hi everyone..

evolutionkid · Feb 16, 2011

I've just joined the site (looks great by the way)

For the main purpose of finding out how people get the smeared lighting effects of travelling light..eg.. Moving cars, trains etc in night pictures...

I love nocturnal photography and want to be able to take some awesome real time photographs in my local city (birmingham England)

I've currently just baught myself the new DSLR panasonic G2 camera with a standard 45-90mm lens kit and am getting used to using it!

Do I need to use photo editing programmes or can I set up my camera to catch a really good real time photo???

Any help would be great cheers john!

thingsIsee · Feb 16, 2011

welcome

"Do I need to use photo editing programmes or can I set up my camera to catch a really good real time photo???"

What? please explain more.

Buckster · Feb 16, 2011

Streaks of light are produced by having the shutter stay open longer - long exposures. This works particularly well at night. It helps to use a small aperture (high f/stop number). You can also make use of filters to aid in getting longer exposures. Tripods are usually essential.

Gaerek · Feb 16, 2011

First things first. Read your manual. When you're done with that, read it again. There's a good chance, that even though it won't answer your question specifically, it should give you the info you need to do this, or figure it out.

I don't know that camera specifically, but you need to be using at least a semi-automatic (probably shutter priority in this case) or manual exposure mode. If you are in a fully automatic mode, you will not be able to get this effect. You also need (and I stress the word need) a tripod.

Set up your camera on the tripod, and compose (this means, figure out where the elements, like subject, background, etc, are placed in the frame). Set your shutter to a slow shutter speed. Probably atleast 4 seconds, but you could go as long as 30 or more seconds. Now, click the shutter. Experiment with different shutter speeds to get the effect you like.

Now, it seems to me that you're new to photography. To most people who have been shooting for a while, this is a pretty simple shot, but if you don't know how to use your camera, this type of shot will frustrate you. Learn your camera. Spend time figuring out what every button, switch, dial, and setting does. Then, learn how to make a proper exposure (there are TONS of tutorials for this online).

Basically speaking, if what I said in the second paragraph doesn't make sense to you, I would highly recommend practicing with other types of shots, and taking the advice I gave in the third paragraph.

kacielynch · Feb 16, 2011

Set up a tripod, (you don't want your camera moving), and leave the shutter open for a little longer than usual. The more light you want in the photo, leave the shutter open longer.