[KANdaddy]

Did my first night shoot here, which was only my second shoot ever. Anyway, very difficult. Out of 100+ shots these are the only ones I dare show to anyone Shot with Nikon D40 and kit lens on"bulb" mode.

[BMW F22]

It is difficult- especially for those kind of pictures. That's why it's usually recommended that you shoot right after sunrise or before sunset. Try shooting the Bay Bridge around 6:30-7:15PM. You will get much better views of the bridge as well as the city.

[KANdaddy]

Originally Posted by BMW E90

It is difficult- especially for those kind of pictures. That's why it's usually recommended that you shoot right after sunrise or before sunset. Try shooting the Bay Bridge around 6:30-7:15PM. You will get much better views of the bridge as well as the city.

Yea I know. Just wanted to get that late night look. Oh well....will try again as my skills improve.

[sc_tr0jan_m3]

did you have a tripod? did you use the timer release? looks like they're still a bit blurry from some camera motion.

[Sniz]

Originally Posted by KANdaddy

Yea I know. Just wanted to get that late night look. Oh well....will try again as my skills improve.

hmmm

did u try

-set ISO to as low as possible...say iso 100
-use tripod
-use IR remote
-set to Apt priority
-focus to the spot you want and then shutter release w/ remote
-adjust exposure after a few shots to fine tune your shots


thats all I normally do, sometimes put it full manual but mostly apt priority.

keep playing around. Also, looks like you need to play with white balance as well.


Ex of shot using above "technique" taken at night last week.

[jay spec]

if all else fails, you can always try adjusting during post-process. i did some quick editing on your pic via adobe lightroom and came up with this:

[scollins]

Not sure exactly which lens you are using, but if it has VR (Vibration Reduction), turn it off when using a tripod.

The thing is, you are out there experimenting with the camera and trying different things. Take some notes on settings and lighting conditions, and your shots will improve.

[KANdaddy]

Thanks for all the tips folks. I did use a tripod. Not sure which settings. need to be better at taking notes I also tweaked these pics in Capture NX2. May try Lightroom out.

[TWiTCHY]

How come whenever I see photos taken in the dark without the use of a flash, the photos are always very yellow/orange as if the WB was off?

[Cyruz]

Originally Posted by Sniz

hmmm

did u try

-set ISO to as low as possible...say iso 100
-use tripod
-use IR remote
-set to Apt priority
-focus to the spot you want and then shutter release w/ remote
-adjust exposure after a few shots to fine tune your shots

+ 1, the exif data is embedded in the boarder of the pics so you can see what i was shooting at in manual. either shoot aperture priority or manual. Nikon i think its A canon its Av mode. usually i use the an iso of 100 for night or low light. but for the pics below, i was to lazy to drag around the tripod, so i cranked up the iso to 800 for most of the night. and never really went above f/4.5.

[scollins]

Originally Posted by TWiTCHY

How come whenever I see photos taken in the dark without the use of a flash, the photos are always very yellow/orange as if the WB was off?

I don't know if auto-WB will correct for the high pressure sodium vapor lamps typically used for street lights. I think you'd have to manually set it, or correct it in post.

But then again, I guess it depends on your objective for the image. If you want it to look like what your eye sees at the time, then it should stay yellowish. If you want the color to render more true, then you need to correct it.

[Cyruz]

i usually set the wb in light room. i cant stand the yellow light both in pics or with my eyes. just doesn't seem natural.

[TurboFan]

Originally Posted by TWiTCHY

How come whenever I see photos taken in the dark without the use of a flash, the photos are always very yellow/orange as if the WB was off?

Because the white balance is usually off.

In this case there were sodium vapor lights, which are extremely yellow and harsh.

I've had better luck with the night shots on a clear night with a full, or close to full moon. I go with ISO 800 or so (higher ISO numbers are more sensitive to light, but can have more noise, depending on your camera), f4 or f2.8, depending on the lens, and a very well stabilized tripod. Use your timer if you don't have a remote, it will help with the camera shake. Lastly, you can play around with HDR if you don't want to take the time to do things in the field.

If you really want to get creative, realize the key to excellent photography is really understading light capture. The best subject / composition will suck if you don't know how to capture the light. Conversly, you can do really cool stuff with absolutely nothing if you understand filters, white balance and light capture.

So, with your shutter set to 15-30 seconds, you can have a lot of fun with external light sources. I've done some shoots where there is almost no light, and I'll use a mega heavy duty flashlight (4 cell LED maglite) or one of those 1,000,000 candle power flood/spot lights and use it to "paint" the car. You can do highlights with it by focusing and holding the light on a particular spot for a period of time. I've also used my speedlight in a full manual configuration off the hotshoe where I'll manually fire the light via the button on the back (most speedlights have these). You can get different effects using different types of light (xenon flash, incandecent flood, LED maglite) on a given white balance setting, so play around a lot! Have fun, the most important thing is to get out there and make some images.

This is a very important time to take notes, becuase none of what you do will be recorded in the exif data.

[spacemonkey1112]

a lot of people mentioned using a shutter release trigger while working with a tripod at night. To cut down on cost, I'd say just put the camera on self timer (the 10 seconds can be spared to not have any camera shake while pressing the shutter button).

in the above photos, it seem like the camera just didn't catch focus a few times (usually the case @ night).

[Sylon]

Holy old thread batman.


To add to it (if it matters), don't forget your whitebalance. Adjusting the whitebalance to the correct setting for whatever lighting you are under will help make this orange pictures clear and white. Try to stay away from shooting under mixed lighting.

Using the self timer does help too when you dont have a shutter release.