Hi all, just back from learning on night shoot... have a couple of photos for your comments.. please feel free to leave a note and will try to improve on my next shoot as this is my first try. =)
thanks lots ~*

wheelock place


stars all around

It's good photo.

For the 2nd picture, try to shoot it using 4 points star filter.
And the result will look better ;)

Ooo... thanks for the compliment and the tip.. will try to look out for nice night shots tonight for the 2nd part of the night outing... :)

Here is my 'uncensored critique' as shifu Julian would put it..

#1
Angle of the shot is too sharp, and the WHEELOCK PLACE sign becomes a little bit hard to read. Usually, when a shot is clean and good, the subject stands out immediately and you don't have to strain to see it. The shot looks a bit squeezy and maybe you should zoom out a bit more to catch a little more of the background activity so that the shot is a little more interesting! I have also noticed a reflection(possibly) at the upper left corner of the building so remember to only shoot in angles where reflections are not a problem! ;)

#2
This shot is quite nicely done! However, always avoid shooting directly at light sources because they tend to be overly glaring and cause lens flare(the green spot you see in the top left of the photo) which can sometimes be distracting. And also, since Wheelock Place's architectural structure is tall, you might want to try shooting in a horizontal format to see if it comes out more outstanding.

But all in all, it's a good effort! Jia you! :D

Keep shooting and sharing, and you'll reach shifu status in no time!

Hope this helped. :)

Nice composition in the first picture :) I can't view the second picture

And I believe Isaac will be the Master of Shifu in no time ! ;)

Thanks Isaac for the tips and comments..
will watch out for the things to note when shooting tonight... :)

Thanks Keith! might want to try viewing the 2nd picture at http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3664/339143..._6172382517.jpg ?
;)

So enjoy your night workshop tonight at Clarke Quay

Have some fun ! :D

Looking forward to see your photos. :D

back from the shoot... guess these are my best photos for the night~* =)

lamp post~*


trails at clarkequay~*


mystical bridge~*


night settles~*


looking forward to your comments~* =)

Well, the lamp post photo is over exposure actually.
For other photo are not bad. Just need to improve the composition.

One question :
As I read from you other thread, so you decide to use 50mm f/1.4 lens for all these photo ? Then choose aperture priority and use f/1.4 aperture ? And shoot with hand held ? That's what Mr. Kenneth teach you right ?

Yeah I can see the color is bright.
Just don't use f/1.4 to shoot directly to a lamp post ;)

Hi!

Was being called on to come on fri/sat. But I have wedding shoots both days, so I couldn't attend... :(




lamp post~*

Well, I'm a big fan of flare, glare and other imperfections (caused by a lens).

The central emphasis of the lamp post is interesting to look at, though the little bit of background details that's illuminated by the lamp itself, and it does sap away some of that feel just a teeney weeny bit, and you can experiment more, by moving your composition, so that the lamp post is slightly off center. Then this way, not only you'd be playing with emphasis, but you'd now be playing with Balance... The balance between the subject and (the empty) space.

trails at clarkequay~*

the trail shot I think, might not be getting the amount of attention warranted by your intended titling. The totally dark skies and the darkness of the buildings carve a swath of darkness throughout half of the frame - and that's black space, and the trails are too small to be significant in comparison... You may want to try and move in closer. The dark skies at night usually only gives black space, so you might want to consider that point. Totally dark skies has it uses (black space) IMHO, so don't discount it too quickly. For this one, I suggest you can try moving closer, and make the trails a bigger and more significant part of your composition and see if it works better for you... ;)

mystical bridge~*

For this one, I feel that you may want to try experimenting. My gut tells me that you might want to give your bridge some space all around it, but at the same time, try to keep the bridge as your primary focus - being true to the name you gave it. So you may want to start moving your camera around, perhaps backwards to get more shots and see if those work as well. What I do, is that I don't strictly work with how things should look like, but I try more permutations of the same thing, and select the one that works best for me. :D

night settles~*

That's a great looking shot to me... shooting at twilight is great... Well, try and see if you like the result if you manage to fit the entire skyline in, how does it look? :)



One good way to improve the overall look and feel of your photos is to start reading about a subject called the Principles and Elements of Arts and Design (EPAD), keep those in mind as you do your works, you might get a rewarding experience from it. :D

At the end of the day, I believe, the photos will have to work for your tastes eventually, because mostly, people, unless commissioned with works, would shoot for themselves. ;)

I believe shifu Richard has already covered 99.9% of the aspects pertaining to improving your photo so..

For the most part, I think your photos are very vibrant and eye-catching, just that composition has to be watched!

Great job, Benny!

Thanks shifu Richard for the time spent in the comments... Learnt a lot from reading the insightful words.. will keep practising and take note when shooting...

Jeff, I only managed to have the 50mm F1.4 lens for a short while at the end of the scene shots so didn't really have a good shot although it was fun while playing around with it...
The 4 shots were taken by the 18-70mm kit lens.. which i felt was not bad :)

thanks Isaac, will keep watch on the composition!

Thanks all for the compliments and comments! will keep improving ~* :)

Ah, you flatter me guys... I'm not a shifu... just another learner here... :)

and say, I really dig the lamp post shot - the light rays are really nice. :wub:

heehee~* thanks for the compliment ^_^