Night panoramas and a request for feedback

[HappyCynic]

Here are a couple night panoramas. Admittedly not great shots but I'm trying to get used to the panorama feature of my WX1.

One from beside the bridge:




One from under the bridge:




Here's a non-panorama shot that I'd like some input on. I personally like it but unlike most photos, I have no clue why. It's entirely possible that it's not a very good photo but appeals because I've been staring at moon shots for far too long. So, if you think this photo works, please let me know why. If you don't think it works, let me know as well.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. the third one is phenominal

and I like the second more than the first...

good work

[alfredo]

4. I like the third and first.

The third one gives a view you rarely see. All three are beautiful.

[tekisui]

2. Third is my favorite.

Really a great shot, very interesting.

[ManiacJoe]

3. You are off to a good start!

Links to larger versions would make judging them easier, but I like what I see.

Good exposures in the panos. The lit bridge adds a nice foreground.

In the underbridge shot, I think part of its appeal is its abnormal view of the city. You have done a good job with the exposure. Might add a little sharpening and maybe a little straightening (assuming the street is supposed to be level).

[alfredo]

5. It has the nine year old kid factor. A kid would love looking at

that view of the bridge. The underside of the bridge has that "wow look at that" appeal that brings out the kid in us.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

6. well if you are going to bother to photograph

stuff, you should always try to get angles and locations that most people never could see, or you miss the point of photography, IMHO

[alfredo]

12. That's it. It's hard to find a fresh look at a subject. Imagine

the thousands who travel over that bridge, but never saw the underside? That gives people a different perspective to a bridge they only know in one way.

[HappyCynic]

7. Photobucket

The files I uploaded to Photobucket are 1600 wide rather than 800 wide. I think Photobucket's upload script automatically reduces it so the max dimension is 800. Anyone know how to stop Photobucket from resizing?

[soup]

11. Try this

Log in and on the main page, you'll see your upload 'box'



Click on 'more options' under 'Upload Images and Videos' in the upload box and a window will open with resizing options.

[HappyCynic]

17. That worked.

Thanks. I don't know why I didn't see that before.

Here are the larger panoramas:

[Mira]

8. 2 for the great perspective and I wish I could see it bigger.

It's a little otherwordly, I really like it, and three is even better. The perspective on it is very extreme, when you have a minute play with taking enough off the right to the center of the post. I think it will add even more depth (maybe)
Very nice work.
I went out last night - took a few - they are grossly awful, it's one from my files or sitting this contest out.
Well, there is such a think as learning quickly....

[HappyCynic]

10. I'll try that tonight

I'll try some cropping tonight after I get home from work. (Surfing during my lunch hour right now.) I tried taking a bit off the left (to remove the little patch of city lights left of the pillar) and felt it made the photo worse. I didn't try the right, though.

As for your entries, there's still lots of night left and you'll probably even have a bit of the weekend as well to shoot more photos. And in terms of grossly awful, To get the roughly half dozen night shots I've posted recently, I had to go through probably 400 shots. I definitely have a lot of shots that would fit in the "grossly awful" category.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

13. i would also, if you can, move to the right a

bit to hide those big lights down low

[Mira]

15. You're making me smile on a rough day! Thanks for

taking me seriously, I would like to see if I'm right that the little triangle of water on the right gone will help the dimensionality of that great shot, but it may not need any help.

:)

[HappyCynic]

19. Here's a couple crops

I've cropped the right bit off as you suggested.



Personally, I'm not completely happy with that crop. I think it unbalances the photo. So, I tried cropping out the left water portion as well.



My personal thoughts on this one is that it works better than just the right crop but it gives it a bit more of a confined feel.

What do you think?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

21. meh... neither do it for me

I like the original, but with those lights more subdued, if possible

[HappyCynic]

22. I'll see what I can do

I'll probably go back there in a day or two for a second go at it. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a good shot. I'll definitely post a shot that's taken to the right of the original shooting position.

PS. I'm definitely in agreement with you that neither crop really works. I figured they should be there for those who were wondering what effect the cropping would have.

[Mira]

23. The first one works really well for me, it leaves the massive support on the

left completely defined, therefore what the one on the right looks like is a known entity. Then it can serve as a solid thing that gives framing and solidity to allow us to see the wonders on the other shore with a feeling of safety.

I think I might be fighting my late night demons, yet that's how I see it, and thanks for asking.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

18. Believe it or not, that is about the average

for everyone. the difference in a pro is that they never let anyone see the "grossly awful" shots, they edit them and only show the best.

makes not a bit of difference if you shoot 200 or 2000 shots as long as you get the one that works. do not worry about that.

just make sure the shots you show are the ones you want to show, and forget the rest.

I know, not always easy. But worthwhile.

[HappyCynic]

20. I remember

I remember Tindalos mentioned that to be quite a while back. I was admittedly a bit skeptical back then (I thought it'd be in the mid to high single digits rather than the low single digit percentages). I'm definitely a believer now. I'm just really thankful for digital and a large memory card (although in my case, I actually have two in my A330 - one SD card and one memory stick). I think I now just have to work on improving the quality of the "keepers".

[HappyCynic]

9. Puzzling

Thanks for the comments regarding the third image. It's appeal to me is puzzling because I can't really figure out the technical reasons I like it. The strongest elements of it (the flanking pillars, the lit portion of the bridge underside, the two strong lights) are almost all at the edges, there's no real focal object (except maybe the bright light closer to the center), and I'm not sure it's quite balanced, with the lower left being mostly dark. I'm probably missing some technical reasons why the photo does work.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

14. google "rule of thirds" and I think you will

find out why

[HappyCynic]

16. Rule of thirds

I do know about the rule of thirds but it didn't seem like it was sufficient to explain why I liked it. But now that you've mentioned it, I think I can see that it does influence the outcome more than I initially thought. Combined with what others have mentioned, I think the sum of all the factors does help explain things.
Thanks, all.

[GreenPartyVoter]

24. I like 1 best, and 3 second best.