Charles Walker  


Prague Castile and Charles Bridge by Charles Walker

October 2019 - Prague Castile and Charles Bridge

October 2019 - Charles Walker

Original

About the Image(s)

This is a photo of Prague Castile and Charles Bridge taken an hour after sunset late in the month of May of 2013. Only a couple days later the Vltava River flooded. The position on the bank I shot from was quickly 5 feet under water. I used my Nikon D7000 to take this DX formatted image. It was a challenging image to process because of the variety of colors and intensities of street lamps and spotlights, and having to shoot with 2500 ISO, grain was quite evident in the sky and shadows. I used Topaz AI grain reduction and sliders in the selective color menu of PS CC 2019 to render a more accurate balance of night lights. Camera data: 70mm lens, f/5, 1/60th handheld but supported.


This round’s discussion is now closed!
8 comments posted




R Gary Butler   R Gary Butler
(Group 4)
I think that you have chosen a magnificent subject and an unusual time of day. From my experience most people try to capture this in the daylight. As I remember this view I feel you have laid out the fixation points so that they draw the viewer's eye in from each side and hold the eye on the castle.

To my eye the exposure on this image, as presented here, is underexposed - I have tried to lighten and pull out details from the river bank but there seems to me to be no "data" there to reprocess. In my opinion an exposure with the histogram to the right, that is darkened in selected spots, might yield better shadows and highlights overall.   Posted: 10/02/2019 15:27:28
Charles Walker   Charles Walker
I knew this was a tricky image. Six years ago a tendency I had in high contrast situations was to avoid overexposure in the highlights at the expense of shadow data. If I ever return to Prague (not very likely) I'd use a tripod and take at least 3 exposures: one each on the highlights, midtones and shadows, then merge them. Another possibility is to use Active D-Lighting. On the other hand if shadows matter less than the highlights in one's composition, then simply metering on the brightest light source might be sufficient?   Posted: 10/02/2019 18:53:39



R Gary Butler   R Gary Butler
(Group 4)
Charles, I wouldn't meter off of the brightest but, in this case meter for a peak to the right of center on your histogram. This should give you the most captured information. You can then, post capture, create a dupe and reduce the exposure on the dupe as necessary. That should provide the detail in the shadows you need. Also don't be afraid of higher ISO's. My October picture was at ISO 800. My sister shot the same picture at the same time at ISO 1600 and her picture is better than my own.   Posted: 10/02/2019 20:13:00



 
Charles, I really like the composition and the sunset sky. I agree with Gary that the image is a bit dark. The sharpness is fine, especially considering that you weren't using a tripod.   Posted: 10/10/2019 10:50:36



Trey Foerster   Trey Foerster
Although the river area is really dark, it contrasts nicely with the lit buildings above to make them standout out more. You did a great job on the lighting for the buildings, bit I agree with what's said above about the darkness. I'd bring out the lighting along the river walk.   Posted: 10/12/2019 14:26:12



 
Nice colors .I like the pp how you have enhanced the colors.Overall its a tough image to process but you did pretty good.   Posted: 10/13/2019 00:33:29



 
Nice image Charles.Amazing that you managed to do this handheld.   Posted: 10/21/2019 13:11:03



Lou McLove   Lou McLove
(Groups 85 & 92)
I like this image very much. I like the lighting and the dark blue sky. You managed to capture the highlights and still have some details in the shadows.   Posted: 10/29/2019 16:28:13