Night Light

Our Picture This! assignment this month was Night Light, and readers sent in a wide variety of images from places around the world. The great photo ops of night lead to some unusual images: those made with long shutter speeds and high ISO settings to capture the often dim light; those that show a combination of still and motion, some subject and some photographer produced; and most of all the way photography allows us to see “into” the night in a way that no human eye can.

Truck Stop Diner
Dorothy Barnard made this photo of a dazzling classic diner in her hometown, which she describes as being “frequented by truckers, locals, and college students.” She worked with a Canon EOS 7D and a Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6L lens. Exposure was f/22 and 3.2 seconds at ISO 100.
© Dorothy Barnard

Carnival
David Fletcher created a painting in light using a long shutter speed with his Pentax K-x and 18mm lens. Exposure was f/20 at 30 seconds at ISO 200.
© David Fletcher

Strasbourg After Hours
The neon glow transforms this thoroughfare in a photo by Jim Mitchell. He worked with a Nikon D800 and a Nikkor 28-300mm lens and an exposure of 1/50 sec at f/5.6 at ISO 4000.
© Jim Mitchell

Jimmie’s
Photographer Jeffrey Dull wrote, “Jimmie’s truck stop is one of the last of a dying breed of independents left in America. They are all becoming chains with fast food and little else.” He helped keep the memory alive with a Nikon D5200 and an 18-55mm lens. Exposure was f/18 at 1.6 seconds at ISO 1000. Selective color work was done in camera.
© Jeffrey Dull

Washington Monument
Robert N. Grant III made this photo while on a business trip to our nation’s capital. He worked with a Nikon D700 and a Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. The image was made from a composite of three different images and merged using Nik’s HDR Efex Pro. He then made several adjustments in Lightroom 5, including exposure, fill light, clarity, vibrance, saturation, and contrast.
© Robert N. Grant III

Rave
Kris Brubaker created an image of this marquee in a way that the word becomes alive via technique. Exposure with a Nikon D200 was f/22 at 1 second and ISO 560, with the zoom moved during exposure.
© Kris Brubaker

Shanghai Night
David Mention wrote, “I love taking pictures at night in Shanghai, but what caught my attention here was the reflection of the lights on the rainy walkway.” He photographed with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III and an EF 50mm lens and an exposure of f/3.2 and 1/80 sec at ISO 2000.
© David Mention

Pyramide Du Louvre
Paris looks great all the time but rightfully earns its reputation as the “City of Light,” as shown in this photo by Frederick Allstetter. He worked with a Canon EOS Rebel T3i and a Canon EF-S 18-55mm lens. Exposure was f/4 and 0.3 seconds at ISO 800.
© Frederick Allstetter

Trail Of Lights
Melinda Twomey wrote, “Every December, Austin, Texas, holds its annual ‘Trail of Lights,’ a walking trail which takes its onlookers past multitudes of holiday displays. At the very end stands a huge tree made solely of strings of lights, cascading down in straight lines. It is tradition to stand under the tree and spin while looking up at the star…without becoming too dizzy to stay upright!” She made this image with a Canon EOS 6D and an EF 24-105mm lens with an exposure of f/22 at 1 second at ISO 1600.
© Melinda Twomey

West Palm Beach Night
Michael Gottlieb found the moon within the palms and used the camera he had with him, a Samsung SCH-I535 mobile phone. He used autoexposure in HDR mode and later edited in Photoshop.
© Michael Gottlieb

Minneapolis Nightscape
This vibrant cityscape by Mike Plucker was captured with a Canon EOS Rebel T2i and a Canon 50mm lens with an exposure of f/22 at 21 seconds.
© Mike Plucker

Columbus Park, Boston
Effective use of exciting reflections added a special touch to this photo made by Maggie Hsu. Exposure with a Nikon D7000 and a Nikkor 18-200mm lens was f/11 at 10 seconds.
© Maggie Hsu

Café
Irwin H. Segel made this painterly impression of a night café in Paris. He made the photo with a Nikon D7000 and a Nikkor 16-85mm VR lens and an exposure of f/8 and 1/20 sec at ISO 3200. The image was processed using the Topaz Labs BuzSimplify and Alien Skin Snap Art Photoshop plug-ins.
© Irwin H. Segel

Amusement Park Ride
Light and action are throughout this photo, all communicating an “electric” evening. Kathy Kasunich made this photo with a Nikon D200 and an 18-70mm lens and an exposure of f/25 at 4 seconds.
© Kathy Kasunich

Dubai At Night
This amazing vantage point was photographed by ScoTTTokar using a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and a Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm f/2 ZE lens. The image is composed of three exposures processed in Apple’s Aperture and HDRsoft’s Photomatix Tone Mapping.
© ScoTTTokar

Picture This! – Our Next Assignment
Rich And Color-Full

Our next Picture This! assignment is all about rich and vibrant color. We’re looking for “simple” compositions whose main and upfront reason to be is the rich play of color within the frame. We don’t want overly manipulated images, although putting in a dash of contrast and saturation, as long as it “serves” the image, is OK. Just tell us any software techniques used along with the usual tech info.

This photo was scanned from a 35mm Kodachrome 64 slide shot with a Nikon FM2 in a rail yard in Antonito, Colorado, in 1998. The bright and rich colors are very close to those on the original slide, which was exposed at ISO 100, and not the result of heavy application of HSL adjustments.
© George Schaub

How To Submit Online
1. Go to www.shutterbug.com and register. Scroll down the page and on the right side you will see a box for entering your username and your password. If you have already registered and/or submitted images for the Galleries you can skip this step. Respond to the activation e-mail. Registration is free. You will use your username and password whenever you visit or, with some systems, it will automatically load for you when you visit www.shutterbug.com.

2. Check the assignment and closing dates in the magazine. When the magazine is printed we will create an appropriate gallery for your images. The limit is two images per assignment.

3. Select and prepare your images. We only accept files at a maximum 5MB size, JPEG format. Save the JPEG at a quality level of 10 or higher. Note that file size in your image folder directory will determine upload size, not the “opened” file size, as JPEG compresses at 1:4 at higher quality ratings. If your images do not load it probably means you have exceeded the file size or have not used JPEG format.

4. Click on the Galleries tab on the homepage. In the Category section use the drop-down menu to select the Picture This! assignment. Note that images are simultaneously loaded into the assignment category as well as your own personal gallery. When the Picture This! assignment deadline date has lapsed the assignment gallery will be removed, but your images will still reside in your own gallery.

5. In the Description box add title, camera, lens, exposure information, and your full name. Also add any other comments or anecdotes you think relevant. We reserve the right to edit comments as needed.

6. Click the Save button at the bottom of the page. This uploads the image.

7. You retain copyright on the image.

8. We will choose the images after close of the due date.

9. Please feel free to comment on images submitted by other readers.

Scorecard
Deadline For Submission: June 15, 2014.
Images will appear in our September 2014 issue.

Our Next Topic: Echoing Forms
Deadline For Submission: July 15, 2014
Publication Date: October 2014 issue

Please Note: By submitting you agree to give us the right to show the image(s) on the web and for publication. You give us publication rights in the magazine and on the website(s) of Source Interlink Media.

Please Note: If you submit images with an enhancement through software beyond contrast, exposure, and simple saturation adjustments please indicate the software and “filter” used to attain that effect.—Editor

Want to see images selected for past picture this! Assignments? Go to www.shutterbug.com and click on picture this! In the “more articles…” box on the homepage.

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