Ok Neil a few things about this shot that may help
the composition is too centered and is a little cramped the Opera house needs an environment to sit in or it becomes a snapshot..so more space to the left and a little more above (rule of thirds).
you have the exposure about right but maybe a 1/3 stop less to tone down the bright spot on the sail and bring the rest back up in post processing
the overall shot is a little soft and this is from the aperture you are using, most lens are softer at both ends of their aperture range and have a sweet spot a few stops down from their widest. so for the lens you using f8-f11 would work better, then increase the shutter time to keep the exposure the same, f8 4sec less 1/3 shutter stop for the hot spot would be about right for this shot, the added benefit would be the smoothing of the water reflection. also you should be on a tripod for this type of shot so no need for ISO 640 so bring that back to ISO 200 and add another 1 2/3 stops to compensate then you end up with f8, 10 sec, ISO 200, this would be a good starting point then just bracket the shot a couple of 3rds either side and you will have it
also on my monitor the shot is a little cold (to much blue) the sails should be a soft cream color and the lights are not blue, a very small warming of your white balance would fix it... this depends on the look you want :)
Message edited by author 2007-02-09 19:17:45. |