Dublin Quay by night

Trying all sorts of different things in the learning curve. Now some night time shots. All K-5 + DA 18-135mm, some cropping, straightening and distortion removal, b ut not much PP otherwise. Did find quite severe barrel effect (is that the right term?) on most of the originals ie. trees and buildings at side edges leaning inwards.
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[IMG]http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i479/jvs49/Dublin%20Quays/IMGP6023edit.jpg[/IMG]
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Appreciate any criticism!

Hi, all the pictures seem a bit soft.

Were you using a tripod, or just using the in-camera SR ?

I know the K5 is good at high ISO, but at these shutter speeds, even the K5 will struggle with hand-held shots.

I don't know much about the quality of the 18-135mm lens, but zooming in on a couple of the images, I suspect that camera shake is causing you problems.

John.

Hi John - that's what I expected would be said, which is a shame as the subject matter is OK. I was waiting for the ferry home so had nothing except the camera and was just passing time really. I'm sure you're right to suggest camera shake - it was cold and quite windy, with not many options for standing the camera on a wall etc. Still, I was pleased with the relative lack of noise in the shots.
Thanks for commenting!

Lack of noise is one thing, but sharpness is another !!!

Is the subject matter ok, 'yes', but you don't seem to have caught it, sorry !!!

This type of image needs sharpness or 'artistic' blur.

You have achieved neither

I would say that you have taken offense with the feedback. I have to agree that a tripod is a must here but if you are pleased with the results then that's the main thing.

I'm sorry if I gave that impression - it's certainly not so. I did say that the pics were experimental and part of my "learning curve." They were unplanned and unprepared equipment-wise, so I wasn't expecting any praise, but I thought it was worth posting them in the hope of getting some advice on how they could have been better - which I got, so I'm grateful for that. I totally agree that they are not sharp enough - what I am not sure about is whether a tripod would have been enough to achieve the required sharpness. What settings would an experienced photographer expect to use in these circumstances?

My apologies, I got the wrong end of the stick. A tripod certainly would allow you to get the required sharpness, it makes a huge difference. The exposure depends on the depth of field you want (here I'd say you'd want large dof) and where movement is involved (the cars) how long you want the light trails to be. Black skies often don't look great in photos and some blue in the sky is often preferable, hence the post sunset blue hour. Hope this helps.

Thanks! It may be some time before I'm in Dublin again, but I'll remember what you said the next time I try night-time photography!