Belated Holiday Motorcycle Shots

[Voni]

My favorite is post 10. Looks like a Christmas present!

Voni
sMiling

[grossjohann]

I think I'm partial to the ones of the bike in the gazebo, esp. the one showing the bike facing the camera, and the last one in the series.

Some of the ones with the background or foreground out of focus just bothers me somehow. Maybe its because its a night shot and lights that are out of focus are simply more pronounced? The depth of field issue in the same shot in the daylight would probably add to the shot since it would make the bike the center of attention. But that's just me.

I do concur they are all nice shots, with the possible exception of the one with the blown-out clock face, It was the very first thing I saw and thus I found it very distracting.

RM

Thanks, RM.

I agree. A trade-off might be to try the same at dusk or early evening. The additional light would allow for a much shorter exposure.

I could have experimented a bit more with depth of field. I wasnt concerned about that because the shots looked quite clear in the 1.5 monitor I knew that the lights would bloom with the longer exposure, but it can be a little too much when added to a short depth of field.

I did consider photoshopping the shot with the clock. I had bracketed the exposure, and picked that one because it showed the bike (the subject) must clearly. The shots which showed the face properly were much too dark to see the bike. By combining both shots, one could show the best of both, but I didnÔÇÖt like the shot enough to warrant 2+ hours of photoshop time, so I deleted the darker ones.

-Alex

[grossjohann]

My favorite is post 10. Looks like a Christmas present!

Voni
sMiling

Wouldn't that be fun... "Thanks, Santa!!!"

[SNC1923]

I think I'm partial to the ones of the bike in the gazebo, esp. the one showing the bike facing the camera, and the last one in the series.

Some of the ones with the background or foreground out of focus just bothers me somehow. Maybe its because its a night shot and lights that are out of focus are simply more pronounced? The depth of field issue in the same shot in the daylight would probably add to the shot since it would make the bike the center of attention. But that's just me.

I do concur they are all nice shots, with the possible exception of the one with the blown-out clock face, It was the very first thing I saw and thus I found it very distracting.

RM

I liked the Gazebo shots, too. They are very appealing photos and good, even exposures. My vote for the first shot was with a holiday card in mind. I feel that is a stronger image for that purpose. One could certainly mount that argument for the gazebo shots, too.

I rather liked the shallow depth of field--perhaps because it's more unusual in a night shot. The exposures are blown out though. That's the latitude of the image sensor. Because Alex exposed for the bike (and rightfully so) the much brighter lights on the tree/clock tend to be overexposed. One way to deal with this is fill flash (or if a longish exposure, a secondary light shining on the bike).

Your photos are generating discussion. That's always a good thing.

[grossjohann]

I liked the Gazebo shots, too. They are very appealing photos and good, even exposures. My vote for the first shot was with a holiday card in mind. I feel that is a stronger image for that purpose. One could certainly mount that argument for the gazebo shots, too.

I rather liked the shallow depth of field--perhaps because it's more unusual in a night shot. The exposures are blown out though. That's the latitude of the image sensor. Because Alex exposed for the bike (and rightfully so) the much brighter lights on the tree/clock tend to be overexposed. One way to deal with this is fill flash (or if a longish exposure, a secondary light shining on the bike).

Your photos are generating discussion. That's always a good thing.

I enjoy the discussion... I've been learning quite a bit.

Additional lighting would certainly do the trick. Either natural light from earlier in the day, or some well placed reflected lights (harder to bring with you on the bike, and IÔÇÖd probably need a permit from the town )

Photoshop two exposures into one
+ =
(not my best photoshop image, but it shows the point...)

Fill flash

[rocketman]

I liked the Gazebo shots, too. They are very appealing photos and good, even exposures. My vote for the first shot was with a holiday card in mind. I feel that is a stronger image for that purpose. One could certainly mount that argument for the gazebo shots, too.

I rather liked the shallow depth of field--perhaps because it's more unusual in a night shot. The exposures are blown out though. That's the latitude of the image sensor. Because Alex exposed for the bike (and rightfully so) the much brighter lights on the tree/clock tend to be overexposed. One way to deal with this is fill flash (or if a longish exposure, a secondary light shining on the bike).

Your photos are generating discussion. That's always a good thing.

Yup, now that you mention it, it is the fact they are blown out more than simply out of focus. I noted that in the one above the slats and some of the lights were slightly out of focus but the exposure was such that I assumed it had some fill light and thus the lights are not blown out since it would have been shot with a faster shutter speed. Without them being blown out they are not so dominate in the photograph and are thus not so distracting. I should have considered that as I have just been doing some night shots that included strong lighting and have encountered that very aspect of night-time lighting trying to put together my series for the current challenge, which I am so far still struggling with! The third shot is still eluding me!

RM