• 25 floors but nobody around

    NIKON D300
    Focal Length: 16 mm
    Aperture: f 10
    Exposure time: 4 sec
    ISO 200
    Capture date: 2009-Jan-08 23:46


    Posted Around 5 years ago

    On Thursday, I still had nothing to post and I try to upload at least one photo every week. So just before leaving the house, I took my camera with me as I planned to shoot something after work. Unfortunately, this didn't work out because I was too late (something for the future though..), so I had to improvise. I thought of a place where I spend my childhood playing soccer and basketball and I remembered the lights on the field when it was dark. When I got there -I hadn't been there in years-, it was pretty much as I remembered it, so I took my camera and tripod and started walking in the snow, still wearing the office clothes and shoes, no hat, no gloves and it was freezing and windy. To make things even more dramatic ;), I was feeling a bit sick. Anyway, this little story is not because you guys would feel sorry for me and leave a comment.. don't worry. ;) On a more technical note: this is the first time I used a tool to get rid of the "barrel distortion". I used PTLens and to be honest, I'm quite happy with it. In fact, only for the second time since the beginning of this blog, I uploaded a jpg export of the original RAW file, so you can see the difference. You can find it here. I wonder if there are people who actually love barrel distortion? Maybe even love it so much that they prefer the original photo? Let me know!.. Also, I edited the photo in a dark room with almost no light except for the screen I'm working on, so I hope it's not too dark when viewed in broad daylight?
    What do you think of "25 floors but nobody around"?

    Russ MCR
    Jan 10, 2009

    Really nice work. Great mood.

    lagolo
    Jan 10, 2009

    amazing shot

    ▲Robbix
    Jan 10, 2009

    great job... the title is so perfect ♥

    plaisirdevivre
    Jan 11, 2009

    beautiful!

    ronanturnes
    Jan 11, 2009

    once again, awesome. I have to try some nightshots.. =/ cheers.

    TimTim74
    Jan 11, 2009

    Definitely better than the original, no question.... Actually that was a stupid question and you know that ....!!! ;o)

    eyebe / aibe
    Jan 11, 2009

    extremely beautiful night shot

    PIXistenz
    Jan 11, 2009

    Tim, it's not really that stupid :) ... I don't mean the colors and the exposure and light: I know it's better in the processed one. I was talking about the distortion only.. maybe some people love the weird perspective because it's a bit surreal or adds a bit of drama and makes the photo less... ordinary? Anyway.. I have to think about that. It's strange after all these years of shooting photos, to suddenly *not* see the distortion at 16mm :) ..and thanks for the comments everyone!

    Erroba
    Jan 11, 2009

    This processed version looks much better, no I don't like the distortion, I mostly try to remove it manually using the perspective option in Photoshop crop and after that stretch it a bit to compensate for the height loss... The b&w is very appropriate for this. Very nice job, love the surreal atmosphere this gives.

    svetlana1961
    Jan 11, 2009

    You are my winner! Please add this photo to www.flickr.com/groups/mywinners/

    wrrroah
    Jan 11, 2009

    Great composition. Love the light.

    Joep R.
    Jan 11, 2009

    So cool!

    gee hue
    Jan 15, 2009

    The anti-distortion tool seems to work brilliantly ... and this is a fantastically toned image ... hauntingly composed.

    anne Elbe
    Jan 17, 2009

    My first thoughts I saw the Pic: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF978AgLyaY nice work!!

    PIXistenz
    Jan 17, 2009

    anne Elbe, I see what you mean! :) Thanks.

    joskraaijeveld.nl
    Jan 19, 2009

    great shot

    mariusmele.com
    Feb 12, 2009

    good good shot

    Aleem 3.0
    Feb 23, 2009

    magnificent image here!!!!!!!!!!!! wow

    vaquey
    Jun 03, 2009

    great night shot!

    Jpspider.jpg
    Oct 26, 2011

    This scenery remind me this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICp4g9p_rgo

    Nicki
    Jan 11, 2009

    Style, strange mood - thats what i think. Seems to be located in Moscow ... i like it!

    Darrius
    Jan 11, 2009

    I really like the tone/color in this photo. Gives it a late night cold feeling. I'm also digging many of your other photos which have a simple clean feel. Ah and I like the correction better than the original. Subscribed!

    dimitri
    Jan 11, 2009

    hehe! i like hearing these kinds of backstories to photos! what i find really interesting is that you took a long exposure and it wasnt at all interrupted by a passing plane. its a rarity for me, but i suppose that has more to do with where i live!

    613photo
    Jan 11, 2009

    First of all, very effective photo. The sense of solitude it outstanding.



    I love barrel distortion for some things. For other things I don't. A scene like this I would have corrected, too. I use photoshop to do it...I may try out that software you're talking about.



