first attempt at night photography...

rhall54 · Jan 14, 2009

So.. I have never taken pictures at night before. One because I just recently bought a tripod and two, I don't like to go places at night by myself. Anyway.. I decided it would be safe to go to the park down the street and try it out. Any advice or criticism is welcome!!

Samanax · Jan 14, 2009

Cool shot.

You can actually shoot long exposure night shots at ISO 100 to help keep the noise under control. Since the camera is on a tripod you don't have to worry about camera shake.

Did you take more shots from different spots around the play equipment?

TheSon · Jan 14, 2009

Nice shot... everything is clear (for the most part) and exposed correctly.

Another fun game to play is taking a flashlight with you and pointing it at objects of interest as the long shutter is open. It helps to light up areas of interest.

Great job!

rhall54 · Jan 14, 2009

thank you

The flashlight sounds like it would be fun!

And I do have a few other shots. I'm gonna go back when it warms up.. it was just toooo cold to stay out very long.

I'll get some more pictures up. I'm using GIMP and it likes to freeze up my computer so.. it takes me awhile to get pictures together to post on here..

fiveoboy01 · Jan 14, 2009

I really like that picture, looks great

Would you mind sharing your camera settings for that shot?

rhall54 · Jan 14, 2009

fiveoboy01 said:
I really like that picture, looks great

Would you mind sharing your camera settings for that shot?

f stop: f18
exposure time: 28 sec
ISO:400

rhall54 · Jan 14, 2009

Samanax said:
Cool shot.

You can actually shoot long exposure night shots at ISO 100 to help keep the noise under control. Since the camera is on a tripod you don't have to worry about camera shake.

Did you take more shots from different spots around the play equipment?

Beth81 · Jan 15, 2009

Great picture however my preferences are different. So my question is if I didn't want the light to be so bright what can I use to tone that down some?

Derek Zoolander · Jan 15, 2009

Is there a filter used for that light burst? or is that natural?

rhall54 · Jan 15, 2009

Beth81 said:
Great picture however my preferences are different. So my question is if I didn't want the light to be so bright what can I use to tone that down some?

To be honest with you.. I just go into GIMP and adjust contrast/brightness and hues. I haven't really done too much digital photography because when it comes to uploading and editing on the computer.. I'm not very good. Computers scare me lol. When I was in school all we did was film so..

rhall54 · Jan 15, 2009

Derek Zoolander said:
Is there a filter used for that light burst? or is that natural?

no filters were used. It was just natural.

Beth81 · Jan 15, 2009

rhall54 said:
To be honest with you.. I just go into GIMP and adjust contrast/brightness and hues. I haven't really done too much digital photography because when it comes to uploading and editing on the computer.. I'm not very good. Computers scare me lol. When I was in school all we did was film so..

I just downloaded GIMP 2.6.4.0 and I was wondering what version you have? I'm currently doing the Stratford at home Photography course and I've been reading up a little on GIMP but any suggestions on how to use it? I can't figure anything out

christm · Jan 15, 2009

Are they flashes or just lights from the park ? I would love to see this in HDR

rhall54 · Jan 15, 2009

christm said:
Are they flashes or just lights from the park ? I would love to see this in HDR

lol.. I would too!

I tried for the longest time to do HDR using GIMP. I went through the tutorial 3 times.. and couldn't figure it out. I'm very challenged when it comes to anything dealing with computers.
Not only that but I have very little patience and get irritated when I can't figure something out. But.. I'm gonna try it again.

rhall54 · Jan 15, 2009

Beth81 said:
I just downloaded GIMP 2.6.4.0 and I was wondering what version you have? I'm currently doing the Stratford at home Photography course and I've been reading up a little on GIMP but any suggestions on how to use it? I can't figure anything out

I really don't have any suggestions. I have not read anything about it at all. My uncle told me about it because I have the old version of Photoshop and Vista wouldn't let me install it on my computer. anyway.. so I downloaded GIMP and have just been playing around with it. My life is somewhat hectic right now.. so I don't ever have much time to devote to learning how to use it. One day though I will... I hope