Sydney Harbour Bridge + Opera House

[iceman]

Hi

Took these shots last night, after doing the draw for IIS1K. Andrew (RB) and I went strolling around the foreshore trying to find some interesting compositions, but there wasn't really a lot unfortunately. Most shots turned out the same so it was easy to cull them down to these 5.

If I had more time, I would've loved to continue for longer, go up to observatory hill and other spots around the city, but I had promised my wife I'd be home at a reasonable hour so I had to go.

All shots taken with the 350D on a tripod, exposures of 10-30 seconds @ f/11 - f/22, ISO100. One of the Opera House shots I used a star-cross filter as well.

Processed in Raw Shooter Premium, with final noise reduction, resize, sharpening, border and save for web in Photoshop.

Comments welcome.

[TidaLpHasE]

:)Great images Mike, i really like the second and the last pic.

Very good compositions too:thumbsup:

[RB]

They turned out beautifully Mike.
The star spikes add a very nice effect too.

Pity we were in such a hurry though, time was marching on.
After we split up, I went up to the Opera House steps.
Some great photo ops but guess what, it started to rain for crying out loud...
:lol:

[middy]

Great shots. The second one brings back memories. We got married on the grass just to the left of shot (Dawes Point Reserve). :)

[33South]

Hey Mike you be getting the hang of the horizontal horizon.

Not a fan of the star cross effect so 2nd last gets my vote.

[Volans]

Very nice shots Mike. I like the second one of the Coathanger mainly because of the palm.

A question though - why did you use a slow ISO requiring a longer exposure?

Peter.

[seeker372011]

Picture post card stuff Mike

great work

[iceman]

Thanks for the comments guys. I really love night long exposure shots.


lol, ah that's a shame. I'm still waiting for you to post your shots from last night!
Post the blurry ones after you broke your tripod! :)



Not really, Chris.. 2 of them needed straightening in RawShooterPremium :)


Last time I took similar shots on the other side of the bridge, I accidently had it on ISO1600, so they all turned out very grainy. I wanted to be sure to avoid that this time! The long exposure and slow aperture doesn't bother me - it ensures sharp focus across the field and I love the smoothing out of the water.

Thanks again guys.

[sheeny]

Very nice shots Mike!:thumbsup: I love existing light photography too! Especially waterfalls in dark rainforest settings... gives nice smooth lines instead of individual droplets.:) Same effect smooths the water in the harbour for your shots:thumbsup: .

Al.

[davidpretorius]

awesome mike, any close up pics of kings cross, ie rb and his lap dance.....hang on, which forum am i currently in????????????

[RB]

:rofl: Yeah I broke my Manfrotto tripod last night.
I loosened the knob, it bounced once onto the ground and into the Quay it goes. :mad2: :P :lol:
Someone must have spiked my beer! LOL

OK here's my snapshot of the house (don't laugh ok?)
Also mike the second image was taken later at the Quay of a Chinese busker playing a single string instrument.
I was going to enter it into this months photo challenge but I went with the QVB shot instead.

[RB]

:lol: David you wouldn't want to see the type of dance I did when my Manfrotto fell into the Quay :mad2: :lol2:

[iceman]

Nice shots Andrew, I love the busker shot except the instrument covers his face a bit. A different angle maybe would've been better?

Your opera house shots the difference between the stock lens and a good one!

[RB]

Excactly Mike !
It was a difficult shot considering his arm was moving and I couldn't use flash and had people moving past.
I used the 200mm at f2.8 LOL and only had the monopod to use :P :lol:
In the viewfinder the scene was quite dark and I didn't even notice his face was covered.:doh:


Cheers mate.

PS I asked his permission for the shot.:)

[Striker]

Andrew....I love the shot you did of Mike....I didn't know he could play any instruments....multy talented that Mike.

Mike I like the 2nd and 4th images...they are suberb...I prefer no spikes but it is a nice affect.

I could only imagine the results with a Canon 17-40mm L series...lol

[RB]

.....and a Lowepro bag Tony. :scared3:

[beren]

Wow great images Mike and RB :thumbsup: .....interestingly last night I just started reading a book about Capt James Cooks discovery of Botany bay and Port Jackson and the First fleets settlement of Sydney Cove . Imagine what those first people would think of the harbours development now :)

PS; the instrument that is being played looks like a Erhu , a Chinese violin, love the sound of that :)

[dpastern]

Mike - I know it's an old thread, but excellent series of shots, especially like #1. Looks like you took shots from similar vantage points as I did in my series. I miss Sydney harbour :(

Dave