First Night

[cheguthamrin]

My buddy helped me with the basics for the first shot, and the rest was all up to me.
These are the products taken earlier.

#1 - mounted on the tripod - i've yet to get mine.

[cheguthamrin]

#2 - The Merlion - location for PhotoAid

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#3 Esplanade

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#4 The Supreme Front

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#5 The Supreme Reflections

[cheguthamrin]

#6 Under In betweens

[lennyl]

#2 is a tough shot - the merlion will be overexposed if the background buildings are exposed correctly. Try bracketing and then blend in PP.

#3 looks underexposed.

#4 looks unsharp. Flare from street lamp (?) can easily be removed in PP since it is all featureless black.

No need for really small aperture (f/22) unless you need that depth of field or really long shutter speed. You have to balance diffraction against DOF. In your #4 shot, I would choose f/8 or f/11 since you don't need very deep DOF.

I like night shoots myself - for one thing, you're not under hot sun sweating your life away

[cheguthamrin]

#7 Awoo Awoooo

[cheguthamrin]

Originally Posted by lennyl #2 is a tough shot - the merlion will be overexposed if the background buildings are exposed correctly. Try bracketing and then blend in PP. #3 looks underexposed. #4 looks unsharp. I like night shoots myself - for one thing, you're not under hot sun sweating your life away

Thanks for the tips!
Unsharp pictures cos the camera wasnt tripod mounted; my hands couldnt be steady for 3 seconds, and I'll be geting a tripod soon. Learnt my lesson, that its much clearer only after I got back home and viewed on the monitor screen compared to the 2.5" lcd. Need more practice!

[lennyl]

Originally Posted by cheguthamrin Thanks for the tips! Unsharp pictures cos the camera wasnt tripod mounted; my hands couldnt be steady for 3 seconds, and I'll be geting a tripod soon. Learnt my lesson, that its much clearer only after I got back home and viewed on the monitor screen compared to the 2.5" lcd. Need more practice!

Hand held for 2 to 3 seconds??? Man, you must have nerves of steel!

Yeah, sturdy tripod is a must for nice, sharp night photos. Together with remote release and using mirror lock-up.

I'm tempted to get a 40D just so that I can use LiveView with manual focusing for night shoots. My eyes are not what they once were, and they were never great to begin with

What's #6, btw?

[cheguthamrin]

Originally Posted by lennyl Hand held for 2 to 3 seconds??? Man, you must have nerves of steel!

Its the I-thought-its-JUST-3-seconds mindset thingy. Hehehe. Lesson learnt, especially after viewing the pics at home, on a bigger sceen - its actually all blurred up unseen on the 2.5".

Originally Posted by lennyl What's #6, btw?

Taken under 2 bridges spanning over the river.

[lennyl]

Originally Posted by cheguthamrin Its the I-thought-its-JUST-3-seconds mindset thingy. Hehehe. Lesson learnt, especially after viewing the pics at home, on a bigger sceen - its actually all blurred up unseen on the 2.5".

Still, pretty impressive. Oh, another advantage of a tripod is that you don't have to worry too much about nailing the exposure exactly right - that's what exposure bracketing is for Set up the tripod, frame your shot, and fire away. I wish it can bracket more than just 3 shots though (can the Nikon shoot brackets of more than 3 shots?) - I know I can do it with a laptop and USB control with something like DSLR Remote Pro, but there's already enough equipment to lug around.

Hope some others can jump in and offer some tips. I want to learn too...

Originally Posted by cheguthamrin Taken under 2 bridges spanning over the river.

Ah, yes, Esplanade Bridge (I think it is called). Thanks for enlightening

[Kit]

Its not that difficult to get the correct exposure for night scenes if you know what you are doing. You can bracket all you want but if you don't learn from it, you are just wasting away your shutter's lifespan. You can bracket more than 3 shots if you use full manual. Time to get to know your camera better. Read the manual.

You photos are not underexposed, they were just shot at the wrong time. Everything shot after 8pm? Its called night photography but that doesn't means you have to wait till the sky is completely black to take your photos. If you do that(which you did), you loose all the details in the buildings and you suffer the "floating lights" syndrome. Your photos then become uninteresting to look at. Unless you have a reason to shoot late, a good time is around 7:30 to 7:45. Any later than 8pm, don't even bother. This was shot at 7:30pm.




I wouldn't even think of stepping out of the house without a tripod in this case. You really don't have to wait till you get home to find out that all your shots will turn out blur. Forget about the laptop. If you can get it right, you don't need confirmation on the spot. If you can't get it right, then a laptop isn't going to help much. You just get an earlier confirmation that your shot didn't make the cut that's all.

[cheguthamrin]

Originally Posted by Kit Its not that difficult to get the correct exposure for night scenes if you know what you are doing. You can bracket all you want but if you don't learn from it, you are just wasting away your shutter's lifespan. You can bracket more than 3 shots if you use full manual. Time to get to know your camera better. Read the manual.

Okay okay lazy me; in fact I'm not the read-the-manual type of person, I'd rather jump in straight to the practical hands on, perhaps thats my way of understanding things; for this case, I realise I cant afford to skip the crucial steps. Thats homework no.1 hehe...

Originally Posted by Kit You photos are not underexposed, they were just shot at the wrong time. Everything shot after 8pm? Its called night photography but that doesn't means you have to wait till the sky is completely black to take your photos. If you do that(which you did), you loose all the details in the buildings and you suffer the "floating lights" syndrome. Your photos then become uninteresting to look at. Unless you have a reason to shoot late, a good time is around 7:30 to 7:45. Any later than 8pm, don't even bother.

Yes, they're taken after 8pm even. I ever heard about "no such thing as right or wrong time"; perhaps some ppl like some blue instead of having it all black; and honestly I like the embedded picture as reference. Thanks for sharing! Its something I can consider for my next round later, perhaps you wanna be my guide?

Okay, this time I'll have the tripod ready.

Thanks guys! I'm still in the learning stages, and being my first experience, your tips will definitely help me for future shots

Thanks for the replies!

[cheguthamrin]

Then again... did I get all the pictures wrong? So bad ah?

[Kit]

Originally Posted by cheguthamrin Yes, they're taken after 8pm even. I ever heard about "no such thing as right or wrong time"; perhaps some ppl like some blue instead of having it all black;

Yes, there is no right or wrong timing. Just better timing. When to shoot is your perogative. All I'm just doing is to suggest an alternative and explain why its better.

[Kit]

Originally Posted by cheguthamrin Then again... did I get all the pictures wrong? So bad ah?

If you want an honest view..... yes.

[cheguthamrin]

Ouch~
But hey... thanks anyway. more homework for me!

[lennyl]

If you're doing homework, may want to see if you can find a copy of this in the bookstore or library :

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide.../dp/0817450416

[cheguthamrin]

Originally Posted by lennyl If you're doing homework, may want to see if you can find a copy of this in the bookstore or library : http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide.../dp/0817450416

Thanks!
For the moment, I'll have to read up the manuals first hehe