Viewer Comments:

By smokeydawg (2008-04-04 01:37:22 ): Katia, this is really good! I like the pov in this real well! Great street scene and very well captured, great exposure. Once again congrats on the DE image last week! Hopefully I will have more time to participate next week.

By ktapio (2008-04-03 21:49:48 ): Thanks Linda I do like the colors like this too. It is one of the rare images I do not PS it at all..

By ktapio (2008-04-03 19:43:51 ): You are right it seems according to CJ it is small apertures f/16 or smaller makes the stars. katia

By ktapio (2008-04-03 19:39:48 ): Hey thanks CJ what would I do with out you guys. Photo ignorant women learning from all of you. That is true I did use a small aperture and was trying some hints that were mentioned in several critiques. Thanks one more time for the help CJ it is so nice of you. katia You know Bill mentioned that too. So thanks to all..

By CJGroth (2008-04-03 18:49:11 ): Hi Katia -- Jan's star info is great. Normally they are made by using a small aperature f16 or smaller. The bright light then takes on the shape of the aperature which is like a star when it's small. CJ

By LindaJames (2008-04-03 17:16:49 ): Really nice night shot. The row of stars & streaks of light are great. I like the color just like this, not corrected.

By ktapio (2008-04-03 09:15:53 ): Thanks Audrey for your kind remarks of the image. I wish I could get rid of that dark spot in the image and in real life too they case a lot of dust and their sight is not nice in day time either… any ways I left it because if it was cropped it will take away of the horizontal lines made by the lights jus over it and create the Z shape of lights that is from the bottom left to center finely to curve some where there. And because all these lights were created by passing cars could not duplicate them in another image. Ya I do have other images that I could have avoided that part. But the movement of light in this one was far more engaging… thanks for your support katia

By ktapio (2008-04-03 09:04:18 ): Thanks Bill I do love color, I am not shy to use it. May be you are right about smaller aperture opening exposure. Check what our friend Jan said…. I think that might be it to. Thanks again for the sport. katia

By ktapio (2008-04-03 08:58:56 ): Thanks Steve for your info. Might all be right it is humid in this part of the world and did use long exposure. Check what our friend Jan said…. I think that might be it tooo….katia

By ktapio (2008-04-03 08:53:57 ): Thanks Jim, it is always great to hear from you. As always full of knowledge and kind sport. katia

By ktapio (2008-04-03 08:51:15 ): Oh My God!!! You’re a genius!!! I went back to the images I took that night enlarge them and zoomed in and you are right I forgot to move the window screen… I had cleaned them this week so they were clear and I forgot all about it. Wow! Amazing! I can not get over this. Thanks Jan for solving another mystery in the world of photography. I am sure many others appreciate your talent and generosity in sharing it with us. katia the grateful

By Isachsen (2008-04-03 06:47:17 ): Many years ago I learned that if you take a fine mosquito mesh and hold a little piece of it in front of your lens (as a filter) then you'll get a start effect. The more you fold the mesh the more tags on each "star".

By audlee (2008-04-03 05:40:06 ): I really like your pov and the festive quality which for me comes from your stars and the colors. I too am distracting by the dark bottom left, but I really like the way the street lights pull me diagonally through the scene.

By EnterVortex (2008-04-03 05:37:28 ): Katia, I have gained an appreciation of color from looking at your work. Great job. I thought the stars came from a smaller aperture opening. One of these days I am going to understand the image data table.

By smyers11 (2008-04-03 04:22:48 ): nice image katia, always have assumed that the star effects come from long exposures - don't take my word for it, maybe one w/more expertise can verify. (personally think humidity affects this too) i don't mind the different color temps from the different light sources and i thenk the exposure is very good - reds are easy to burn out w/ long exposures. the sodium lights give a nice warm glow, the halogens give a strong cool bright whiteish. all seems quite balanced & natural, nice details in the shadows. very nice.

By Jim915 (2008-04-02 23:06:56 ): Katia - I really like the elevated POV. It creates immediate interest because people don't usually get that perspective. I think the street lights create a nice diagonal line which strengthens the composition. The dark roof at the bottom left is a hinderance to the viewer's enjoyment of the scene. Good use of available light. I would like to see this color corrected to remove the orange cast from the street lights.

By ktapio (2008-04-02 19:37:56 ): Thanks Jan, I did not do any thing to this image; it is exactly the way the camera got it. Only cropped to fit the balance I thought it should be. I took few shots of the same stage with different readings and stops. But my surprise was the stars that the light made. Would you know how I got them? They are nice I thought and I do not know how were they figured…… I know it is a stupid question but I tried to read some info about the subject not much luck. katia

By Isachsen (2008-04-02 17:55:04 ): After other critiques to this picure, I find (for me) that the balance is as good as it gets here - bott the composition and where the light and colors are to be seen.

By Isachsen (2008-04-02 17:52:09 ): I love the play between the red kiosk and the green light from the shop on the right. Well seen and captured.

By ktapio (2008-04-02 17:03:54 ): Now why didn’t I think of this. I know the tip well. Thanks though I will try it. Again thank you for your time and effort. katia

By CJGroth (2008-04-02 13:04:25 ): Hi Katia -- there are a lot of ways to deal with this. If you only want to change the color from white to the goldtone, you could do the following: 1. Create a blank layer. 2. Pick a soft edged brush. 3. Holding down the option key (on a Mac) and staying on the blank layer, you get a color picker. Pick a color from the gold area you like. Let go of the option key and paint loosely in the bright white area. Don't worry if it's messy. (Actually, I tried the green color from the sign across the street and it was nice too.) 4. Cycle through the blend modes to see which one you like best. I liked Multiply, Overlay, and Color myself. 5. Clean up edges with a layer mask. If you ever want an easy way to cycle through the blend modes, just pick a non-painting tool, hold down the shift key and hit + or -. Saves your clicking hand.

By ktapio (2008-04-02 12:02:31 ): Hi CJ thanks, I tried few crops too. Wouldn’t this crop take from the other end of the image where the curve of the red light turns? What do you think? I even moved the placement of the camera too. But the lights in the street changed and gave different effect… you are right the white light on the left is too strong I tried to burn it did not work. Any other suggestion besides the crop?? Thanks again with your help.. members like you make this site more fun to post images. katia

By CJGroth (2008-04-02 10:53:28 ): Hi Katia -- what a great job with the street lights, the "star" shape is very nice. I like the green and red on each side of the street, and the overall golden glow. I like the gold color so much I might have cropped out the white light to the left. But I like this photo either way. Nice!

Viewer Comments:

Add Comment: