Lichfield at night (complete with light pollution!)

DwainDibley

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After my recently-acquired 2nd hand Powershot A85 conked out (currently awaiting refund from seller!) I went out and bought a new Powershot A720 IS. One of it's first assignments (after taking pictures of all the items I'm selling to pay for itself! :p ) was some long-exposure experiments taken on the little back lane from Whittington back to Lichfield, Staffordshire.

I parked the car up in a muddy lay-by with just the sidelights on for safety, then popped the camera on the car roof and set the self-timer. It was a bit 'spur of the moment, which is why there was no tripod! Quite a few came out blurred (think the camera must have moved a bit on the roof) I got a couple of good shots in:

This is my favourite of the two, a bit soft but worked well I thought - 5 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 200, manual focus on infinity
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I like the lighting effects from the light pollution here - 15 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 200, manual focus on infinity
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C & C please - how can I improve this, apart from using a tripod, and having the horizon actually level and not at a crazy angle! :confused:

Edit: Larger size images are available on my Flickr page, link is in my sig :)
 
A quick bump!

Any pointers on improving this (apart from using a tripod instead of my car!)

I have to admit I do like these shots, even if I do say so myself! Especially the reflections of the lights on the car roof, even if they were a bit out of focus. btw, if the pictures are not very inspiring to you - tell me what I'm doing wrong :)
 
Well, if you yourself like these and are happy with the photos, then all that can be done has been done.

I didn't know the reflections were off the roof of your car, I thought there was some water there and hence thought, hey, nice spot. The leaning thing is quite distracting ... makes me wonder what on earth it might be, yet is too dark for me to really see. So it sure takes away from the photo.

The first is best, since it is sharpest and the lights come out best, but I am not too happy with the chosen aperture and believe the lights would have come out better with a smaller aperture (and longer exposure) ... but then the Powershots only expose for 15 seconds at their longest, don't they?

So: tripod. Good spot with ENOUGH light at night, and a smaller aperture would be my suggestion.
 
Thanks for the feedback, I'll try that again with the tripod and a less crazy horizon angle!

Indeed, the Powershot's max exposure time is 15 seconds, I might try upping the ISO a bit with that smaller aperture, or take the 300D with me and try that :)
 
Don't up the ISO! Look for places with less amounts of black and you'll be fine ... actually ISO 200 on a Powershot is already taking it a bit far! Watch the noise! At ISO 400 it will get all crazy!
 
Right, I had another go this evening, though in the back garden (so it's still as the title, Lichfield at night! :p ) and got much better results.

As suggested by LaFoto, I shortened the aperture, also used a tripod, and what I suspect has made a big difference in the sharpness I turned the 720's IS off! :lmao: Much less blurred shots :shaking:

I know this is rather a dull shot, but compare the sharpess, much better! 15 sec exposure, f/5.6, ISO 80
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A simple shot, but I kind liked the combination of moon (maybe it's a bit overexposed?), stars, and the moving light clouds: (15 sec exposure, f/5.6, ISO 80)

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I've put the larger size in as it looks better that the smaller size, hope you don't mind!
 
Hey, nice experimenting, and I do think the one of your backgarden and Lichfield in the background is better than the first two! And with the ISO lowered to 80, you have gained yourself some room still for filling out the highlights, and even upping the midtones ever so mildly, too, in PS, so some more detail will show.
 

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