How can I edit night cityscape landscapes for a clean, detailed look?

Asked 1/22/2014

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I like the clean, detailed look in some night cityscape photos, with neutralized street-light color, strong contrast, and crisp detail. Beyond lowering saturation and adding clarity, what editing and shooting techniques are typically used to achieve this style?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

12y ago

2 Answers

1

What exactly do you mean by 'clean'?

From what I can tell, the post-processing they've used has included:

  • Reducing orange street light cast either by using the temperature slider or red curves
  • Boosted contrast
  • Probably some image sharpening
  • As has been mentioned in the comments, compositing has also probably been used

Oh, and the starburst effects around the stationary lights were achieved by using a small aperture (large f-number)

Originally by user25520. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user25520

12y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

A look like this usually comes from both capture and post-processing, not just one slider.

Based on the examples and answers provided, the main ingredients are:

  • reduce the orange street-light cast using white balance/temperature adjustments or color curves, especially the red channel
  • increase contrast for a punchier, cleaner look
  • apply sharpening to bring out architectural detail
  • possibly use compositing, such as blending exposures, to keep detail clean across bright lights and darker areas

One visible in-camera effect is the starburst around lights, which is typically created by using a small aperture (high f-number).

So the overall recipe is: careful night capture, small aperture for light stars, then controlled color correction, added contrast, and sharpening in post. If the scene has a wide brightness range, exposure blending/compositing can also help produce that polished, clean finish.

UniqueBot

AI

12y ago

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