Jupiter Light at Night in HDR

[Harold Davis]

i'm new at this HDR thing and night photography. my first time shooting at night. but dont be gentle. let me have it!! seven images taken from +2 to -4EV HDR generated in Photomatix Pro.

D300, 18-200VR at 36mm, f/11, 30s to 1/1.6s, ISO 200

i also did some tweaking in capture nx2 with color control points, NR and a gradient darkening to the bottom right. cloned out star trails too.

thanks for looking and comments and critiques appreciated!

[Dave Mills]

Hi Harold...I like very much the lighting of the lighthouse(light beam also), reflection and the lit pier. Everything has a nice soft glow. Compositionally this would be fine if it were take during daylight where you could have an interesting sky in the upper right corner of the image. The black sky looks like it's taking up at least 25% of the image which to my eye is too large an area of void or neg space.
For your first time shooting at night I think you did a great job technically especially not blowing out the top of the lighthouse with those long exposures. Look forward to seeing more.

[denise ippolito]

Harold, I love the reflection colors. I like your composition.

[Paul Marcellini]

Really like the mood of this. Good job on exposure and I agree with Dave about the black. Sometimes neagative space can work well but I liked an 11x14 crop of the best parts.

[Harold Davis]

that makes since. and looks better. thanks for the help!

[Robert Amoruso]

Harold,

Paul's crop balances the image really well with the lighthouse BG left and end of pier FG right balancing each other in a diagonal.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Harold,
Really well done with the exposure on the scene and for the first time.....extra bonus points! I like the balance that Paul brought to the image with the crop. Super job for a first time night shot and nicely done on the HDR side too!

[Gus Cobos]

I like the silky tones and hues of the reflection Doctor,
I like the soft tranquil feeling. agree on the repost to make this composition more balanced...good show...:cool:

[Michael Pancier]

I too like Paul's crop. Just think the contrast could be a tad higher....