night pictures, help please!

[Bevel Heaven]

remove your filter and try it again

 

[spiffybeth]

i didn't use a filter. thanks though!

 

[Tennessee Landscape]

ISO 100
f/# as high as it will go.. f/29 if that's all you get
don't need a hood or a filter
long shutter, and shoot that a twilight....not total night time
the lights are going to look like stars, you can't get around that...but you will get them smaller and more detail of the rest of the background..

example

 

[spiffybeth]

tennessee, if i had exposed the first image i posted for longer than 6 seconds, the flare would have gone? or are you saying the flare is there because i did it too long after twilight? or both?

thanks for the feedback!

 

[Tennessee Landscape]

tennessee, if i had exposed the first image i posted for longer than 6 seconds, the flare would have gone? or are you saying the flare is there because i did it too long after twilight? or both?

thanks for the feedback!

the flare is there because you left your aperture too open ( small # ), Higher # less flare...less. I say too shoot at twilight so you get some more background like the most recent pic at iso 100 f/16 but with better results. Bump your f/16 to f/22 - f/29 with a ISO 100 and shoot at twilight you will like your results much better.....keep shooting, and keep trying different things.

explanation....the higher f/stop lets less light into the sensor, the ISO 100 is a slow developing film speed, these combined with long shutter speeds are ideal for night photography.

 

[spiffybeth]

thank you very much!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tennessee Landscape]

beth...BTW my settings for the pic I posted were as follows:

ISO 100
f/22
shutter 15sec ( or more)
EXP +/- -1.0

 

[spiffybeth]

thanks for giving me your settings.

ive never experimented with the EV. do you think that would help me?

 

[D-50]

When you say "lens flare" do you mean the star shape of the lights, because that is not lens flare. Lens flare comes from light skimming accross your lens creating a flare in your photo that appears to come from nowhere. The star shape of the lights like others have said comes from having too closed of an aperature being a result of the blades in your lens closing. You cant take a long exposure at night without lights beoming unatural looking unless you want a dark photo with only the lights appearing as they do to your eye. To get a shot at night with lights that look "normal" and the rest of the scene properly exposed you'll need to combine two photos, one for the lights the other of everything else. Even if you shoot a night scene with an open aperature the lights are still going to look like big balls of light (I believe that was already said as well)

 

[spiffybeth]

no, i wasnt talking about the star bursts. those i like and wanted.

its the circled area

 

[Tennessee Landscape]

thanks for giving me your settings.

ive never experimented with the EV. do you think that would help me?

I use the EXP compensation to bracket. Take a few pictures at different exposure comensations and pick out the best....It always helps.

 

[Tennessee Landscape]

no, i wasnt talking about the star bursts. those i like and wanted.

its the circled area

Were there lights above where you were standing? I think I misunderstood what you were calling glare...

 

[D-50]

Oh I didn't even notice those. Probably caused by the light you were standing under. Thsoe are easy to clone out though, sometimes the setting you're in makes it tough to avoid flare and cloning is the best way to fix it.

 

[spiffybeth]

i was standing in between sets of poles. if i had to guess, id say they were 20 feet apart so i was about 10 feet in either direction from an overhead light.

 

[just x joey]

use a lens hood? lol