Jim Hagan, MPSA
December 2020 - Dusk on Chicago's River
Original
About the Image(s)
I was in downtown Chicago in October about four years ago. Shortly after sunset I went to the bridge that goes over the Chicago River and took a photo of the river and included a small portion of Michigan Avenue. I used a very wide angle 12 mm fixed focal length lens with ISO at 640, shutter at 1/10 and I used a tripod. I liked the wide perspective that the fish eye lens provided but not its curvatures. It took me several hours to straighten the curves. And, I did not like the brownish looking sky so I toned it to a more natural deep blue. And I also cropped some off the right side of the image. And, finally I reduced the overall warm tone of the image to a more natural cooler tone. Should I try to remove the flag on the top left side of the image?
This round’s discussion is now closed!
9 comments posted
I love this! Beautifully done! The flag doesn't bother me as much as the glow from the light below does. Perhaps you can use a little selective dehaze on it. Perhaps the clone tool would let you clone the other cool red pillars over to remove the flag. Absolutely my favorite by you! Posted: 12/03/2020 20:41:56
Brenda, you are right, one street light is way too bright. When you photograph a street scene there is often a problem with street lights being too bright and it is very difficult to reduce their brilliance. Perhaps the best way to overcome the problem is to first bracket your exposures. You should then have an under exposed image in which the streets lights are very muted. Then in Photoshop you can use layers to allow the muted street lights in the under exposed image to appear in your final image. Unfortunately, I did not keep the under exposed image of my Chicago scene so it took me hours to eliminate the very bright street light - see revised image. Posted: 12/07/2020 13:59:32
Jim, I think it looks a lot better with the light down! Thanks for the explanation--yes, bracketing makes sense. I also saw a Matt K video where he recommends photographing the scene at sunset and sitting by your tripod until the lights come out and then blend your sunset/evening photos to get the look you want. I wonder if you might want to lighten a couple of buildings just a touch, so its easier to see what everything is. Wonderful work! Posted: 12/07/2020 14:28:46
A lot of work has been done to this and it was worthwhile as its an excellent image with lots of detail, and of course topical with Trump in the headlines.
I agree with Brenda the flag doesn't trouble me, and removing it would be a major task, but the light below (white bit) and the street light below/left do draw the eye away.
The pillar on the left looks a bit strange, is there a shadow falling on it?
Posted: 12/05/2020 09:36:54
I agree with Brenda the flag doesn't trouble me, and removing it would be a major task, but the light below (white bit) and the street light below/left do draw the eye away.
The pillar on the left looks a bit strange, is there a shadow falling on it?
Posted: 12/05/2020 09:36:54
Terry, you are right. I've adjusted my image to reduce the effect of the street light. Posted: 12/07/2020 14:03:46
You've done a fantastic job straightening out the effect from the wide angle lens. The tones are perfect as well. Makes me think of a computer rendering in some futuristic city skyline.
Your edit on the street light helps balance the scene as well. Posted: 12/18/2020 13:25:49
Your edit on the street light helps balance the scene as well. Posted: 12/18/2020 13:25:49
Thanks for your comments. Posted: 12/19/2020 06:26:31
I agree with Jason, it can't have been an easy task to straighten this image.
It is such a beautiful shot, full of points of interest from the left to the right.
I don't mind the street light as it is, as it is balanced by the brightness on the right-hand side of the image.
The only other feedback I could suggest is to perhaps try and straighten the Trump tower to the vertical a little more, as the current angle leads my eye out of the image to the right. Posted: 12/19/2020 19:27:29
It is such a beautiful shot, full of points of interest from the left to the right.
I don't mind the street light as it is, as it is balanced by the brightness on the right-hand side of the image.
The only other feedback I could suggest is to perhaps try and straighten the Trump tower to the vertical a little more, as the current angle leads my eye out of the image to the right. Posted: 12/19/2020 19:27:29
Jim,
This is very good, liked the post process, very good picture and well processed. Posted: 12/20/2020 13:56:00
This is very good, liked the post process, very good picture and well processed. Posted: 12/20/2020 13:56:00