Your City or Town at Night

[Mad Aussie]

I thought it could be cool to see if I could inspire anyone else to show us their town/city at night.

Here's mine ... I live about 30 minutes drive from where this photo was taken, which in Brisbane ( a small city ), is almost right out of the city.

Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia

(if the photo doesn't show for you try this link http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/CDaUCBVJXCOW3NUl7H1QnA?feat=directlink )

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3115/3215278017_467957be3e_o.jpg

[Ben H]

http://www.benhall.co.uk/pics/02.jpg

London - 02/Millennium Dome, Canary Wharf area...

[Gem]

Wow! Nice photo, Ben! Aussie, I can't see yours for some reason :S

I took this a few nights ago and unfortunately didn't have my tripod :( I set it on a fence but it still didn't turn out quite that sharp. It was my first try at this sort of thing.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

[Mad Aussie]

Wow! Nice photo, Ben! Aussie, I can't see yours for some reason :S

I took this a few nights ago and unfortunately didn't have my tripod :( I set it on a fence but it still didn't turn out quite that sharp. It was my first try at this sort of thing.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

I added an extra link in the first post for now Gem. Picasa Web sometimes doesn't work in forums for some people.

Next time use your timer function to take the photo Gem. Set up the shutter speed etc you want and then take the photo on timer as if you are going to run around and be in it. That way no camera shake. Make sure the camera is focused out to infinity if possible as well.

Thanks both for the pics. This could end up being a very colourful and interesting thread if everyone has a go :fingerscr

After thought - I should have straightened my horizon. I might do that later.

[Gem]

Just took a look at your pic, and its breathtaking! Makes me wanna visit Australia :)

And I did use the timer but, alas :(

[aophoto]

Here is my city.

[Mad Aussie]

Cool ... already a nice collection forming. Keep em coming. http://www.mtbdirt.com.au/home/smf/Smileys/classic/claphands.gif

[Mad Aussie]

London - 02/Millennium Dome, Canary Wharf area...
I'm impressed with the clarity of your image Ben


Just took a look at your pic, and its breathtaking! Makes me wanna visit Australia :)

Thanks Gem

[fallintocolors]

A view from Lakeshore.

[Marko]

Oh no - It's still cold here and now i have to go out...hmmm maybe I can hunt down an old shot :D

cool thread!

[Mad Aussie]

Oh no - It's still cold here and now i have to go out...hmmm maybe I can hunt down an old shot :D

cool thread!
Harden up Marko :D You expoect everyone else to run around town and get photos for your assugnments ... now it's your turn ;)

[Mad Aussie]

updated the first post with my photo in a different album where it should show for everybody now.

[dmagick]

Hmm I don't really have a good one of Sydney by night with notable icons but I'll share one anyway ;) This is in Darling Harbour.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/78/203725986_455cb8149f.jpg

[dmagick]

Actually here's another one as well. Glebe Island Bridge (on the far right). Won't embed the image, it's rather large.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3047/2727709410_25bf880012_o.jpg

(6 pics wide with a 10-22mm efs lens on a canon 30d).

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks for adding some photos dmagick. Certainly a different view.
That 2nd shot has a cool sky effect in it. Nice exposure.

[dmagick]

Thanks for adding some photos dmagick. Certainly a different view.
That 2nd shot has a cool sky effect in it. Nice exposure.

Thanks :)

The first pic still had a touch of colour in the sky, by the time I got to the last it was dark heh. Doesn't take long for the light to change completely!

[jjeling]

Ok. I got another one for today. Toledo, OH with a little sparkle....

[Mad Aussie]

Excellent :D

I hope people keep coming in and adding their city/town/igloo/hippy camp/prison (wherever they live) to this thread. ;)

[jjeling]

Im trying Mad Aussie, I have one more to share. HOLY TOLEDO!!!

