[cg57]

another try. uncropped. edited in silky pix. tweaked sensitivity by -1, kept white balance at camera as it rendered best colors, did tweak shadow comp and contrast.
all comments welcome.

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[wildman]

another try

Big improvement

[Carpon]

It's talking more and more, you're no quitter are you, like that. Way better than you're first shot, seeing growth here

[MSL]

The white balance is certainly better, but I liked the intimacy of the up close shots. Good that you keep attacking this challenge.

[nomadkng]

everything right of the tree and above the pinnacle of the roof (or top of billboard at most) is empty space compositionally. I think that's part of the intimacy issues MSL is having (with this image)...

not knowing the area I can't be certain my suggestion would work, but here's an idea. set up about 10-20 feet further right and compose the image with the illuminated tree branches just short of the right end of the frame. step back about 10 feet if possible and lower the tripod to 1-2 feet from ground level such that you have some sidewalk or other foreground as separation from the bottom edge of the image and the car light streaks. ensure the pinnacle of the roof is near but not touching the upper edge of the frame. attempt to keep the sensor plane as level as possible, ie resist the urge to tilt the camera up. (sensor shifting works well for this). You may have to crop a little or switch to 60-70mm, whichever is your preference.

shoot f11 at 15, f11 at 20, f13 at 20, f13 at 30, and f16 at 30 seconds and note how the variance in exposure changes the results. you can even try f16 at 1 minute or even 2 minutes as well.

night cityscapes by "rule" are f16 at 30 seconds, but there is a lot of personal taste and atmospheric variance in that "rule". I've shot f13 at 5 minutes and gotten good results, and f2.8 at 2 seconds and gotten decent results, depending on the subject. The longer exposure times will also change the "mood" of the lighting and give you better black levels to work with.

architecture is almost never shot face on, so don't be afraid to slide to the side even more, though I'm assuming you want to keep the signage of the pub visible.

[_Ben]

I don't have much night shooting experience but you are getting better for sure. I don't like the composition at all personally. If you like the raised portion of the corner of the building you should find an angle the features it most prominently. I would go after closing when there are no cars, hopefully they leave these lights on. Maybe go when its very slow, it looks popular, they must have good food I think the parking lot light and tree kind of ruin the view of the corner of the building. I also am distracted by the overhead utility lines. The angle I like is from under that billboard, however I suspect that there not windows on that side of that roof structure. There is so much going on in front of the what you want to emphasize, I would try to eliminate some of them now that you have solved some of the technical aspects. Maybe a closer oblique low angle with building and more sky. I think the color in the sky is very nice but hidden.

---------- Post added 07-14-15 at 09:47 PM ----------

Does that tree ever go bare? Winter may be better.

[cg57]

Everyone,
Thanks for the continued comments and critiques. Very much appreciated - helps me a lot.
There is road construction going on in front of the pub so I will wait until that is done before reshooting from across the road. However, I went back and scouted out the view points nomandkng suggested. May be dicey to set up tripod from further away as the landscape slopes downward. But I will try.
I also walked around looking for alternative view points from the same side of the road to keep close , thanks MSL.
I didn’t like the angle underneath the billboard. I can see if the lights remain after the pub is closes as Ben suggested. I did shoot in late fall when the tree was bare but it still disrupts the picture. I did shoot farther off to the right also but that set of shots were trashed due to camera shake.
Thanks again!

[cg57]

Please Comment
Newangle.
Re-evaluated angle from the billboard side of pub (thanks Ben).
My tripod went MIA so I had to take shot via hand hold , which made iso is much higher than I wanted (3200) and produce more grain than I liked.
But I was able to get a shot with no cars parked in front.
I didn't get the full lighted top but I have for how to set up for when I can get back out.
I think the white balance is good and I shot at approx. 9:40 pm to get a sky black.
I think this shot captures that lost intimate feeling - you can see into the pub from the lit window on the left (as looking at the pic)
settings were:
2.8f
1/60 sec.
3200 iso


I edited in Pentax SilkyPix that came with camera. I still haven't bit the bullet for LR or CC(LR +PS) although I am leaning that way.

[_Ben]

I was almost thinking the original from the first post would be better in portrait orientation, minus the cars. This is nice, great improvement. I think a portrait may work here as well to include the top of the roof. What I really like is that you can see inside. This adds intimacy and mystery and goes well with the emptiness outside. The crooked light on the sign explains the odd lighting from that angle. Without a tripod you could lie prone and get a lower angle and nearly eliminate the parking lot, but you may loose the interior details. Wet streets are also nice at night, but may be a stretch. It's one of the biggest Hollywood movie cliches. Once you see it, it cannot be unseen. The reflections add a lot more light from an otherwise dull space in the frame. One would think LA is the rainiest place on earth, with all the water on the streets in the movies. I even saw it on an episode of Breaking Bad. I'm still waiting for a shot at night streets with water for reflections. I can start to see what you see about this location.