only way to get this was by shooting across a freeway.   One car got by while I was shooting.
That would do it. 

So do you use GIMP for most of your post-processing?  I started out years and years ago designing websites in Photoshop so I've been having to fork over cash to Adobe for years.  I tried GIMP maybe 2 years ago, and found I was so used to the Photoshop layout terminology I found I spent most of my time trying to find a particular tool or filter or setting instead of working on the project. 

I'd love to eventually switch over though, does GIMP have a photo merge or some sort of panoramic image stitching?
Title: Re: Construction night
Post by: Barbarian on June 03, 2010, 11:13:07 PM

QuoteSo do you use GIMP for most of your post-processing?

Pretty much exclusively, now.

QuoteI started out years and years ago designing websites in Photoshop so I've been having to fork over cash to Adobe for years.  I tried GIMP maybe 2 years ago, and found I was so used to the Photoshop layout terminology I found I spent most of my time trying to find a particular tool or filter or setting instead of working on the project.

Hmm... have you tried GIMPshop?
http://www.gimpshop.com/

QuoteI'd love to eventually switch over though, does GIMP have a photo merge or some sort of panoramic image stitching?

There's some plug-ins, but I haven't used them personally.