[Mad Aussie]

And it's a nice one indeed :)

[Mad Aussie]

Surely there must be some more people out there with night shots of their home town ;)

[JAS_Photo]

Ok, then. :) This was take awhile ago, before Calgary became a city of cranes. It is a scan of a slide. I want to go out and get some night scenes soon, actually. It is a pain in the ass to do in the winter though as I do not have a car. :(


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3618/3292523534_f3e3d3d8c8_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jas_photos/3292523534/sizes/l/)

[Mad Aussie]

It is a pain in the ass to do in the winter though as I do not have a car. :(

Cover your ass up then http://www.mtbdirt.com.au/home/smf/Smileys/classic/searchme.gif http://www.mtbdirt.com.au/home/smf/Smileys/classic/hihi.gif

Good to see another city night shot added http://www.mtbdirt.com.au/home/smf/Smileys/classic/2thumbsup.gif

Is that a restaurant on top of the tall, skinny, tower? If so, Sydney has one very similar called the 'Needle' I think???

[Mad Aussie]

Here's another from me of my city ... Brisbane

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20photographyca/IMG_666_R2.jpg

[kiley9806]

MA - yes, thats the calgary tower - there is a restaurant on the top, that slowly rotates as you eat your $200 meal... :P

[Mad Aussie]

MA - yes, thats the calgary tower - there is a restaurant on the top, that slowly rotates as you eat your $200 meal... :P

Sydney's does the same ...
http://www.danheller.com/images/Australia/Sydney/Buildings/space_needle-n-cityscape-3-big.jpg
All copyright to Dan Heller http://www.danheller.com/

[GregL]

Here's a couple from my home town. Actually I live in Wollongong, but work in Sydney. These are from Sydney. I'll have to get some of the steel works at night to show off Wollongong!

[Mad Aussie]

Awww it's a shame the Opera House is blurred.

Love the Cruise ship though!

[GregL]

Oh dear, posting the wrong image :eek:

(that's why I'm still a junior member) :D

[Mad Aussie]

Ah yes ... that's a bit clearer :)

[kiley9806]

my town is so small, i think it goes all dark at night... :P can it be in the daytime?

[Mad Aussie]

my town is so small, i think it goes all dark at night... :P can it be in the daytime?
Well ... since your a special case ... how about a low light shot then ... maybe around dawn or dusk ;)

[kiley9806]

im a mom with a 2 year old, so i dont 'do' dawn... but i could try a dusk shot. i'll attempt soon! :)

[Mad Aussie]

im a mom with a 2 year old, so i dont 'do' dawn... but i could try a dusk shot. i'll attempt soon! :)
I'm gonna hang out until you do now! ;)

[Lovin]

I'll borrow a tripod, and tonight I'll take a shot of of downtown Vancouver, from where I live - few miles away :) with my 40-150mm lens (f4 :( )
So if is Saturday is Vancouver. :)

[Mad Aussie]

I'll borrow a tripod, and tonight I'll take a shot of of downtown Vancouver, from where I live - few miles away :) with my 40-150mm lens (f4 :( )
So if is Saturday is Vancouver. :)
Cool. Looking forward to this too. The f4 doesn't matter for night shots ... I take most of mine on f8 and adjust the shutter from there.
If you can't borrow the tripod then I'm sure you can find something to rest the camera on use self timer :)

[Lovin]

I couldn't take the tripod, and I was trying without :(
Not a chance for a clear shot. :(

[Mad Aussie]

I couldn't take the tripod, and I was trying without :(
Not a chance for a clear shot. :(
Bummers :(

[Lovin]

Bummers :(

I'll try tomorrow night with a tripod, borrow or buy it :)

[Mad Aussie]

What town is it? I want to look on Google maps :)

[Lovin]

I said before : Vancouver, British Columbia, and I live just few miles in North, across the water.
I'll upload my attempt without a tripod, hoping that tonight I'll make it somehow with a tripod or on top of a box :)
Oops, pic's coming in next post, 'cause this one is edited.

[Lovin]

I said before : Vancouver, British Columbia, and I live just few miles in North, across the water.
I'll upload my attempt without a tripod, hoping that tonight I'll make it somehow with a tripod or on top of a box :)
Oops, pic's coming in next post, 'cause this one is edited.

