Main Street: Better When Wet?

[WDWFigment]

You make the call? I don't like it when it rains while I'm there, but I have to say, in retrospect, all of my 'wet' shots look better than their dry counterparts.

Clicking the picture takes you to its Flickr page!

 

[let'sgo]

Wow! What a great picture. I have to agree with you--the rain does make it look better.

 

[CdnDisneyLover]

Great picture!

 

[Groucho]

A bit too much HDR for my tastes, but you're right, wet ground looks better - note that in countless movies, the roads are wet down at night to give a darker, more reflective surface. I was happy that when I made a couple quick evening visits to NYC recently, it was drizzling slightly for just that reason.

 

[WDWFigment]

A bit too much HDR for my tastes, but you're right, wet ground looks better - note that in countless movies, the roads are wet down at night to give a darker, more reflective surface. I was happy that when I made a couple quick evening visits to NYC recently, it was drizzling slightly for just that reason.

No HDR here. I think I over-applied the gamma and contrast. I also tried to darken the sky in one layer while lightening the buildings in another which caused some problems.

 

[mskayjay]

Love it! How/when were you able to catch it with no one around? I keep pushing DH to do dining reservations at times that will put us in the parks either early (pre-open) or late )after closing.

 

[Groucho]

Hmm, yeah upon a second look, it's definitely the contrast... the road looks really unreal, especially around the trolley tracks - it looks like it started to just "erase" the ground around the asphalt around the tracks. There's also the bright sidewalks and very dark trashcans. It's probably also the white balance; I go back and forth about how I prefer my night Main St shots but either way, you've got a pretty "golden" WB going here.

 

[WDWFigment]

Love it! How/when were you able to catch it with no one around? I keep pushing DH to do dining reservations at times that will put us in the parks either early (pre-open) or late )after closing.

I tend to growl and loudly bark at other guests until they all get out of my way.

Hmm, yeah upon a second look, it's definitely the contrast... the road looks really unreal, especially around the trolley tracks - it looks like it started to just "erase" the ground around the asphalt around the tracks. There's also the bright sidewalks and very dark trashcans. It's probably also the white balance; I go back and forth about how I prefer my night Main St shots but either way, you've got a pretty "golden" WB going here.

I definitely need to revisit that. Thank you for the suggestion. If you've got any other ideas, I'm all ears. I really labored over this shot for quite a while, because I couldn't get it how I wanted it to look. I think I over-sharpened it, too. Thanks for the help!

I like the golden WB. Much more 'interesting' than the 'correct' WB, in my opinion.

 

[Gdad]

Nice shot- the WB looks very warm but I know that's how it looks in real life. I tend to process it a little cooler than it actually is but that's just me.

OT: I never noticed how many trash cans there are on Main Street!

 

[WDWFigment]

Nice shot- the WB looks very warm but I know that's how it looks in real life. I tend to process it a little cooler than it actually is but that's just me.

OT: I never noticed how many trash cans there are on Main Street!

I never notice it in person, then I look at the shots and am amazed. As for white balance, I am surprised at how many times this has come up in the last couple of days, but I really don't attempt to process my images with the 'correct' white balance. I go for what looks best to my eye. Maybe that's just my lack of photographic knowledge, but I've always thought of WB as one of those things that should be manipulated as the photographer sees fit.

 

[annnewjerz]

I never notice it in person, then I look at the shots and am amazed. As for white balance, I am surprised at how many times this has come up in the last couple of days, but I really don't attempt to process my images with the 'correct' white balance. I go for what looks best to my eye. Maybe that's just my lack of photographic knowledge, but I've always thought of WB as one of those things that should be manipulated as the photographer sees fit.

I think WB is totally subjective.

In this shot, I think it works for the overall "feel" of the scene. If I was only taking a picture of the wreaths, I would probably use a cooler WB, but because you aren't just shooting the wreaths I think the warmer WB gave the shot a nice warm holiday feel.

I have seen some shots of Main Street where the WB was very cool and to my eye, Main Street had a sort of sterile feel, it just wasn't extremely visually appealing to me---but obviously was to whoever processed it.

And to answer the original question, yes, Main Street looks better wet. I think one of the basics of automobile photography is that you are supposed to shoot a car with a wet street for the best look---I guess something about the darker black pavement and reflective surface makes it better for photos. I guess the same holds true for Disney photography.

Great shot, Tom.

