Bright Light

[laawaaris]

I shot this photo below at a wedding. It is an aerial view of the church from the balcony - and while I quite like it, I am a bit upset that the light on the left hand side is too bright.

I shot at 1/20 f/5.6 ISO 1600 I tried to rest the camera lens on the balcony railing in the center of the church and just fire away. I did some cropping to the final photo to achieve the look I wanted.

I am posting because I don't quite understand WHY the light on the left is too bright.

Maybe I was not really right in the middle of the church and somehow the camera was closer to that light? I really doubt this cos the distance from camera to light is pretty far.

Maybe that light is simply brighter than the other lights in the church?

I went and processed this photo and while it looks nice overall - the light on the left is just too bright. I don't have the PS skills to dampen or dim that light - but I went and did Exposure and Curve and Saturation adjustments to achieve the final look.

The exposure and Curve adjustments really did a number on that left light.

Anyhow, if there any thoughts it would be appreciated!

[luis_relampago]

Have you tried masking it? I did and it came out OK check it out. Those lights are pretty tricky but if you mask them out you have a better chance to control them.

[laawaaris]

the masking looks good

do you mean simply using the Exposure layer and using the brush to selectively mask out the areas around the light?

i'm sure this is what you mean - i will have to try it again

thanks ...

[123canon]

maybe angle of incidence to the lense? yeah, i know, that is probably not phrased right-maybe that light shone more directly into the lense than the others i agree with luis-mask it.

[sniperkittie]

The Reason: Although well centered the camera was not level or should I say not plumb in relation to the building. The left is slightly higher. That changes the angle to the lens. Would being level have stopped the problem. Who knows. It could have caused the light or lights on both side to be "bright". Or not.

Hope you can see the vertical and horizontal lines.


Added: 123Canon is correct.

[ArmandoG]

Just curious but is this the Little Flower Basilica in San Antonio?