I took a little bit of a day off from working on the house today. Well it was kind of self-inflicted because I slept in too much and after I got up I didn’t feel like doing much of anything. But I did manage to visit the hardware store and pick up more supplies (there’s always more supplies), so it wasn’t a total wasted day.
While we were out, my wife had to stop at the drugstore and I just waited in my truck as she ran in. While waiting, I noticed the windows of a few buildings downtown were reflecting the light from the setting sun. From my one vantage point I took both of these photos, slightly underexposed to enhance the bright windows. Again I wasn’t shooting in ideal conditions. The light level was low enough where I had to boost the ISO, yet the shutter speeds were still pretty slow, considering I was shooting at full telephoto with my DA55-300 lens. The cameras image stabilization helped a lot in this situation but in hindsight I could have kicked the ISO up a little more for faster shutter speeds. I purposely kept the ISO to 800 because I knew the blank sky would show noise but, due to the lack of detail, I could have simply did a separate, more extreme noise reduction only on the sky during processing if I went with a higher ISO. Processing was limited to some noise reduction and playing around with contrast and levels, being careful not to “correct” the exposure. I didn’t pay attention to color much, hence the purplish sky in the first photo. The statue in the first photo is George Washington, which is on the courthouse behind the building. The second photo is the county jail. Pentax K20D, DA55-300.
Statue and Building
Jail
What I Pic 
There is a still and quiet beauty in those well composed photos. Great eye.
Very nice, especially under the lighting conditions. I take it you didn’t shoot with a tripod? I hear you about boosting the ISO. I do my best to keep it at 100 or 200. I feel like I’m pushing it at 400, and 800 is my ISO of last resort. I’ve tried 1600, but always wind of deleting them.
Oops..meant to say “wind UP deleting them.”
I like to keep the ISO low but I was shooting from my vehicle so, no, I couldn’t use a tripod. I have one in my truck but the shopping plaza I was at is frequented by, shall we say, people of “questionable” character. I like to keep a low profile there.
love the colour of the sky, incredible
I like the minimalist look of both these photos, Dave.
I like the purple effect of the sky in the first photo. I have not mastered ISO so it’s ususally on auto. I have been lucky a few times when I actually set it correctly. Great job on these.
Definitely dramatic shots. I love the way the prison shot has a very austere feel about it. Both are good, but I think the 2nd is the more successful.