This is probably, how you see Vancouver in the night, when you're drunk :D

[kiley9806]

ah! pressure! i'll get to work on it as soon as i can - may be a couple day wait MA... :)
i live in fairview, alberta, canada - if you want to google map it...

[Mad Aussie]

Well it's going to be a nice view when the alcohol wears off Lovin ;)

Thanks Kiley :)

[JohnnyRay]

This is Downtown Columbus from our hotel room.
I thought the winter landscape looked a little better in Black and White.

[Mad Aussie]

Without seeing the colour version it's hard to know which is better. Sure looks like it was a very bright scene JR.
Are you on holiday in Columbus?

[JAS_Photo]

I live in Alberta and I did not know where Fairview was! But it has its own website. It is way up north!

http://www.discoverthepeacecountry.com/htmlpages/fairview.html

[kiley9806]

lol - yup! thats my dinky little town!

[Lovin]

Ok guys, I have the picture. Vancouver Downtown at night.
(I was using a box as a tripod, and a book on top of that empty box as a counterweight :) )

Tataaa !

[Mad Aussie]

Well about time too Lovin! :D

Looks nice. Is that a cruise ship in there? Like the coloured middle section too.

[Lovin]

That's Canada Place, but the cruise ships are docking exactly on each side of Canada Place, and looks like 3 cruise ships :)

[Michaelaw]

This is the place Lovin is talking about and what is visible in his cool night shot

http://www.redzonefilms.com/pics2/canada place.jpg

[Mad Aussie]

Ah ok cool. So what is it exactly? For the cruise ships? Lots of shops and eateries etc?

[Lovin]

3D cinemas, conference rooms, restaurant.

[Michaelaw]

And only ten minutes from the steam clock!!!! LOL I swear....Next to "Big Ben" the Gastown Steam Clock has to be the most photographed clock in the world! :)

[Lovin]

What about this one :
Lionsgate Bridge

[Mad Aussie]

cool ... kinda of a mini San Franciso bridge

[Iguanasan]

Ok... I definitely have to get out soon and show you guys Halifax....

[kiley9806]

you will all laugh once i get my ass in gear and take a pic of my town...

[jjeling]

I'll probably be jealous

[Iguanasan]

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8Q3edxpMqBs/SailfPaeI7I/AAAAAAAAD8g/je8qbieBS9w/s800/IMG_2238.JPG

[Mad Aussie]

Good to see Halifax. What is that super bright area?

[Lovin]

Good to see Halifax. What is that super bright area?

UFO camp :D

[Iguanasan]

Good to see Halifax. What is that super bright area?

I'm not sure what was going on there last night. That's part of the navy shipyard. I don't think it's normally that bright.

[kat]

This is where I live, Cochenour Ontario Population 500 people

Bwahahahahahahaha. No hills to get any pics of the many houses I got here so I was stuck with the main road .. from where I stood is the end of the road, where the last light is..is the beginning :eek:

I also got bored with this and took some of the town houses.

Imbrace yourselves..this is high end photography here!!!

:D :D

[Lovin]

So much snow at this time of the year.:fingerscr

[kiley9806]

So much snow at this time of the year.:fingerscr

BWAHAHAHA! so much snow... i think i get to take the cake on the most amount of snow left in march - i just had to go out and grab these snapshots with my p&s this morning to show you... (my hubby is out of town, and i havent yet been able to get the 'at night' shots, although i think once i do, they will look mysteriously like yours kat...)

1st shot - my house
2nd shot - my street
3rd shot - my backyard

PLEASE SEND SOME SUNSHINE MAD AUSSIE! :D

[kat]

Yah..we really don't have that much snow. It's been too cold to snow for the last couple of months. Everything we got was from November!

Lots of snow Kiley!

[kiley9806]

yeah, half of its already melted! we were lucky, with mostly -18 to -22 ish type temps, about a month of -30 or colder, but the past 3 years have seen massive amounts of snow up here... crazy stuff.

[Mad Aussie]

Well Kat ... you may live in One Horseville but you found a way to show us what it looks like at night .... cool. :)

Wow snow Kiley ... I've seen it about 3 times in my life ... and I had to go to it.

