By the beach... at night

[Barata]

Flektogon 25/4
f22
30"
ISO100
Tripod

Too bad the flare...

[Orio]

The flare is expected in such situations (except if you shoot with a Distagon 1.4/35, that is )

The problem for me is not the flare but the very strong orange juice cast. It really kills the mood in my opinion, because it's too accentuated. I'd rather see the pic in B&W.

[sichko]

It's great.

[Orio]

Like this for instance:



Now the photo has Hercules strenght
Why?
Because the B&W reinforces the graphical element, which is the strenght of the photo.
The yellow cast was distracting from it.

[Barata]

I also like the B&W version, but the colors are natural. The lamps are of that color, one can do nothing about it.

[Orio]

[Barata]

true!

[poilu]

I prefer the b&w version, contrast is much better
perfect picture for Christmas with all those stars!

[Carlsson]

Another option, I have removed the orange cast by setting the white point. Hope you don't mind.
It's like to draw a curtain, the image clears up.

But the BW version is much better for the drama

[Barata]

Very nice Carlsson. The image, in fact, gained another life.

And, of course i dont mind!

Edit: Could you explain me how do you did that?

[Carlsson]

Sorry I've missed that.
I'll do my best but a lot of people call me a bad teacher...

Open your image in photoshop, duplicate the layer. We will use the new layer for the white balance adjustment (BW).

Press crtl+m, this will bring up the curves dialog.
Below the curve diagram you can see the eyedropper tool.
Left to right: black - grey - white.
We need to determine where the shadow, (midtone) and hightlight areas are.
Use the "white eyedropper" to pick the brightest point in your image (except the street lights) - you will see instantly what happens . Do the same with the "black eyedropper" on the darkest part.

If you have difficulties to find the brightest and darkest area, close the curves dialog and select on the lowest part of your layer panel the following button (see image), select "threshold".



Now drag the slider (under the histogram "threshold") to the right, only a few parts will remain white - this is the brightest part of the image (keep the area in mind), now move the slider to the left. A little part will remain black, this is your darkest part of the image.
Ignore the streetlight, they don't matter.

brightest part

darkest part


Delete the threshold layer and bring up the curves dialog (crtl+m)
Now select the brightest part with the "white eyedropper" and the darkest part with the "black eyedropper". Close the curve tool.

pick brightest

pick darkest


The result is too strong but now you can blend the "corrected" layer with your original layer until you like it (hopefully) . Less is more
regards
sandy

[A G Photography]

[Barata]

Thanks a lot for the effort you put into explaining me all the steps.

As to the other people that say you're not a great teacher... well, dont listen to them!

[Sven]

What a capture!
Great shot

[trifox]

Nice picture ! And I have removed the flare

tf

[Barata]

How?!

[trifox]

[onelazyday]