Manaheim's Ultimate Guide to Night Photography

[DiskoJoe]

Ummm... Ok, I think that's it. Did I miss anything?

Hope this is helpful.

Use a trigger or auto timer for the triggerless. Very key to prevent unwanted shake from user error.

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[brush]

Thanks for posting this, love it. 2 questions for ya if you don't mind...

1) You mention exposing to the right. Any chance you could post a screenshot of the histogram curve and an unprocessed shot we should be aiming for? My best shots I've gotten so far are still what I would consider "to the left" in that the spikes of my histogram are still more toward black than white. Since reading this I have seen a huge improvement over the images I was originally shooting that hits a spike very near pure black, but it's nowhere near what I assumed you meant when you said "to the right." Mine peak a bit before halfway, if I expose so the peaks are right of the halfway point, the highs are so blown out the image is a throwaway.

*edit* I looked at the histogram of your last shot of the skyline (which by the way is GORGEOUS) and it's peaking the way I talk about mine...not COMPLETELY black, but pretty far to the left. Did I misunderstand what you're saying? I tried metering to between +1 & +2 & found that I get very good results, so is that the "to the right" you were talking about & I'm just overthinking things?

2) Because I'm lame & don't have a remote, and don't want to buy a cheap remote since what I really want is one that has a timer for bulb so I can do some REALLY long exposures, I don't have a remote. So what I do instead is use the 2 second timer to minimize camera shake. Does that work in a pinch or do I need to stop being weird about the 6 bucks a remote trigger would cost me?

[manaheim]

Garbz... I love you man.

This will have to do in lew of a humping a leg smiley.

Ummm... Ok, I think that's it. Did I miss anything?

Hope this is helpful.

Use a trigger or auto timer for the triggerless. Very key to prevent unwanted shake from user error.

Ummm... I have that one listed? Go back and read again!

Thanks for posting this, love it. 2 questions for ya if you don't mind...

1) You mention exposing to the right. Any chance you could post a screenshot of the histogram curve and an unprocessed shot we should be aiming for? My best shots I've gotten so far are still what I would consider "to the left" in that the spikes of my histogram are still more toward black than white. Since reading this I have seen a huge improvement over the images I was originally shooting that hits a spike very near pure black, but it's nowhere near what I assumed you meant when you said "to the right." Mine peak a bit before halfway, if I expose so the peaks are right of the halfway point, the highs are so blown out the image is a throwaway.

*edit* I looked at the histogram of your last shot of the skyline (which by the way is GORGEOUS) and it's peaking the way I talk about mine...not COMPLETELY black, but pretty far to the left. Did I misunderstand what you're saying? I tried metering to between +1 & +2 & found that I get very good results, so is that the "to the right" you were talking about & I'm just overthinking things?

2) Because I'm lame & don't have a remote, and don't want to buy a cheap remote since what I really want is one that has a timer for bulb so I can do some REALLY long exposures, I don't have a remote. So what I do instead is use the 2 second timer to minimize camera shake. Does that work in a pinch or do I need to stop being weird about the 6 bucks a remote trigger would cost me?

1> So on the image you saw, the FINAL image histogram is more to the left, but the key is that when I TAKE the image, I expose it to the right and then back it down. You can ONLY do this, however, if you shoot RAW... but RAW is also key to this process. The reason why this works is if you expose to the left you lose a lot of very key detail in the darker parts of the image, and you cannot "brighten them up", because the data simply isn't there. However when you expose to the right ("overexpose slightly"), the detail is all there and you simply dial it down to choose what detail you want less evident in the image.

2> Yes, the two second timer thing works fine, though I do more like 10 when I stupidly forget my remote. A basic remote is MAYBE $50. You should just pick one up. Especially when you're new to this and you'll need a lot of shots to get things right, that extra 10 seconds per shot can get kind of annoying.

Does that help?

[manaheim]

btw, brush, I'd love to see some before and after shots from you. Post 'em here!

[Rosy]

wow...this is amazing. thank you soooo very much for sharing

[brush]

btw, brush, I'd love to see some before and after shots from you. Post 'em here!

Sure! Hopefully we end up documenting my improvement instead of proof that I'm a lost cause!

My favorite dark shot before seeing your tips: 30 sec exposure at f/3.5 ISO 100. Shot was under exposed and brightened in post.

IMG_4946 by Bill Rush, on Flickr

Where I currently am: Shot about 10 min after sunset, 1.6 sec at f/4.0 ISO 100. Exposure was just about what you see now, but white balance was way to cool (shot at 3200, tweaked in post to 7350). My biggest complaint with the shot is how soft it is...but I'm pretty sure that softness is the epic winds that were bringing in those awesome clouds. There's also quite a bit of noise for using such a low ISO...not sure what the deal is with that.

IMG_9232 by Bill Rush, on Flickr

I was going to stay and keep shooting until complete darkness, so I could see how the changing light from sunset to nightfall unfolds, BUT I learned another very valuable lesson that night...don't trust a tripod in high winds. I should be able to go back out & try shooting more in a week or so...when my lens comes back from the repair shop.

[manaheim]

Sweet! And you're welcome, Rosy!

[brush]

1> So on the image you saw, the FINAL image histogram is more to the left, but the key is that when I TAKE the image, I expose it to the right and then back it down.

Any chance you could post a capture of the unprocessed RAW file to give me an idea of just how over exposed it should really be before processing? Am I right in thinking the exposure is part of why my shot is so noisy (particularly in the clouds) in spite of the low ISO?

[jwbryson1]

You spot metered on number 4. What did you spot meter off of? The building?

[gazzzie]

night photography is my favourite and this guide showed me a couple of things I didn't know

NICE ONE!

[brush]

Hey Manaheim, I think I'm getting closer...your thoughts on this attempt?


IMG_9710 copy by Bill Rush, on Flickr

I shot this at f/8.0 ISO 200 for 20 sec, which exposed it a bit to the right like you suggested. Then in post I knocked the exposure down by -.4, bumped the recovery & blacks, and although it was significantly more in focus than the last one straight out of the camera, I also applied a high pass filter to it for a little extra clarity.

Personally I'm thinking waiting for the sky to be a bit darker would be a good move, and tonight was too overcast with boring clouds, those do nothing for the scene & just take away from the blues in the sky. I'm gettin' closer though.