[GregL]

Yes a 'trip to the snow' is a very exciting thing here. Can't imagine living in it. Kat and kiley9806 you shots capture the everyday nature of the snow. Great!

[Mad Aussie]

Yes a 'trip to the snow' is a very exciting thing here. Can't imagine living in it. Kat and kiley9806 you shots capture the everyday nature of the snow. Great!
At least living in 'Gong' you can get to snow within a half day drive. It's a 20 hour haul for me. :eek:

[Lovin]

Lions Gate Bridge (Vancouver), one more try

[JAS_Photo]

Oh that's pretty!

[kat]

Gorgeous!

[Mad Aussie]

Cool ... nice little star bursts there too.

[Lovin]

Are you, guys, serious ? :eek:

First time I thought it's a good sight, from that angle, having the bridge and some towers, and different colors, but when I upload it... kind of disappointing. I'm not satisfied. Hmm...
I couldn't fix the sky, but that was the sky actually.

[Lovin]

Are you, guys, serious ? :eek:

First time I thought it's a good sight, from that angle, having the bridge and some towers, and different colors, but when I upload it... kind of disappointing. I'm not satisfied. Hmm...
I couldn't fix the sky, but that was the sky actually.

Oh my God, sorry guys, how rude of me :

Thank you ! :goodvibes

[Mad Aussie]

Are you, guys, serious ? :eek:

First time I thought it's a good sight, from that angle, having the bridge and some towers, and different colors, but when I upload it... kind of disappointing. I'm not satisfied. Hmm...
I couldn't fix the sky, but that was the sky actually.
IF you shot it in RAW ... try changing the White balance to see what effects that gives, you might be surprised!
Apart from that, it's no stunner but its ok what are worried about!
Shows us your city at night and that's all I asked for ;)

[Lovin]

I shot it in RAW. I tried different WB, but if the sky is darker, then the the bridge will have different colors (blue instead of green, etc).

[kat]

Maybe it's just me but I don't mind the sky color.

It reminds me of the color you see when you first hit a big town because of all of the lights.

[Ben H]

I shot it in RAW. I tried different WB, but if the sky is darker, then the the bridge will have different colors (blue instead of green, etc).

Set one to one WB, and a copy to another WB. Load the two into two layers of your post-production tool of choice, and use the features to selectively bring in whatever parts of each layer you want.

You're the captain! ;)

[kat]

Set one to one WB, and a copy to another WB. Load the two into two layers of your post-production tool of choice, and use the features to selectively bring in whatever parts of each layer you want.

You're the captain! ;)


What would that process be called? I'd like to find a youtube video or something on how to do that. I have no clue and most times I have to see it a 100x before I get it!

[Mad Aussie]

Using layers and layer masks. It's how I get the clarity and colours I get if I don't manage it straight out of the camera.

[Ben H]

Yep - it's basic image processing tasks - using multiple layers, selection, masking, painting on masks, layer blend modes - lets you do very powerful things indeed...

Google around for Photoshop tutorials, and they will have a ton of this stuff. While they will be specific to PS, the principles are similar with other image editing programs, providing they have those features.

[kat]

Thanks you guys! I see people using them but never had a clue. Just finished watching some videos..I think I may start using layers..oh yah..seems a lot easier for a lot of things!! :)

[JAS_Photo]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3653/3359295046_0d6ef7ff81_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jas_photos/3359295046/)

[Mad Aussie]

ooooo that's a similar shot to the one you took before isn't it raiven? :) Or maybe someone else did?

Very different looking now! Nice and sharp!!

[JAS_Photo]

It's from the exact same location, yes. :) only this time it was very cold. And thanks! It is a lot better I think.

[Mad Aussie]

It's from the exact same location, yes. :) only this time it was very cold. And thanks! It is a lot better I think.
Those other two shots I see in your Flickr album are worth showing too Raiven! ;)

[kat]

Great shot Raiven!

[Lovin]

Indeed, very nice shot.

[casil403]

Here's the view of my city from my front condo window at night.

[Mad Aussie]

Cool Casil ... you live very close to the city center! And you can watch the people having there meals in the rotating restaurant needle thingy too :)