    And no, it's not too dark to me. If I'm not mistaken that's how you're supposed to edit photos if your montitor is calibrated correctly, and that's how you're supposed to view them if that's how your monitor is calibrated correctly. Looks great to my eyes.

    Tero
    Jan 11, 2009

    This is very moody. Tall buildings and empty basketball field in the dark waiting for summer.

    martin_d
    Jan 11, 2009

    love such empty spaces.

    seems like it was that cold like such places already look without snow and ice.



    ps: imho this straightened out version fits better here, parallel-vertical-lines-fetish maybe

    Gavin
    Jan 12, 2009

    Incredible! Love the way you've captured this.

    Agora
    Jan 12, 2009

    Superb night atmosphere ! Our congrats !

    Mumbai
    Jan 12, 2009

    Grave yard. Looks like a tombstone

    sherri
    Jan 12, 2009

    I like this one much better than the distorted image. I can't imagine standing out there in the dark of night with such cold temps and the wind that must have accompanied it. Not to worry, I don't feel sorry for you:-) I've done some really stupid things to capture images and they didn't even turn out to be post worthy:-) This is an excellent capture.

    Nick
    Jan 12, 2009

    Great lighting. But no one playing hoops.



    Olivier Jules
    Jan 12, 2009

    I like it! very well taken

    flawijn
    Jan 12, 2009

    i realy dig this kinda shot. twisting the barrel gives it a weird new perspective, with a right combination of duo-tone color.

    great!

    Asgardr
    Jan 13, 2009

    Great exposure, the blocks on the right look really cool with those lights.

    Think I like this one better than the original when it comes to distortion, but I have to say, if you look closely you see some unnatural lines higher up in the buildings. But hadn't you mentioned it I probably wouldn't have noticed. ;)

    John Maslowski
    Jan 13, 2009

    Great capture of the lighting, really like the patterns on the building. Beautiful tones for this night time shot. Thanks for the info on the software, I plan to look into it.

    Raul Saez
    Jan 13, 2009

    I like this kind of shots at night, quiet and color turned cold, good work



    greetings!

    elaine
    Jan 13, 2009

    This is an excellent capture of urban coldness!!!

    Claus Petersen
    Jan 13, 2009

    The only thing missing in this image, is a couple of UFO's flying around in the night sky :-)

    Mario Jean [madocphoto]
    Jan 13, 2009

    This is a great night photo.

    I viewed the original and I prefer the edited one. Not that I have a problem with barrel distortion...In fact I often use it in my photos to amplify certain feelings. But not in this case. Well done.



    I just realized I hadn't bookmarked your great blog before. Now it's done ;-)

    Wilfried
    Jan 13, 2009

    Fantastic atmosphere! Very good composition, i like this ambiance with this nocturnal light

    dune
    Jan 14, 2009

    Le constaste lumineux entre les lampadaires et les fenêtres est du meilleur effet !

    Nadja
    Jan 14, 2009

    cool !

    Mohammadreza
    Jan 14, 2009

    superb night shot, like color tone and lights in this shot ...

    Lumif
    Jan 15, 2009

    Amazing mood and black & white.

    Goa
    Jan 15, 2009

    A grandstand waiting for the basketball match to start. Lovely pic

    Csaba/EyeVision
    Jan 15, 2009

    You did a great job with the "anti-barrel" tool. Looks like it has taken with a T/S lens. The mood is superb with the blocks almost in shade. Well done. Regards

    Patrick
    Jan 15, 2009

    Love your portfolio from what I've seen so far. Really admirable work. I've subscribed to your feed, so I look forward to seeing what you do in the future. Additionally, thank you for the kind words on my blog. Always nice coming from a photographer like you.

    pixel
    Jan 16, 2009

    Strange light diffusion, a strong picture !

    birgit
    Jan 26, 2009

    in this cold, everybody´s inside I guess.

    cool shot!

    Den Ivan
    Jan 28, 2009

    I like the processed image also way more than the original. Not only the perspective of the building feels more natural, but also the mood of the picture is dramatically increased by the colour correction etc.



    Very nice picture ! (worthy as wallpaper material imho)

    Marleen
    Jan 28, 2009

    I think it's strange I'm the only one who likes the original photo much better! I like the warm yellow colour of the lights, and the buildings leaning over give a special tension to the picture. And the red curtains on the windows give a warm nice feeling in the cold and desolate night...

    Reallyjapan
    Jan 30, 2009

    Great mood and intriguing shot!

    Christopher Barton
    Mar 26, 2010

    Hi Kris

    This is definitely better than the original photo. Barrel distortion can often be very distracting. The monotone look also suits the picture very well and gives it atmosphere :-)



    Prettig weekend!

    C.

25 floors but nobody around