 

[KCmike]

I always like to look at Main Street shots. Someday I hope to visit it at Christmas time. I also need to say that I always love to see your photos. One of my favs was the long exposure of Spectromagic. Great shot. I do have to say though that I prefer DL's mainstreet to WDW. Have you ever been to DL WDWFIGMENT?

 

[thesimson01]

Amazing pic!!!

 

[mom2rtk]

Absolutely lovely! Tom, you continue to inspire me.

I hope I can get back for Christmas next year, and that I can stay awake long enough to try something like this! My problem is that we are commando early morning park goers..... Sometimes I can stay up this late, but by then I'm usually too tired to think straight!

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Roads, flowers, and women all photograph better when wet.

 

[Groucho]

I definitely need to revisit that. Thank you for the suggestion. If you've got any other ideas, I'm all ears. I really labored over this shot for quite a while, because I couldn't get it how I wanted it to look. I think I over-sharpened it, too. Thanks for the help!

Yeah, it does seem a little heavy on the sharpening too, probably drawing attention to the contrast, too.

As you using Lightroom/ACR or something else? Just as an alternative, I would maybe try bringing down the contrast and bringing up the blacks if your goal is too darken the blacks; this will leave the brighter colors mostly along. Or, use levels and bring down the shadows and maybe adjust the others a little. For coloration, maybe try bringing back the white balance a little and use Vibrance; this will give you somewhat different golden tones. Lastly, try using Clarity instead of Sharpness and maybe use a little more sparingly. Based on what it sounds like your goals are for the shot, I think those changes may work well for you.

Roads, flowers, and women all photograph better when wet.

Also oceans, fountains, waterfalls, and gravy.

 

[WDWFigment]

Yeah, it does seem a little heavy on the sharpening too, probably drawing attention to the contrast, too.

As you using Lightroom/ACR or something else? Just as an alternative, I would maybe try bringing down the contrast and bringing up the blacks if your goal is too darken the blacks; this will leave the brighter colors mostly along. Or, use levels and bring down the shadows and maybe adjust the others a little. For coloration, maybe try bringing back the white balance a little and use Vibrance; this will give you somewhat different golden tones. Lastly, try using Clarity instead of Sharpness and maybe use a little more sparingly. Based on what it sounds like your goals are for the shot, I think those changes may work well for you.


Also oceans, fountains, waterfalls, and gravy.

I already brought up the blacks, clarity, and vibrance as well. I actually did some color correction that 'fixed' the sky making it so that the sky wasn't so warm (no clue why it just affected the sky, but it really worked well).

I wish I could just 'step backward' and undo the selective unsharp mask. I think that would really make it look better. I almost un-did it right after applying it because I didn't think it looked quite right, but it was a close call.

 

[Todd_H]

Tom, great shot. Looks to me like there is a slight tilt, though (which actually could be an illusion due to the difference in height of the bldgs on the left and right ).

Wouldn't it be nice if CS5 had a "remove stroller" tool?

 

[boBQuincy]

You make the call? I don't like it when it rains while I'm there, but I have to say, in retrospect, all of my 'wet' shots look better than their dry counterparts.

Clicking the picture takes you to its Flickr page!

Yes, it looks better wet! And with Christmas decorations!

I like your white balance, the warm tone of Main Street makes it look more inviting to me. I included my photo (which is HDR) to show that HDR can produce a similar photo but the "bloom" on the lights is less pronounced. Even so, I could have used another 2 exposures to completely get the "Ice Cream Parlor" sign under control.

Tom has me easily beat on empty park photos, mine was taken about an hour after official park closing and I was too tired to wait another 30 minutes or so to let everyone else leave!

 

[Groucho]

I already brought up the blacks, clarity, and vibrance as well. I actually did some color correction that 'fixed' the sky making it so that the sky wasn't so warm (no clue why it just affected the sky, but it really worked well).

I wish I could just 'step backward' and undo the selective unsharp mask. I think that would really make it look better. I almost un-did it right after applying it because I didn't think it looked quite right, but it was a close call.

Well, Lightroom does have the history; you could always re-do what you did before it... or just copy down the non-default settings, duplicate the photo, and apply those settings. I find LR's ability to have duplicates of a single file is pretty handy sometimes when trying alternative ways of processing, and to be able to easily compare them side by side.

Since Bob posted his, I'll throw in a couple of my similar photos for a comparison of alternate white balances.

Disneyland's Main St with warmer colors...

...and WDW's Main St with pure white lights.

Both with dry pavement though though the WDW one is low enough to get pretty good reflections anyway.