Lost in space stuck in traffic!

[Dreadaisy]

The "little" city that I live in is expanding everyday. I find my self caught in traffic more often and often more frustrated with how people drive. I was driving last night when I realized that traffic makes a beautiful photo. I want to capture what I see. What light set up and film speed are best for this soprt of picture?

 

[xfloggingkylex]

depending on exactly how big of a city and how much light is in the city, you will want a tripod and a long exposure (which depends on the city) and as low ISO film as you can find available.

If your metering system in your camera says that 30 seconds will result in an underexposed image, you can set the ISO higher until you find the time you need, and then using math figure how long you need the shutter. Remember, every stop of light is twice the amount before it, so if using ISO 200 you need 30 seconds, with ISO 100 you'll need a full minute.

But make sure you do everything you can to reduce camera shake: fire with a remote or use mirror lockup, a sturdy tripod braced from the wind.

Post pics when you finally do it.

Also, if you have an EXIF viewer you can look at some of the pics from last months photo challenge of "Long Exposure" and see plenty of city scapes to get a starting point.

 

[auer1816]

One other tip if you don't have a remote release or if you don't want to lock the mirror -- use the shutter delay. On my camera, the mirror first flips up when you hit the button and then it waits for two or ten seconds before taking the exposure. That way the mirror doesn't shake the camera.

 

[xfloggingkylex]

One other tip if you don't have a remote release or if you don't want to lock the mirror -- use the shutter delay. On my camera, the mirror first flips up when you hit the button and then it waits for two or ten seconds before taking the exposure. That way the mirror doesn't shake the camera.

thats what I mean by mirror lockup. It locks the mirror up first before taking the picture.