Posts Tagged ‘night’

Night Snow and Photoshop

Night Snow and Photoshop

All the photos I post here take a very quick trip through Photoshop, usually just long enough to set some levels and resize. This is the first one I actually chose to edit for real. Everything I know about photoshop I picked up from a couple sources and I usually have to refer back to them each time. I find the best candidates for improvement in this way are pictures that have a cool subject but just look flat to start with. I loved the night look that this started with, but I like the final product more.

Updated 2008.12.26 – Since my reader has been kind enough to remind me that it might be more interesting to see what the finished product looks like when you can tell where it started, here is the original photo:

snowy-night-original

  • ApertureValue: f/4
  • DateTimeOriginal: 2008:12:22 21:09:21
  • ExposureTime: 20 sec
  • Flash: No Flash
  • FocalLength: 24 mm
  • ISOSpeedRatings: 100
  • Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

Snowy Seattle Night

Snowy Seattle Night

I’ve been taking pictures lately, but all of them are within a few blocks of my house. Snow in Seattle is usually a once or twice a season treat. It’s funny how with another dozen inches and a few days later, it really feels like a whole different kind of hell. For a different take, I thought I’d do some long exposure shots. Very low light photography isn’t that hard, especially with digital since you can see what you’re going to get. You definitely need a tripod and you may or may not need a cable or remote shutter release to ensure you don’t shake things taking the picture. I was looking for the light trails and motion against the stillness on the street, so I closed down the aperture as far as it would go and dropped the ISO speed to my camera’s slowest to get this exposure at 20 seconds. The nice thing is you don’t have to be too careful staying out of the frame – unless you’re wearing a flashlight, you won’t even show up. There is a lot more that can be done with this technique – I’ll post more when the snow melts.
  • ApertureValue: f/22
  • DateTimeOriginal: 2008:12:22 21:15:07
  • ExposureTime: 20 sec
  • Flash: No Flash
  • FocalLength: 24 mm
  • ISOSpeedRatings: 100
  • Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT