Night Time

[NateS]

Couple of night photos I took. These are photos of my "learning". I'd love some comments or suggestions for improvement.

1.

1a (cropped)

2.

3.

 

[InTheViewFinder]

Really neat photos! The colors are amazing.

 

[just x joey]

ow do u get those star light effect? ive always wanted to do it.

 

[NateS]

I'm pretty new at all this still, but all I did on all three was setup the tripod and set the shutter speed priority and that's how they came out.

Number 2 and 3 are the same spot, just number 3 has more traffic, zoomed and slightly longer exposure.

Edit: On number 1 I took about 15 photos with different settings and that was the best one. 2 and 3 were the best ones out of about 10 shots.

 

[sweet_a]

I also like the colors in #1. I think there may be too much black space, a tighter crop would help this shot IMO.

 

[kundalini]

I also like the colors in #1. I think there may be too much black space, a tighter crop would help this shot IMO.

Agreed

ow do u get those star light effect? ive always wanted to do it.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but the longer the exposure time on the street lights, that will produce the starred effect.

 

[Hill202]

I read that they also take on the shape of the aperture. If you look close you can see the hexagon shape.

 

[AUZambo]

I don't know what exactly it's called, but they do make filters that create teh starburst effect.

 

[THORHAMMER]

They take on the shape of the lenses diaphram, so you could count the
points and tell how many blades the aperature has

the more you stop down the lens (higher F stop number)
the more pronounced you will see these

 

[Sideburns]

They take on the shape of the lenses diaphram, so you could count the
points and tell how many blades the aperature has

the more you stop down the lens (higher F stop number)
the more pronounced you will see these

To get stars you just close the aperture and use a long shutter speed....


Yours actually look a lot different from the ones I always get....mine are much more sharp....hmm...

 

[NateS]

I kind of like how the stars came out kind of soft. I'm shooting with a Canon A620 until I save enough for a DSLR. I'm sure that plays a part into your stars being much sharper

 

[LaFoto]

The Powershots only go down as low as f8, don't they?
So when I took my first night photos with my Powershot, in the pre-dSLR-days, these kind of "soft stars" were all I could get, too.
Now I can get much starrier stars, and still I sometimes think TODAY that my really sharp, starry stars (by an f22 or so!) are too much! I still have to find the middle ground that I like best, but that means I would need to go shooting at night, and I haven't been out shooting for fun in MONTHS now. Always and only on commission ... oh, those were the days, when I only pursued the hobby for its mere fun...!

As to your photos here, for me there is a bit too much black around the light in the first, I'd consider a crop, but hey, that's me! You might have wanted to achieve something all different. What do I know.

I best like the second.
The lighttrails in the third produce this emotion of UTTER URGENCY inside me. So yes, it does produce a STRONG emotion in me, and that makes it good as a photo, doesn't it? But I don't like that feeling! Reminds me of nightmarish dreams I sometimes have when I have to get somewhere or need to achieve something and more and more puts itself in the way of my getting there or achieving my goal and the sense of urgency rises and rises until I wake up...

 

[NateS]

Yes, the A620 only goes down to a F8. I like your response about the second photo....made me chuckle a bit. Sorry if I made you feel over anxious.

I added a picture to the first post with number 1 cropped down. I agree that it looks much better. Thanks for the suggestions.