Night city photo

[mem0708]

Hi all,
I'm on vacation in Athens and I have Nikon d5000, I'd like to take some night time city photos looking down onto the lights of the city. Can anyone advise me on the best way to do this?? Thanks

 

[enzodm]

tripod, long exposure.

 

[mem0708]

What about the iso?

 

[ph0enix]

Low ISO since you're doing long exposure.

 

[SCraig]

Shoot about 3 to 4 stops underexposed from what you meter tells you to use.

 

[bratkinson]

What's worked well for me is to shoot in "P" mode, and lower the ISO to 400 or so. Let the camera pick the shutter speed and aperture. Then look at the results, as well as what settings the camera used. If you're happy with the results on the LCD, shoot away. If I'm "close enough", I may switch to Av or Tv, still with fixed ISO, and adjust aperature or shutter speed to get what I want.

Most often, however, it's go to manual and starting with what the camera picked in the first shot, increase/decrease shutter speed to brighten/dim the picture (or highlights), and increase/decrease the aperture (f-stop) to reduce/enlarge the depth of field (area in focus). Of course, changing the aperture will require corresponding changes in the shutter speed and/or ISO to get the same exposure level.

Recognize that some shots, such as a clear night in Los Angeles (very rare) shot from high in the hills, require shots in the 30 seconds and longer to get it 'just right'. Depending on your camera, there may be "long exposure noise handling" capabilities which, if enabled, may take a minute or so to 'process' the picture before you can take another shot.

At a minimum, you'll need a tripod. Ideally, you'll be using a remote release and mirror lockup to completely eliminate all camera shake.

 

[Dikkie2]

Long exposure, tripod, low iso.
That's actually all you need

 

[batmura]

Shoot about 3 to 4 stops underexposed from what you meter tells you to use.

Can you explain the reason for this?

 

[ph0enix]

Shoot about 3 to 4 stops underexposed from what you meter tells you to use.

Can you explain the reason for this?

I don't mean to speak for SCraig but the one reason that comes to mind is: EXPERIENCE

 

[Rhoads238]

You could try setting your light meter to spot metering and move it to the brightest part of the scene then move it to the darkest part of the scene that you wish to see detail in. Then try to imagine where the average between those two points are. It also helps to compare your imagined figure to your matrix meter or center weighted meter depending on the positioning of the object in the frame. Generally shoot at a low iso to avoid noise. I find that turning off long iso noise reduction helps with maintain sharpness. You can always reduce noise at home in post production. I also like to set a timer to have the camera delay the shot by two seconds so it doesn't shake when you depress the shutter button.

 

[Luke345678]

Tripod, long exposure, low ISO. Try other things as well though!

 

[jchiu]

Would you suggest setting the focus to infinity? How do other photographers get the razor sharp night shots?

 

[enzodm]

Would you suggest setting the focus to infinity? How do other photographers get the razor sharp night shots?

search for "hyperfocal distance"

 

[qwertyjjj]

why do you need low iso?

 

[STIC]

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