my first night shot..need help

[SamuelA]

So I went into this night shot blindly..I don't know much about em but I just took what I knew about exposure and aperture and stuff and shot this. What makes a good night shot? What should I do next time to make it better? Thanks.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SamuelA82/2005_1230nightshots0001.jpg

 

[Azuth]

It's a bit overexposed (quite a bit perhaps). Also on a very strange angle, the tree isn't all in the frame and I'm not sure the subject is particularly interesting.

I read those comments and they seem really harsh, sorry. They are of course only my thoughts on it.

The key question would seem to me to be, would this have made a reasonable photo in daylight? It doesn't look like it really would have.

I also think that a lot of night photography requires a fully functioning third eye that sees not only the future, but also understands light better than Einstein. (Not sure where they sell them).

All I can suggest is;
-Choose the subject carefully
-Make sure it's framed correctly and that your tripod is straight
-Take a range of exposures of the same picture so that you have options

 

[SamuelA]

well i didnt really have a reason to shoot that tree..i just wanted to see what i could do in night shots..but i just wanted to take a picture of something to show what i could do so people could give me suggestions

 

[Taralyn Romero]

I agree, its a wee overexposed. When doing night shots (not that I am, by any means, a pro), you want to have that "late evening" feeling - Maybe in the future, you could do what Azuth suggested and do some bracketing on the shot. Most cameras will do that for you but if not, you can play around with the aperature to either let in more/less light. For the photo you posted, you would need considerably less light to make it more appealing and to give it the right asthetic feeling.

 

[SamuelA]

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

 

[Boltthrower]

I happen to like shooting at night...myself

I read the specs on your camera and noticed it will do F8 and ISO 64
I also noticed in the tag for the photo you did this one at 1600 for 15 seconds at F3.2

Depending on what kind of shot you are going for if you are going for something like what Thorhammer posted let me dig that up here (just too lazy to post one of my own)
(digs through other posts)
Ahhh here we go
http://thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=368147#post368147



Here is what i would suggest doing...

Me I would do this same shot at 100 for 15 seconds and see what you get

 

[P Bailey]

Your experimental photo is Ok. One way to improve night shots is to keep harsh light out of the frame. Try to stay away from street lights and other bright light sources. Look for available light and shoot long shutter speeds.
Good Luck