Tooradin Footbridge @ Night

[Grumpy John]

I took this image a few years ago when I was living down at the coastal town of Tooradin. I'd always thought that the bridge would make a good night time image.
The photo is a four image HDR:
f22,0, 9.0 sec. ISO100
f22.0, 99.0 sec. ISO 100
f22.0, 120.0 sec. ISO 100
f22.0, 240.0 sec. ISO 100
Canon 7D with Sigma 17-70 @17mm
Post processed with NIK's HDR Effex Pro 2 using the Realistic_01 preset. It was then converted to B/W with NIK's Silver Effex Pro 2 using the Film Noir 3 preset.

C & C greatly appreciated.

[Isac]

Well worth the treatment John! Great result from putting some thought in to it. It's a great image to put the straightening tut to good use for the top half and the jetty boards and railing (RHS) - just sayin'

[Grumpy John]

Well worth the treatment John! Great result from putting some thought in to it. It's a great image to put the straightening tut to good use for the top half and the jetty boards and railing (RHS) - just sayin'

The image was initially straightened to the first full board. This gave a horizontal line to gauge other lines off. Most of the posts down the left hand side are damn close to vertical. As you have noticed the RHS is leaning in. Some of this is probably due to the fact that I was shooting low with a semi-wide angle setting. Other factors at work are that the bridge itself is quite old and has it's foundations in the black mud you find in a mangrove swamp, which is basically what the area (Sawtells Inlet) is. You would be hard pressed to find a truly level, or square surface on this bridge.
I'm not sure where to start if I were to try and straighten this image.

[Isac]

No worries John. I guess the bridge is a bit like us - a but out of whack and struggling to stay upright

[Grumpy John]

Yeah, I wish all my current aches and pains could be corrected with a few keystrokes

[wigz]

Very nice image John. I think it would be better rotated right a little. I think you are correct that it has converging verticals due to the low angle with a wide angle lens. I don't mind these if left and right are at the same angle (both leaning in). I think you are better off ignoring the angle of the front boards - this is possibly due to the camera being pointed a little to the right rather than tilted. I would also consider removing the light on the right edge.

[Grumpy John]

Thanks for the feedback Alan. I tried all sorts of lens correction techniques, but couldn't come up with anything pleasing so I left it alone. I agree about "balancing" the lines and will have a go at it later.

[Grumpy John]

1 degree CW, lights at the RHS gone.

[HansE]

I like the straightened version better. Not worried about the first board as the vanishing point is not in the centre of the frame.

[Toddyh]

Yep second for the straightened version with the lights gone.

[wigz]

Ye, that has improved an already fine shot

[Grumpy John]

Thank you everyone for your helpful C & C.
We all get too close, both emotionally, and physically to our images and can easily end up with a flawed image. To this end, honest criticism can be the most powerful tool at our disposal.
For me it is not always about ending up with a realistic view of what the camera captured, but what I was feeling at the time. So sometimes the colours may be a bit exaggerated, the lighting overly moody, or any other combination of effects. The point is we still need input from other photographers to help us improve.