Struggling with night time shots

[JClishe]

You need to disable IS (Image Stabilization) anytime you're shooting on a tripod, it's a menu option on the S95.

Also make sure you're firing the shutter with a 2 sec timer. If not the camera will move when you press the shutter button, which is noticeable on long exposure shots like these.

 

[thereyougo!]

You haven't said if your photos are ok to edit, so I'm going to take a liberty, if you don't mind, If you do it can be deleted in a flash.
I have photomatix, and I used fusion to merge the three shots after sharpening them in CS5


building cc1_2_3_fused by singingsnapper, on Flickr

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Ok, so I just shot these below:
F8, ISO 100

The picture seemed too dark so I took two more increasing the ISO slightly each time.

Finally...

as I said... if your PnS can handle it... you will need full manual control... not let the camera make your decisions for you.

EDIT:.. I see in later posts that you did use F4, ISO 100.. and just varied the shutter speed. And they do look better! good!

You really should consider a DSLR if you want to do this kind of shooting.. it really would give you a lot more creative capability. And with access to subjects like that.. you could really do some nice work.

if you were to combine the last three you shot in Photomatix as suggested.. and get the lights up top somwhere in between the first and second shots exposure wise, it would be a really nice shot!

+1

 

[cgipson1]

You haven't said if your photos are ok to edit, so I'm going to take a liberty, if you don't mind, If you do it can be deleted in a flash.
I have photomatix, and I used fusion to merge the three shots after sharpening them in CS5

building cc1_2_3_fused by singingsnapper, on Flickr

NICE!

 

[Phil2k]

Hi thereyougo,

No problem at all with having my pictures edited, in fact I was sure I enabled that feature when I registered. I will correct that now.

The image certainly does look great, but I think I can do better by taking better primary images to layer them with.

And thanks JCliche, I will apply both of those techniques for my next set of shots.

 

[thereyougo!]

Hi thereyougo,

No problem at all with having my pictures edited, in fact I was sure I enabled that feature when I registered. I will correct that now.

The image certainly does look great, but I think I can do better by taking better primary images to layer them with.

And thanks JCliche, I will apply both of those techniques for my next set of shots.

You took it from a great location in New York. Where did you take it from?

I concur with what the others are saying, get yourself a DSLR even if you go to B&H and get a used camera. You can then start looking at doing photography by using the bulb setting. A dslr will also handle noise a whole lot better. You have an eye for photohraphy I think. Do get photomatix though, it is much better than photoshop for HDR. You can always play with the sliders to decide how mch tone mapping you want. I generally use it to try and match the detail I see with my eyes, rather than some supercharged effects. I import the RAW image into CS's raw converter from Lightroom, and then apply distortion correction and sharpen the files and then merge in Photomatix...Good lUck

 

[Phil2k]

Hi thereyougo,

No problem at all with having my pictures edited, in fact I was sure I enabled that feature when I registered. I will correct that now.

The image certainly does look great, but I think I can do better by taking better primary images to layer them with.

And thanks JCliche, I will apply both of those techniques for my next set of shots.

You took it from a great location in New York. Where did you take it from?

I concur with what the others are saying, get yourself a DSLR even if you go to B&H and get a used camera. You can then start looking at doing photography by using the bulb setting. A dslr will also handle noise a whole lot better. You have an eye for photohraphy I think. Do get photomatix though, it is much better than photoshop for HDR. You can always play with the sliders to decide how mch tone mapping you want. I generally use it to try and match the detail I see with my eyes, rather than some supercharged effects. I import the RAW image into CS's raw converter from Lightroom, and then apply distortion correction and sharpen the files and then merge in Photomatix...Good lUck

That picture was taken from the East facing window of my apartment in Midtown Manhattan

And thanks again for your kind words, I have been told by quite a few people that I take a good picture, I just need to couple it with tech knowledge. I went to Patagonia earlier this year, I took a lot of pictures but I have placed the best ones below. Patagonia is a photographer's wet dream by the way, everywhere you look is a beautiful picture waiting to be taken. I took all of these pictures with my Canon s95 and a circular polarising filter. Just imagine what you guys could do!
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