Windmill In Late Afternoon

R

Red Rover

Senior Member
I was visiting my sister for her 50th birthday party, D7000 in hand, fresh from the box and totally new to me. It was late afternoon and from inside the house I noticed the sunlight on the vanes of this windmill. I grabbed a few quick shots and here is the first photo I have "developed" since I got Lightroom 4 this week.

It was just a shot that interested me and my first venture with Lightroom 4 which seems like it will be awesome, once I learn a little more. I like the sky, but I'm sure some will say it is oversaturated.

My D7000 is at Nikon to be callibrated for back focus but this image seems OK.

I can tell I need some practice with the LR software.

17-55 f/2.8
52 mm @ f/2.8, ISO 800, 1/80 sec

Windmill.jpg
 
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Photowyzard

Photowyzard

Senior Member
It is not bad. I might have practised the law of thirds and pushed it off center to the left.

Maybe even try it in B&W for a different look.
 
J

JPar

Senior Member
Looks good. I'm finding in my trials that lower ISO in dusk/low light is way better to get that noise out. I don't go over 400 ISO if I can help it and I try to go as low as 100 and just use longer exposures... I may find over time that it's not the best approach, but it seems to work ok for me.

For instance this was taken in a park at 1AM:

7928579452_68de8ce0d7_c.jpg

That was at 100 ISO, 211 second exposure....
 
E

Eye-level

Banned
Are you trying to blow out the background? Is that why you are shooting wide open?

It has noise that mimics film kind of...was that your goal perhaps?

I like them don't get me wrong... :)
 
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F

fotojack

Senior Member
I'll never understand why people use high ISO in broad daylight! I just don't get it! High ISO is for low light conditions. There seems to be this fascination with using high ISO numbers just because you can. Doesn't make any sense to me. Oh well.....what do I know!
 
R

Red Rover

Senior Member
fotojack said:
I guess some people have really steady hands, Jeff. :) I don't, but I try my best.....but not at speeds below 100, that's for sure! :)
Click to expand...

I didn't have a tripod, it was late in the day, and bumping the ISO to 800 was the only way to get the shutter speed up to something I thought I could hold steady enough with a non VR lens to catch a shot that was rapidly disappearing.

The scene was actually quite a bit darker than it appears as it was overcast all day and the sun was getting low. Was there a better way to shoot this under the circumstances?
 
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R

Red Rover

Senior Member
Eye-level said:
Are you trying to blow out the background? Is that why you are shooting wide open?

It has noise that mimics film kind of...was that your goal perhaps?

I like them don't get me wrong... :)
Click to expand...

No I wasn't EL, I was just trying to get the shot. The light was fading and at 2.8 I still had to use an ISO 800 to get 1/80 second. I just couldn't see stopping down without a tripod.
 
R

Red Rover

Senior Member
JPar said:
Looks good. I'm finding in my trials that lower ISO in dusk/low light is way better to get that noise out. I don't go over 400 ISO if I can help it and I try to go as low as 100 and just use longer exposures... I may find over time that it's not the best approach, but it seems to work ok for me.

For instance this was taken in a park at 1AM:

View attachment 16020

That was at 100 ISO, 211 second exposure....
Click to expand...

That has an interesting feel. I like it. 211 seconds!!!
 
E

Eye-level

Banned
The more I study the original snap the more I like it. The rule of thirds works vertically too and this snap almost puts the windmill head and the base at the right spots. It is head on and that is a "rule" violation so composition wise maybe it would have been better to put it on the angle instead of head on but who is to say? It would be nice to see it at f8 or so and 400 ISO...makes me wonder what white balance you were using. Sounds like you just ran out of good light and did what you had to do. I commend you on this one because you just unboxed the camera. With that kit I think we are going to see some interesting stuff from you.
 
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