TDMMC Photo Contest - How'd Ya Do That?

[Brian Fein]

You just won a category of the TDMMC photo contest?  This is your place to shine!  At the request of the participants, each category's winner will have their photo posted in this thread with a summary or description of the thought process behind the shot, and their photographic method.

[Brian Fein]

The winning Nightscape photo was actually my entry, and this wasn't my planned shot.  I had planned to do a time-lapse exposure (slow shutter speed) of traffic at the beach.  I wanted something with bright lights in the distance and the red-and-white streaks in the foreground.  But, when I got home and looked at my shots, this was the clear entry for me.

There's a story to go along with it.  This is a shot of Fort Lauderdale's Intracoastal at night, near the BeachPlace area.  I was shooting A1A with traffic, as described, in front of BeachPlace, when I noticed a rooftop balcony belonging to the Mariott BeachPlace resort on the roof of the 3rd floor.  I thought "Maybe if I could get up there..." 

So, I waited in the parking garage on a park bench near the door to go in (requires room key to access) and within 2 minutes a family of 4 comes flying out the door.  Just before it closes, I squeaked into the open door and I was at the elevator.

So I press the call button on the elevator (which unbeknownst to me also requires a room key to operate) and when it arrives there's two teenaged kids in there lugging beach umbrellas.  Mind you this is 9:00 at night.  I press the button for the third floor, but the kids were on their way to 10.  The button lights up for an instant and immediately goes out.

So I follow the kids to the 10th floor, allowing them to gain some distance so they don't think some wierdo with a camera bag is stalking them.  I proceed to the south end of the building, where I find a stairwell balcony.  I look out over the railing to see a beautiful shot of the downtown Fort Lauderdale skyline to the west, complete with lightning storm in the background.  I proceed to the North end of the building, which I where I came across this gem. 

This shot was taken from the 10th story north balcony of the Mariott BeachPlace Resort (26 07'21.43"N 80 06'18.82"W for you GPS geeks) at 8:55 PM on August 22nd, 2008.

To get this shot, I knew I had to use a long shutter time to really capture the lights, especially in the distance.  So to do this, I set my camera to Aperture Priority (manual mode) and dialed down the aperture to F/16.  This does two things for me - it forces the shutter to stay open longer, as well as increasing the depth of field (meaning everything will be sharp).  Knowing that the shutter would be open for a long time (30 seconds), I set up a tripod on the stairwell balcony and used a wired remote shutter trigger.  I set my ISO to 400, in an effort to maximize the sharpness and minimize digital noise.

I shot this picture using the RAW setting on my Canon Digital Rebel XTi camera with Sigma 28-75 f/2.8 lens.  I used Digital Photo Professional to convert the RAW file to JPG and PhotoShop Elements 6 to crop and resize the end photo.

I took 18 pictures that night, running from Fort Lauderdale, to Boca, and everywhere in between.  I drove around from 8 PM till midnight looking for the perfect shot, and it turns out that the one I had absolutely no plan for ended up being the contest winner.

Thanks to everyone that voted for me.  I appreciate all the kind words.  Please let me know if you have any questions on anything, I'm happy to help.

[Philly Fin Fan]

Week two's winner was me. Just like Brian, this wasn't the shot I wanted originally. I had planned on taking a picture of some train tracks, but not these particular tracks. (These tracks are only about 3 blocks away from my house.)

While working from home one day, I went to the set of tracks I wanted to use, and set my tripod up and took a few pics. The set of tracks were very long, and made the pic seem like it was a neverending shot. Unfortunately, the tracks were no longer in use, so they were somewhat overgrown with some weeds, which I felt took away from the shot. Upset, I packed up my gear, and headed home.


After I got home, I decided to head to another set of tracks, right behind my neighborhood (the tracks in the pic). Where I am standing is actually at the street- train track intersection. Originally I was taking pics of the section of tracks which my back is to in the winning picture. The pics looked good, but there were a lot of things which I felt threw the balance of the picture off. I packed up my bag, and was headed back to my car, when I looked down the section of tracks which is in the picture.

Immediately, I noticed repitition on multiple levels. I really didn't do anything special in regards to the actual picture, it was more about finding a great subject matter, and getting a good day of lighting. I took several pics that first day, however, due to the sky starting to get overcast, they didn't look good. I went back over the next several days and took about 70 pictures of the same thing. I felt the key was making sure I was perfectly level and centered. Getting centered was pretty easy, just looking at where I stood between the two sets of tracks. Getting level was easy as well, using the level on my tripod.

My camera is the same as Brian's (Canon Digital Rebel XTi) and I also shot this in RAW and converted it to jpg. I used the AP setting, although I can't recall all the exact settings right this second. Like Brian said, in this setting, everything appears sharper and crisper. I also want to thank everyone who voted for my picture. I appreciate all the kind words.

[stinkfish]

Brian. I knew that area looked familiar. I've stayed in that neighbor hood a few times for Phins games.

[Frimp]

I was at a loss when I started shooting for this one. I took a picture of soap bubbles in front of bubble wrap, and sent it to Brian. Then, I heard that the fair was in town, and immediately thought of the ferris wheel.

A little while back, I bought a 50mm 1.8 lens for my camera, but hadn't really done anything with it other than just playing with it around the house. But, the fair came to town, so I went there with my tripod, camera, and only that lens. This photo was shot on shutter priority, with a 4 second exposure. Note..when the camera is in shutter priority, you set the shutter speed, and the camera sets the aperture. I left the ISO at 200. I used my Nikon D70s and the tripod, of course. I had wanted to get night time slow exposure pictures for a long time, and figured that the fair was as good a time as any.

Here's a couple more that I'm proud of from that night..

The swing machine. Note the stationary lights, and the star light reflections around them. I did not use a star filter, and this is not a photoshop. I was surprised. I guess you get that effect with slow exposure. This one was also shutter priority, 200 ISO, and the shutter set at 1.3 seconds.


This one is a closeup of the ferris wheel. One second shutter speed, and 200 ISO

[Brians Stalker]

I REALLY like the last one, Frimp!  All three of them were awesome pics though. 

[Frimp]

^^^

Thanks.  That last one is my favorite too, and I wish I could have used it, but it isn't a circle. lol

[Brian Fein]

you could have totally used it - its circular...

[pintofguinness14]

For a non-photo buff, this was a really great thread. Thanks for the insights guys.