Motion Blurred Cars

[Boston®]

This is my first attempt at doing this ever and I think it turned out alright, but I'd like to know some tips for next time.I know I should probably find a busier intersection, but that wasn't really a possibility while still remaining above the cars.

 

[Remi M.]

I would go for a much longer exposure. it will light up the rest of the scene better.

 

[mentos_007]

exactly... find busier intersection and set your cam on.. 30 secs let's say...

 

[Iron Flatline]

Also, make sure to shoot with a very LOW ISO if you want good colors and no noise. That means 100 (or 200 if you've got a Nikon, I believe.) I know this is counter-instinctual because you're shooting at night, and hence a high ISO would seem obvious. Another thing is to work with a small aperature - like f16 or f22, rather than opening it up all the way. Thanks to the tri-pod you will be able to compensate for camera shake (and these non-dark friendly settings) with much longer exposure times. Try 15, 20, 30 - heck 60 and 90 seconds.

 

[quad b]

Sorry for jumping in on Boston's thread, but it's kind of related. Does changing the aperture while doing the type of shots above, change the effect of the street lights? I heard somewhere that if you decrease aperture (to say f22), you get a kind of star effect from concentrated lights. Anyone know what I'm on about? Is this right or was someone pulling my leg?

 

[meotter]

i'd go longer exposure to get longer streaks of light. if you have an Tv mode on your camera, use it, set it for 30 sec or something. that will bring more detail out in the rest of the picture, as well as have zig zaggy streaks of light throught the pic. i think that if you do that, you don't necessarily need more traffic.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Sorry for jumping in on Boston's thread, but it's kind of related. Does changing the aperture while doing the type of shots above, change the effect of the street lights? I heard somewhere that if you decrease aperture (to say f22), you get a kind of star effect from concentrated lights. Anyone know what I'm on about? Is this right or was someone pulling my leg?

This is right. A small aperature results in stars around clear stationary light sources.