DSLR Night Shot settings?

[phoenix_rising]

Hello everyone.

I have been toying with my D50 for a while now, but I took some night shots yesterday and they did not turn out quite the way I expected. I used a monopod. The first was my D50 and the second was a D70. Can anyone give me some step by step insight into how to transform a photo like this...

Into one like this...

 

[JimmyO]

when shooting at night you need to use longer shutter speeds (which you did) but doing this will make for a blurry image if not stabilized. This means you need to pick up a good tripod

 

[RebelTasha]

Get one of those shutter release cables too to go along with your tripod you can get them very reasonably off ebay.
I'm not sure what a monopod is are they very stable?

 

[confucious]

Yup - both posters are right - you will want to get a tri-pod and a remote shutter release to eliminate shake since you will have to have a fairly slow shutter speed.

The example photo you posted has better lighting than your scene as well as more atmosphere (cobblestones, railway crossing signs etc.). Your shot may have been disappointing even if it had been in focus as there a lot of ambient light and too much movement (man and background cars). your subjects (the three red cars) kind of get lost in all the action.

Good luck, and let us know if you get the shot you were aiming for! :thumbup:

 

[phoenix_rising]

Will do. Thank you folks!

By the way, what do you think of this tripod vs. a more expensive model?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...ipod&lp=11&type=product&cp=1&id=1185268654383

And this...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Remote-Shutter-...ryZ30057QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[akazoly]

phoenix_rising use a good tripod with self timer or remote control to avoid camera shake.

 

[ann]

usually inexpensive tripod will not equal stability.

take your camera with your longest lens into a camera store and try them out.

put the tripod head in vertical mode with the camera and lens attached and see if the lens and camera remain in the same spot.

 

[RebelTasha]

I think the tripod looks good.
Not sure about that remote thing I don't have experience with them just check the feedback.
I have something that looks more like this
http://i21.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/ab/84/4951_1_sbl.JPG

 

[Mav]

Don't have anything to suggest that hasn't already been suggested other than to possibly look into a faster lens too. Also don't be shy about cranking up the ISO. A noisier shot at iso1600 that's sharp is still better than a blurred one at 800. You can always clean up noise, but you can't clean up blur. I'm going through a bunch of photos from a recent trip right now and sure enough the ones at 800 are blurred inside of a restaurant (no flash) but the ones where I was smart enough to crank it up to 1600 are sharp (another stop of shutter speed) and I'll be able to easily clean up if I want to.

 

[phoenix_rising]

So I attempted a photo shoot a few hours ago with the tripod and changing the setting on the camera. The shots are better but not great. I think I need the remote and maybe faster glass. Anyone have any suggestions that will not break the bank?

Here are the latest test shots...

Kit DX 18-55 Various
Cheap Tripod
No Remote
No flash
Scene mode and setting changes

 

[JimmyO]

Yes. Get a 50mm 1.8

 

[phoenix_rising]

Yes. Get a 50mm 1.8

Thank you sir!

 

[Mav]

Anyone have any suggestions that will not break the bank?

You don't need to spend anymore money. There's no need to be shooting at iso1600 at night on a tripod. You only need high ISO if you're shooting handheld and need the quickest shutter speed you can get to avoid hand shake blur. For the tripod, lower your ISO all the way down to 200 for maximum quality or 400 if you don't want an extremely long exposure. Next use the self-timer mode and set it to about 5 seconds so that any vibration from hitting the shutter on the camera without a remote release will subside by the time it starts taking the photo. An ML-L3 wireless remote is like $15 though and great. Essential and a no brainer for night time shooting IMHO, especially if timing is critical and you want to catch it getting a car or something going by where the delay mode would leave too much guess work. Also, take the filter off of your lens. The little green artifacts at the bottom of the 2nd photo are from that.

 

[brileyphotog]

You don't need to spend anymore money. There's no need to be shooting at iso1600 at night on a tripod. You only need high ISO if you're shooting handheld and need the quickest shutter speed you can get to avoid hand shake blur. For the tripod, lower your ISO all the way down to 200 for maximum quality or 400 if you don't want an extremely long exposure. Next use the self-timer mode and set it to about 5 seconds so that any vibration from hitting the shutter on the camera without a remote release will subside by the time it starts taking the photo. An ML-L3 wireless remote is like $15 though and great. Essential and a no brainer for night time shooting IMHO, especially if timing is critical and you want to catch it getting a car or something going by where the delay mode would leave too much guess work. Also, take the filter off of your lens. The little green artifacts at the bottom of the 2nd photo are from that.

I second that motion.

You do not need another lens...Don't get me wrong, the 50mm/f1.8 is a great lens, but the tripod is what you need for night time shooting (even if you've got a fast lens). Using the manual zoom, i.e. walking, with a fixed lens is a real pain when you have your camera attached to the tripod you'll still need even at f1.8.

 

[Mystwalker]

What lens are you using? And what f-stop are you using?

I believe "Crawford picture" went through some kind of post-processing. Also, I think he used a pretty big f-stop - this gives him the overall in-focus that you see.

The 50mm f/1.8 will not help you achieve Crawford's results because you need to use a high f-stop to get clarity of background.

Your first on-tripod shot looks fine, with exception of background. But that probably due to you using small f-number. Not sure what happened to your orange Chevy shot - looks like you are hand-holding, or you did not use remote shutter.

Try to take same shots again but at f/11-f/22 ... I'm just guessing at these #s - I normally experiment until I get something acceptable. Use tripod + shutter remote. Also, sometimes the vibration of shutter may affect shot - my 30D has a config setting that allows me to get rid of this affect ... do not remember the name (BLU? DLU? SLU? something lock-up). Check your manual because not sure if your camere has it.