Brussels Underground at night.

[Janners]

This was so much harder to take than I would have thought! It was really quite dark, I wanted depth of field, the iso was as high as it can go, no tripod and nothing to brace against where I wanted to stand.

This really was one of those moments where I knew what I wanted to try and get, but getting it was a challenge. I would have liked more contrast with less grain and more details. The skills need more work!

 

[Glenn]

Nice composition.

The image looks to be underexposed by about two stops, perhaps a little more.

You should be able improve contrast and reduce noise in post production. The following is possibly a little severe (soot and whitewash) but will show what I mean.

 

[Janners]

@Glenn. Excellent. I have just started playing with curves, but only very slight adjustments to an gentle S curve. Your curves adjustment has opened a new line of thinking.
I was concerned about killing the detail in the shadows, but I see it works. As for noise, I shall have to investigate.

Thank you for that, it gives me new avenues to explore!

 

[Janners]

With a prompt from @Glenn I have had a play. So much to learn, but so much fun.

 

[Glenn]

Not sure if it obvious or not but the curve is simply a modified S-Curve. It is shifted to the left by about 2-stops.There is a slight kink in it to even out the mid-tones a little better.

A straighter curve would restore some shadow detail but shadows can be "muddy" if the original image is underexposed.

 

[Janners]

Not sure if it obvious or not but the curve is simply a modified S-Curve. It is shifted to the left by about 2-stops.There is a slight kink in it to even out the mid-tones a little better.

A straighter curve would restore some shadow detail but shadows can be "muddy" when the original image is underexposed.

The "modified S Curve" was apparent, I had never made the connection with having more than 2 points on it to create shifts at different tones.
I had under exposed the image to try and keep the details recoverable in the dark areas, aware that if I over expose details are lost. So much to learn.

 

[Toby Webster]

There's a strikingly similar photo out there by Alan Schaller, popped up on my instagram feed today. I don't think its quite the same location, but it can't be far off.

 

[Janners]

There's a strikingly similar photo out there by Alan Schaller, popped up on my instagram feed today. I don't think its quite the same location, but it can't be far off.

Yes, it was on my Facebook feed yesterday afternoon. It gave me quite a surprise.

 

[Allister]

Good atmospheric feel to it, sort of late night city with just a hint of aprehension always created by shadowy figures.