Traffic at night long exposure advice.

[s_peps]

Pretty much what everybody else has said..

I've taken quite a few of these shots, and if you want to achieve similar shots to the ones that I've taken, then your best bet is to do the following.

- Shoot in manual for this, always (if possible).
- If you want a lot of traffic lights and movement over a longer period of time, close your aperture down to it's max, or near max and that way you can up your shutter time. It's a game of experimentation, so the more you try it, the more you'll learn how to adjust both to fit each other perfectly.

Personally, I've always preferred it when the lights make it through the entire shot, as opposed to let's say... a 2 second shot of a slow moving car through a wide shot, so you just capture a bit of lights. But that's just my opinion on that..

Good luck!

 

[Atreus]

didn't find much good tonight. i think i should get another camera already, this dsc-h3 is nice. it is my first camera ever, but i think i need something more, i might get the h7 or h9, or i may refund it entirely and save for a slr (canon).

for a p&s, it's ok i guess?

 

[Iron Flatline]

Atreus, your shot is a good example of why you need a lens hood, even (especially) at night. You've got a lot of glare on the lens.

Also, if you don't have a cable release, you can use the self-timer function. Both ensure that there's no additional camera shake when you release the shutter.

 

[Atreus]

even on my second shot? the first one is....blech. what can i say, lol. i set up the 2sec timer on it when i do it. I know too much about camera shake, i think i'm just twitchy. I'll do more with the timer on it, and, i just remembered i have a lens hood and adapter ring. dur. lets see what happens tomorrow...

 

[DJDarknez]

I took this one at night, of course, with these settings. I'm still learning what all this stuff means, so I'll just copy the stuff I think MIGHT matter :mrgreen:

What I'll do is take the camera and the book out and just shoot a bunch in a bunch of different settings.

Exposure time: 6s
Exposure program: shutter priority
Focal length: 48mm
white balance: auto
ISO: 400
F number: f/36

That got me this:

 

[Coldow91]

Looks pretty good!! The only thing I would consider is a longer exposure to eliminate the stopped trails.

 

[DJDarknez]

Longer than 6 seconds? Thats pretty long. I actually kind of like the start and stop of some of the trails.

 

[Coldow91]

Well if that is what you were looking for then great!

I was thinking more along the lines of something like this: http://flickr.com/photos/7202742@N03/517587421/

 

[DJDarknez]

Well if that is what you were looking for then great!

I was thinking more along the lines of something like this: http://flickr.com/photos/7202742@N03/517587421/

I do like that too. Was it a busy highway at 2 am? We were out there at 1130pm and there wern't too many vehicles on the road.

 

[Atreus]

yeah i'd set it at at least 15 seconds.....

 

[DJDarknez]

Hmmm...I think my buddy who was out there with me that night set his Canon for higher than 6...possible up there in the 30's range. I'll have to link him over here, see if he wants to get involved.

 

[redpoint]

Well, you'll need a tripod firstly.

Not necessary to have a tripod. Here's a little trick I use, if I don't have my tripod with me: Use the camera self timer. Long enough to take out the vibration of hitting the shutter which may depend on how the camera is sitting. Just make sure your camera is secure, i.e. not going to fall when you hit the shutter and let go. I usually hang onto the strap if it's sitting on railings or at odd orientations achieved by putting my wallet, cellphone or whatever else I can find to get the angle I need.

I've had great luck doing this. Even taking photos of fireworks. Timing was really hard because I had account for both the self timer and the exposure time while anticipating when the fireworks would fully blossom.

 

[Lead_Cenobite]

I just tried this style of photo for the first time, here's how it came out

 

[JerryPH]

Night shooting is very interesting and one can come up with all kinds of special looking pics.

On the above pic, I would have panned the camera a little to the left so that I would not have cut the trail of the white lights. It also would have placed that little bit of activity thats off the highway more to the right and in a more interesting place.

Nice examples!

 

[ToddB]

Lead,

I like you photo because of the train that you captured. The crossing arms swinging really add the the photo.

Good job!