a problem with the city lights...

[45rpm]

so i'm kind of new to photography and all, and i have a problem i'm not sure how to take care of. a few weeks ago i went down into the southside (pittsburgh) on a friday night and took some pictures, so as you can imagine, there was a lot of lights. i took quite a few pictures, including some of the city across the river. i was so excited to get them developed, and when i did, i was sort of disappointed. i mean, they look cool i guess, but i wanted my pictures to turn out how i saw them. there's a lot of light "tracers", hopefully you know what i mean, i'm sure you do. but they're all over the place, and mostly all of the pictures are blurry and have streaks of light all over the place. how should i set the aperture/shutter speed and what not to adjust to the night and the light (without using flash) for clear, sharp pictures?

thanks!

 

[Unimaxium]

Do you mean there's a lot of starring around points of light? If that's the case, then set a wider aperture to reduce it.

 

[Digital Matt]

Use a lens hood to minimize any flaring. Try not to shoot directly at any lights that are nearby. Use a tripod, because you'll be doing longer exposures. I'd set your aperture to f/8 for good sharp pictures. Use a cable release if you have one, and mirror lockup also, for the sharpest photo you can get.

 

[Kodan_Txips]

Here's a hint, if you dont have a mirror lock.
Get the lockable cable release ready.
Press plunger. (CLUNK)
Lock plunger.
wait 1 second, for the vibrations to die down.
NOW, remove the piece of matt black card that you were holding about an inch in front of the lens.
Start timing the exposure.
When the exposure is finished, put the black card back.
Now release the lock. (CLUNK)

there you go - saves spending all that cash on the mirror lock up.

 

[spike000]

You don't say but did you use a tripod?

If not then your camera could be using a long exposure that you cannot handhold. This would account for your picutures being 'blurry'

Try again and check what shutter speed your camera is reading - if it is more than 1/focal length (e.g. 1/50th second for 50mm) then you will struggle to handhold your camera. It is possible to handhold at longer exposures but you will find increased risk of camera shake and the blurry results you have had.

Good luck


Spike