Detroit at dusk - unhappy with result - what to do?

[fstopusa]

I agree that the best thing to have helped this shot would have been to wait a little later to shoot. However, having said that, this can be a difficult thing to determine, especially when you have not done it a lot. Here are some suggestions/tips on shooting this type of shot:

• Always use a tripod (a good sturdy one) to reduce movement from vibration.
• Use a remote trigger or cable release to reduce movement.
• Shoot at around f8 or f11. Most lenses are sharpest in this range and is good for general DoF on smaller formats.
• Turn off AF and focus manually. It just works better.
• A bubble level is good for checking your level, but sometimes you just need to "eyeball" it.
• Longer exposure will produce more noise on digital.
• There will be reciprocity failure if you use film.
• Start shooting when you think the light is getting good and shoot a new series every time you can see a noticeable change in the light. Use a meter if you need to. The time between each series will get closer together as the light gets lower. The "peak" time may only be about 5-10 minutes long.
• BRACKET YOUR EXPOSURE. This is probably the most important thing you can do. Your camera meter will LIE to you. It will try to get you to expose all of those beautiful deep black tones as if there were 18% gray.

There are probably lots of other things, but this is what I can think of for now. Experience and practice are always the best teachers.

 

[AE86]

Remember: "the smaller the lens opening the more Depth of Field there is" Blurry effect.
"the larger the lens opening the less Depth of Field there is" more things focus. I usually remember this when i am about to shot landscapings...
Good luck.

is that right???

i thought large aperture (small number f2.8) will give you a very short focusing distance (small DoF) giving you a crisp focal point with a really burly back ground. (less things in focus)

and the opposite for small apertures (large f number)

correct me if I'm wrong...

 

[DanV1317]

What exactly is meant by bracketing our exposures? Take some pictures with the meter showing it should be overexposed and some pictures of the meter showing more levels of underexposure to be sure you get a good one?

I agree that the best thing to have helped this shot would have been to wait a little later to shoot. However, having said that, this can be a difficult thing to determine, especially when you have not done it a lot. Here are some suggestions/tips on shooting this type of shot:

• Always use a tripod (a good sturdy one) to reduce movement from vibration.
• Use a remote trigger or cable release to reduce movement.
• Shoot at around f8 or f11. Most lenses are sharpest in this range and is good for general DoF on smaller formats.
• Turn off AF and focus manually. It just works better.
• A bubble level is good for checking your level, but sometimes you just need to "eyeball" it.
• Longer exposure will produce more noise on digital.
• There will be reciprocity failure if you use film.
• Start shooting when you think the light is getting good and shoot a new series every time you can see a noticeable change in the light. Use a meter if you need to. The time between each series will get closer together as the light gets lower. The "peak" time may only be about 5-10 minutes long.
• BRACKET YOUR EXPOSURE. This is probably the most important thing you can do. Your camera meter will LIE to you. It will try to get you to expose all of those beautiful deep black tones as if there were 18% gray.

There are probably lots of other things, but this is what I can think of for now. Experience and practice are always the best teachers.

 

[Senor Hound]

D40s don't have bracketing. Its where your camera takes three shots, with one dark, one light, and one in the middle. Its cool, but its not necessary or anything.

What he's trying to tell you is take a couple of sample shots with less light and more light. Increase the shutter speed, then decrease it. Basically experiment and see what works.

For the record, I like it. Great Lake cities have a reputation for being drab and dreary. But your shot makes the city look a lot more vibrant that most others I see. Try not to be so hard on yourself. Its a good shot and you should be proud of yourself!

 

[MRivera]

is that right???

i thought large aperture (small number f2.8) will give you a very short focusing distance (small DoF) giving you a crisp focal point with a really burly back ground. (less things in focus)

and the opposite for small apertures (large f number)

correct me if I'm wrong...

Totally wrong here... sorry for the misinformation. But hey good thing we have this forum to learn. I though that having a smal f# will give you a more focus on the image but i guess it was related when the subject is close to me. Therefore, getting a crisp image of the subject with a blurry background.
I found out an article/ tutorial to help understand more about aperture I hope it is helpful as it was for me.

Good Luck...

http://www.photoxels.com/tutorial_aperture_print.html

 

[fstopusa]

What exactly is meant by bracketing our exposures? Take some pictures with the meter showing it should be overexposed and some pictures of the meter showing more levels of underexposure to be sure you get a good one?

To bracket an exposure, you can shoot one frame at the exposure you think is correct by the meter reading and then shoot a shot (or some shots) that is underexposed and then do the same on the overexposed end as well. I have not shot with a D40, but you should be able to do this in Manual mode or by using the exposure compensation button (+/-) if it has one.

In the old days of film, bracketing was very common especially when shooting transparencies (slides). You could not go back and adjust the levels in PhotoShop. There were other variables as well and the monitor on the back of the camera was called a Polaroid back.