Chinatown, singapore during the lunar new year season.
wanted to show the contrast of the low-rise ethnical front against the modernity of the city in the background. i cant seem to get the background of skyscrapers sufficiently detailed and lighted even at a small aperture. and the flash caused the illumination on the high-reflective road signs. how can this picture be improved?
I'm not too sure about the specifics of your camera, but I can tell you of my experience. First about your shot - really nice idea, good composition as well. As you say, the light and contrast really let you down.
When shooting cityscapes at night, I usually go for long shutter times, and high aperture to really capture the colour. However, I'm really new to cityscapes, so my advice might be totally fubar. Of course, long exposures with people in front will not capture the people sharply (as happened with a couple of yours who started walking), however, if you left it open for long enough this might have an interesting effect of speed. I have yet to try this though, so if you are might want to try on cheap film if you decide to experiment with this. Also, with a really long exposure the brightly lit area might get blown out horribly. Once again, perhaps get some cheap film, try different shutter speeds and apertures and write down the setting of each shot. When you find a healthy balance you can always go back with expensive film. I'll be very interested to see more attempts when you post them, as well as other Usefilm member's ideas for you. Good luck, this has a lot of potential :)
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