Night city photo

[ph0enix]

why do you need low iso?

You always want to use the lowest native ISO. In a nutshell higher ISOs allow for faster shutter speed. In the case of long exposure there is no need for fast shutter. Just set the camera to the low/native ISO, select the aperture and adjust the shutter speed accordingly.

 

[keethjon]

As mentioned in one of the earlier posts, try using the Program mode. It will probably set a pretty long exposure so you will definitely need a tripod. You might be surprised that the exposure settings the camera sets are a pretty good starting point. Take a test shot and check the image. If it needs tweaking, try using the Program Shift in the program mode to adjust the shutter or aperture. As far as focusing, just point your camera at the general area (if not are not close to the subject) and the autofocus should work just fine. lastly, use a low ISO like ISO 100 to avoid "noise". Taking night pictures just requires a little hit or miss, and practice.

Keith
Easy Basic Photography

 

[manaheim]

Search for a post by me called "Manaheim's Ultimate Night Photography Guide" or some such. Just search on my name and Ultimate and Night and you should find it. There's also a faq which overread stickied somewhere because evidently that one was better than mine.


<----------------- bitter.

 

[shefjr]

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...naheims-ultimate-guide-night-photography.html

I subscribed to this thread it is a great reference.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

<----------------- bitter.

<&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211; the real Bitter.

 

[panblue]

long exposure, low ISO, tall tripod.
low exposure, long ISO, tall tripod.
tall exposure, long ISO, low tripod.
tall ISO, low exposure, long tripod.

 

[snowbear]

long exposure, low ISO, tall tripod.
low exposure, long ISO, tall tripod.
tall exposure, long ISO, low tripod.
tall ISO, low exposure, long tripod.

You forgot a couple:
long exposure, tall ISO. low tripod.
tall exposure, low ISO, long tripod.
:mrgreen:

 

[EIngerson]

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

Can you explain the reason for this?

If you expose to center the meter, all the lights in the photo will just be big white blobs. Underexpose and you'll get nice crisp casts of light and the glow will illuminate the structures nicely.

 

[manaheim]

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

Can you explain the reason for this?

If you expose to center the meter, all the lights in the photo will just be big white blobs. Underexpose and you'll get nice crisp casts of light and the glow will illuminate the structures nicely.

I wouldn't do this at all. Shoot RAW and use your histogram on your camera to monitor your exposure. OVEREXPOSE your image and then back it down in post processing.

Again.... read the link that shefr was kind enough to post. It'll tell you everything.

 

[rutherford]

I see some night photos (struggling to find an example on the web right now) where the star-filled sky (even milky way) is extremely visible and in the foreground the photog has done some fancy lightwork to get a nice natural feel and colours to the ground. When I try long night exposures the light parts end up extremely overexposed while the dark parts are only kind of showing through.

What am I doing wrong exactly?

 

[enzodm]

I see some night photos (struggling to find an example on the web right now) where the star-filled sky (even milky way) is extremely visible and in the foreground the photog has done some fancy lightwork to get a nice natural feel and colours to the ground. When I try long night exposures the light parts end up extremely overexposed while the dark parts are only kind of showing through.

What am I doing wrong exactly?

maybe two different exposures, one for sky, one for ground, then mix it.

 

[rutherford]

Thanks for the reply, sorry about the delay, been busy. Would I need photoshop to mix them or can you accomplish something like that in Lightroom?

 

[ph0enix]

Thanks for the reply, sorry about the delay, been busy. Would I need photoshop to mix them or can you accomplish something like that in Lightroom?

You could use this plug-in for Lightroom:
LR/Enfuse - Blend Multiple Exposures Together in Adobe Lightroom

 

[rambler]

In Manual Mode when you scroll down the shutter speed to about 30" (seconds), the next slowest option will probably be "bulb". Use that and use Manual focus. With automatic focus your camera will probably be confused about where to focus. If you have a flash light, brighten something nearby and set your focus on that manually, then switch off the light.

To give street lights a star-burst look, use a high numbered f/stop like f/16.

 

[TCampbell]

Your camera's light meter will notice that the majority of the frame is dark, with a few bright areas. It will naturally attempt to increase the exposure to "improve" the exposure in the dark areas. This will end up over-exposing the brighter areas and, frankly, since it's a night shot, the dark areas SHOULD be dark (or black.)

The point is, the camera will suggest a brighter exposure than you should use. Whatever the light meter tells you use, adjust the exposure a few stops below the camera's suggested exposure. If shooting manual this is easy to do. But if shooting in any of the semi-automatic (e.g. aperture priority or shutter priority modes, or using the "program" mode) then set the camera's exposure compensation to a value of a negative value (e.g. -2, etc.)

As you'll be using a tripod the mode you probably should use is aperture priority and then set an f-stop for a broad depth of field. I might shoot it at f/11 or maybe even f/8. Since it wont be possible to take a hand-held shot, you'll use a tripod. And since you'll be using a tripod, the rule is that if the camera isn't moving (and it wont be if you have a solid tripod) and since the scene isn't moving (buildings should hopefully not be moving while you're doing this and, if they are, run for cover... you're having an earthquake) that means you can leave the shutter open as long as you like. Set the camera to a low ISO (to eliminate noise), set the camera to an f-stop that provides a broad depth of field, set the exposure compensation to tell the camera to deliberately under-expose the shot (e.g. -2 is probably a good "starting" point, but you may need to go even darker) and then let the shutter speed be whatever the camera wants to use.

Incidentally, some people like city shots when the sky is not black yet... e.g. shoot maybe 20 minutes after sunset so you have a dim dusky blue sky and yet all the city lights will be on. If you do this, point the camera at the sky to take the light meter reading and set the exposure for the value needed to give the sky a rich blue color.