Night Photography at Punggol Area

[Francis247]

Hi all,

Here are some of the pictures taken some time back with my friends during a Night Shoot at Punggol Area. It was my first time trying out Long Bulb Exposure. Enjoy.

#1.


#2.


#3.


#4.

[regit]

I like I think it would be interesting to see more exposure on the 3rd one in order for the 'arc' to complete... ND BTW, which camera did you use and was it useful in metering for those 200+ secs? All Nikon DSLR I've tried quits at 30s in AE

[Francis247]

Originally Posted by regit I like I think it would be interesting to see more exposure on the 3rd one in order for the 'arc' to complete... ND BTW, which camera did you use and was it useful in metering for those 200+ secs? All Nikon DSLR I've tried quits at 30s in AE

Hi regit,

Thanks for your comments.
It is really a pity that the light pollution in Singapore is very bad. I was thinking that it may be possible to use a ND filter to cut down 2 f-stop so that the exposure is longer and we can get longer star trails. I haven't got the chance to try it out yet.
I was using my D70s for my this series of shots. I set it to Bulb mode and use a rough gauge to estimate the exposure which works out around 4" = 240 secs or so, then I trigger using a MC-DC1 and lock the shutter open for the Bulb mode for roughly 4" of exposure.

[zyle]

wow excellent night shots.. i'm planning to have an photo adventure there soon..

[Mezzotint]

Hey Francis, that's a good series of night photography at Punggol. It's also good for you to state the camera settings. With f/stop at 8, one requires shorter timing for long exposure. ON the other hand with smaller aperture, longer timing is required and one gets more sharp images. But it can drain the camera battery power drastically.

[ivantay]

Hi Francis247,

nice shot... thanks for giving some tips on some of the night at the shooting today. nice meeting u. Hope to join u if ya conducting any outing.

Ivan

[Francis247]

Originally Posted by zyle wow excellent night shots.. i'm planning to have an photo adventure there soon..

Hi zyle,

Thanks for your comments. The un-developed side of Punggol is still very beautiful and will be a good place to explore. But do watch out for mosquitoes, stray dogs and mud. (Got my foot cake with mud for that Matilda House shot because it is too dark to see )

[Francis247]

Originally Posted by Mezzotint Hey Francis, that's a good series of night photography at Punggol. It's also good for you to state the camera settings. With f/stop at 8, one requires shorter timing for long exposure. ON the other hand with smaller aperture, longer timing is required and one gets more sharp images. But it can drain the camera battery power drastically.

Hi Martin,

Thanks for your comments and advices.
Stating out the camera setting is good for all to view and discuss about the techniques for that shot so that we all can share and learn and also for me to improve on that shot.
Camera Battery drain issue is a setback of the digital format when compare to a full manual format. Currently, I believe that there are ways to overcome this by having an external power pack to substain the power consumption of the camera throughout the night. Cheerz.

[Francis247]

Originally Posted by ivantay Hi Francis247, nice shot... thanks for giving some tips on some of the night at the shooting today. nice meeting u. Hope to join u if ya conducting any outing. Ivan

Hi ivantay,

Thanks for your comments and Nice meeting you yesterday
I hope to be able to get the outing started soon, so do keep a lookout.

[noodleman]

ha ha ha ha ha ha !

GOSH! these kind of pictures can be displayed ?

[Francis247]

Originally Posted by noodleman ha ha ha ha ha ha ! GOSH! these kind of pictures can be displayed ?

Thank you very much.

[fotojoy]

Hi,

I went Punggol end to take pics but none turn out nice... *sigh*

Thanks for sharing the pics, at least I know it can be done!

[cerebrus]

I like #1, with the clouds streaming above you.


Question:
I assume you are shooting at f8 as you want to shorten your exposure so that your batteries do not go flat? Any idea at which aperture of your lens it the diffraction the least? Like Mezzotint said, getting the right aperture makes my night shots look much better, especially with a noisy toy camera like mine.

[Dennis]

Like all of them.

[fWord]

Originally Posted by cerebrus I like #1, with the clouds streaming above you. Question: I assume you are shooting at f8 as you want to shorten your exposure so that your batteries do not go flat? Any idea at which aperture of your lens it the diffraction the least? Like Mezzotint said, getting the right aperture makes my night shots look much better, especially with a noisy toy camera like mine.

The 'sweet spot' for most lenses is considered to be between f/8 to f/11, with diffraction occuring after that. Usually the drop in IQ is visible after f/16 or so. I tried stopping down the kit lens to f/22 before and got an image that was uniformly soft, even though I know for sure no mistake was made with focusing.

But some lenses will already be very sharp when wide open, while others catch up only after being stopped down significantly. While a smaller aperture will give larger DOF and generally improve things such as contrast and sharpness, I believe a small aperture should not always be used in night photography.

For example, there are star trail photos in this thread, and from what I've read, it's best to use a larger aperture (eg. f/4) to allow weaker/ smaller stars to be captured on the image. The length of exposure then determines how long an arc will be 'painted' onto an image by each star. If a very small aperture is used for star trail pictures then all but the strongest/ brightest stars will be invisible on the final picture.

For things such as motion blur, light streaks and the like, use the aperture to control how long your exposure will be (leaving out things such as ISO for the time being). The length of your exposure will then determine how motion is recorded on the image. For example, too long an exposure, and your image will be filled with a mass of light streaks from traffic, becoming too messy.

[niki]

Quote: Hi Francis247, nice shot... thanks for giving some tips on some of the night at the shooting today. nice meeting u. Hope to join u if ya conducting any outing. Ivan

hi, r u ivan tay. ex zhss/sjab?

[Francis247]

Originally Posted by cerebrus I like #1, with the clouds streaming above you. Question: I assume you are shooting at f8 as you want to shorten your exposure so that your batteries do not go flat? Any idea at which aperture of your lens it the diffraction the least? Like Mezzotint said, getting the right aperture makes my night shots look much better, especially with a noisy toy camera like mine.

Hi cerebrus,

Thanks for your comments.

Like what fWord had explained, the preferred aperture for me is around f8 to f11 to capture cloud trails or night landscape. But for star trails, I will open up to f5.6 or even f4 because the trails are generally weaker/ smaller for stars (in Singapore, not sure about overseas) to be captured on the image. Hope that helps.

[cerebrus]

Thanks for the explanations fWord & Francis247!