Need some advice

[wackymoose]

I just got the Sony a6000,before I went on vacation with the two kit lenses the 3.5-5.6/16-50 and the 4.5-6.3/55-210. I tried long exposures/Night photography for the first time and I’m having a lot of trouble. Now the conditions weren’t ideal with strong winds and light but I feel the trouble I Am having has a lot more to do with me than the conditions. I have only been doing photography for about 5-6 months. I was using a tripod and messing with settings a lot , trying to figure things out and learn but seemed to never work like I wanted it to.I feel like I’m doing everything wrong and don’t know how to take better shots . Any advice is welcome.

 

[zombiesniper]

You need to focus on one image and explain where you think you need some help.
Five images is a lot to work with. One image will get a more detailed response.

 

[dennybeall]

Things move and when you do long exposures things are bound to move while you're shooting. You can control camera movement with a good solid tripod and external release but you can't control anything else. You can incorporate movement that you can't control, like the sky or the water, in the composition of the shot but you have to be dead-on sharp on the things that don't move.

 

[benhasajeep]

Stop moving around while taking a picture. Why do I say that? Because you were on a wooden deck while taking at least some of the shots. The deck boards will transmit movement to tripod. And the wind will move the camera some. I learned that lesson years ago using a telescope. Just shifting weight to other leg caused movement through the deck I was on, up to the telescope. Also use the cameras self timers (if it has one), and or a remote release. And finally use manual focus. Yup, turn off AF.

 

[cosmicreality]

It looks like maybe you need a heavier tripod or just to attach some kind of a heavy backpack to the tripod. This will prevent camera shake and should give you sharper images. The slight blur was probably caused by the wind. A timer or a remote release is also a great idea to reduce camera shake.