Tripod night shoot of city skyline. What aperture?

Lightsped · Jan 12, 2014

So say I am standing on a hill at night trying to get a photo of a city skyline. My camera is on a tripod with the focus point on one of the buildings. Should I be using a large aperture like F2.8 or a smaller aperture like F16? Or something in the middle? Again, the camera is on a tripod so camera shake isn't a issue.

Thanks

cconner · Jan 12, 2014

I would use an apature equivalent of what I would use in the day time, except I would bump ISO up to an exceptable level and adjust the shutter speed to make proper exposure. So I would start at f/11 or higher, as I would like the entire city scape to be in sharp focus regardless of the time of day.

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Light Guru · Jan 12, 2014

Lightsped said:
So say I am standing on a hill at night trying to get a photo of a city skyline. My camera is on a tripod with the focus point on one of the buildings. Should I be using a large aperture like F2.8 or a smaller aperture like F16? Or something in the middle? Again, the camera is on a tripod so camera shake isn't a issue.

Thanks

Depends.

How far are you from the skyline you are photographing and are there foreground elements that you want in focus?

Tailgunner · Jan 12, 2014

Lightsped said:
So say I am standing on a hill at night trying to get a photo of a city skyline. My camera is on a tripod with the focus point on one of the buildings. Should I be using a large aperture like F2.8 or a smaller aperture like F16? Or something in the middle? Again, the camera is on a tripod so camera shake isn't a issue.

Thanks

Tripods is a must but you also need a remote cable button. The smallest shake from depressing the shutter butter can cause blurring.

As for aperture, it depends but I generally use F/8-11.

Lightsped · Jan 13, 2014

Light Guru, I'd say between a 1/4 mile and a 1/2 mile. As for foreground elements, I'd probably try some with the foreground in focus, and some shots without the foreground in focus.... I'm not sure yet.

Tailgunner, I use the built in timer on my bodies. I did recieve an aftermarket remove shutter release (wireless) button for Christmas but haven't got around to figure out how to set it up yet....

Tailgunner · Jan 13, 2014

Lightsped said:
Light Guru, I'd say between a 1/4 mile and a 1/2 mile. As for foreground elements, I'd probably try some with the foreground in focus, and some shots without the foreground in focus.... I'm not sure yet.

Tailgunner, I use the built in timer on my bodies. I did recieve an aftermarket remove shutter release (wireless) button for Christmas but haven't got around to figure out how to set it up yet....

The built in timer will help but most wireless remotes I've seen is designed for quick self or group photos. Cable remotes allow you to keep the shutter open for longer periods of time. People use them to create light trails with their cityscapes.

Here is some of my cityscapes:

runnah · Jan 13, 2014

High fstop, low ISO and long exposure. I use the 2 second timer on my canon, before I used the intervalmeter setting on my camera so I wouldn't get shake.

f/20, iso 200 and 30 second exposure.

bridge3 by runnah555, on Flickr

EIngerson · Jan 13, 2014

F8-11, Tripod (weighted down) ISO 100, I would try to shoot hyper focal or shoot F-8 and focus 1/3 of the way through the scene. Evaluative metering. I like to under expose 2/3 to a full stop to ensure I don't get big white blobs on the hotter lights in the scene. Set your camera to use the mirror lock up function to reduce camera shake. I have a remote release, but usually just set the timer release out of laziness. Shoot at twilight vice middle of the night so you get that cool blue sky and the building faces still have their detail. (edit) Like Runnah did above. That dreamy motion blur sky is killer.

Have fun.

Eric

Dao · Jan 13, 2014

f/8 to f/11 will be my choice as well.

weepete · Jan 13, 2014

F16 for me if I can get it.

Tailgunner · Jan 13, 2014

runnah said:
High fstop, low ISO and long exposure. I use the 2 second timer on my canon, before I used the intervalmeter setting on my camera so I wouldn't get shake.

f/20, iso 200 and 30 second exposure.

bridge3 by runnah555, on Flickr

Nice!

KmH · Jan 13, 2014

weepete said:
F16 for me if I can get it.

Diffraction Limited Photography: Pixel Size, Aperture and Airy Disks

Lightsped · Jan 14, 2014

Thanks for the help and examples. Here are two of mine done at various dates, at various locations, and with various equipment. How could I get them sharper? Both were done on a tripod and using the built in timer. EXIF data is included with each.
500px / Atlanta skyline. by David C.
500px / City of Miami. by David C.

TCampbell · Jan 15, 2014

I'd use an f-stop between f/11 and f/22. While most cameras (I didn't check the body you plan to use) become diffraction limited above f/11 (some cameras become diffraction limited around f/8) you won't notice this unless you plan to make a pretty large print.

HOWEVER... as you increase to a higher f-stop value, points of light will take on a star-like effect giving diffraction spikes which can actually be very attractive. For this reason, I sometimes deliberately go up to f/22.

As all have said... use a tripod.