Late Christmas, I know...

[grafiks]

Hi All,

I have just started experimenting with night pictures. One reason I kept this tree up until now is that I wanted to get a good picture of it, which I have not achieved so far. I used a Nikon D70, aperture priority, f14, incandescent white balance, spot metering and a good tripod. The shutter remained open for almost 3 seconds. Is this the best I can expect or am I doing something obviously wrong? Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[LaFoto]

Well, I am no expert on Christmas trees, but I feel you did all you could do: small aperture, sturdy tripod, long exposure, low ISO, I should think. It is sharp, every detail is to be seen --- and the surrounding light, was it all given by the light of the Christmas tree only? Or were there more lights on?

I am surprised to see that the lights don't look any more like stars at f14.
I'd need to check on my pics of our tree from Christmas 2006 (which has looooooooong gone! ), I think I had more stars, a lot more stars.

 

[grafiks]

Well, I am no expert on Christmas trees, but I feel you did all you could do: small aperture, sturdy tripod, long exposure, low ISO, I should think. It is sharp, every detail is to be seen --- and the surrounding light, was it all given by the light of the Christmas tree only? Or were there more lights on?

I am surprised to see that the lights don't look any more like stars at f14.
I'd need to check on my pics of our tree from Christmas 2006 (which has looooooooong gone! ), I think I had more stars, a lot more stars.

I was using ISO 200 and the light is only from the tree.

You know, I never could make sense of an ISO setting on a digital camera. I don't even know why it's there. After all, wouldn't this be a simulated feature?