There was a bit more ambient light in this shot, so a bit less of my “martian” sky effect.
Interesting point: don’t buy an expensive lens and then put a cheap UV filter on the front! My first take of this shot had horrific flare marks from the lamp over the gates, which dissappeared as soon as removed my Jessops own-brand UV filter.
I’m wondering how many of my earlier photos had lost definition due to mild flare effects. I was aware that the filter would increase the chance of flare occuring, so it is normally taken off when I’m doing night photography, however I reckon it must have an effect just during normal operation too. I’ll investigate…
p.s. A workmate thought that this shot looked “rendered”, that it was too sharp to actually be real, and must have been fabricated in a fancy 3D graphics package. I’m not sure if that’s a compliment, or not… 
CurlyToes
November 2nd, 2005
Interesting stuff about the flare from the cheap filter. I get some bad flare when doing night shots sometimes and now I wonder if that has anything to do with my cheap UV filter.
I can see what your workmate means. It’s a great shot, although the noise in the sky on the right is quite pronounced. I really like the composition and the star-effect on the light.
alan
November 2nd, 2005
Damnit, I knew I forgot something – I usually give these shots a quick run-through with Noise Ninja..
Bah! Am not on top of things these days.
Ana
November 2nd, 2005
This has a very spooky feel to it. The gate sort of looks 3-D, and I like it! The lamp turned out perfectly.
simon
November 2nd, 2005
i agree that the image just doesn’t look real. in my opinion the gates and gateposts look computer genereated.
alan
November 2nd, 2005
I think its the lens flare that does it, as for a long time that was the thing to have in your rendered scene.
simon
November 2nd, 2005
nah i don’t think it is that, for me it’s the actual gates
maureen
November 3rd, 2005
It was a compliment Alan. I really like it
John
January 7th, 2006
Very nice image, the best rule is to remove protective filters, expensive or not as they induce flare in these sort of situations.
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