For this week's project, I wanted to get some good night shots of light trails (made by cars' head/tail lights) reflected in the Rideau Canal. This... didn't quite turn out as I had planned. I only got to go out once, on what felt like the coldest September night in history, so I didn't really have the endurance, patience of mobility I would have preferred. Still, here are some choice shots:
This week's tip: check the weather, and dress the part. I know, I know, a big "duh" factor for anyone over the age of 10, but sometimes the most basic things (like weather... or lens caps...) can trip you up if you lack the presence of mind to deal with them.
Next week's project is a somewhat less of a photography and more of a Photoshop project that I've been putting off for a long time because I had no idea where to begin. Next week I will be trying to make my first ever High Dynamic Range (HDR) image. If you're wondering what that is, examples/explanations can be found here, here and here.
HDR can be done subtly or over the top; it has its lovers and its haters, and quite a few polemics have been thriving for a while on the topic. For my part, I think it's a technique that can get very attention-grabbing results and that, like many things, it's best used just short of any extreme. I'm trying it not only because it's been a big trend in photography recently, but also because I want to finally figure out what it takes to make a good HDR photo, and what takes it "too far." Stay tuned for results next week!
The Weekly Projects are small assignments I take on to try things I otherwise wouldn't and expand my range. While I do have a few things in mind, suggestions are very welcome. If you have a project idea, would like to share your thoughts on my posts, or would like to join me on my little adventures and post a link to your own results, it would make me very happy. And I would bake you cookies. Really.
That 3rd shot is really cool - but in terms of what made me look the longest, I'd have to say the first shot. I don't know if you noticed, but depending on what you focus on, it could potentially be 2 very different scenes.
ReplyDeleteIf you focus on that building, yes, you'd be looking at a night shot of the canal.
But if you focus on the light bursts, and the blurred reflections in the water, it actually looks a bit like some sort of Arabian night-esque painting, bursts of star lights over a brightly lit walled city in the middle of the desert in the deep of the night.