First Try at night photography

[marvintheroundone]

Hi, just started photography a few months back.
Did some reading up on low light photography and night photography, so decided to give it a try.Hahaha Urm, I am using canon 450D with 17-55mm IS USM and a 430Ex speedlite.
These were generally taken at the esplanade park.
Please do let me know on what I can do to improve my shots. Really like to go back there again and give it a second try.

Thanks and thanks again

 

[ccgq1985]

Hi,

Nice shots.

Like the light streaks by the cars on the second shot.

hmmm... improvements?? looking at your shots you're off to a great start. shot #4 looks a tad soft on my screen.. you shooting at F2.8? Maybe you can try shooting at a higher F-stop with a longer exposure time since you are using a tripod no?

Not sure if the 17-55mm suffers from this problem but I usually turn off the IS when shooting from a tripod and use a shutter release cable or the self timer to trigger. Sometimes the IS will compensate for camera shake that is actually non existent and induce camera shake.

once again. nice shots :thumbsup:

 

[Goldenstars08]

Nice try...Exposure is good...

For improvements...May be show me your camera setting may be can work on that...

 

[marvintheroundone]

Hi guys thanks for the comments.
I was really lucky to have caught some other photographers over there so kinda watched for tips.
Urm, I was shooting Manual at f22 WB: I think tungsten, Most photos are at shutter speeds of 25-28sec. No exposure compensation. Hahahaha and yes my IS was on. I thought it would help.Hahaha would try again without IS.

THanks

 

[Raylen]

Hi,

Your photos are really nice, especially if their only your first try!

I had my first real try at night photography a few days ago, and they don't look as nice as yours. Maybe it's because I'm an absolute newbie, and I don't have a DSLR (I use what some people here call a 'prosumer').

 

[Redkangoo]

You might want to capture your night shot during 645pm to 730pm for the golden hours to capture the dark blue sky.....

 

[bEnd1ck]

Hi guys thanks for the comments.
I was really lucky to have caught some other photographers over there so kinda watched for tips.
Urm, I was shooting Manual at f22 WB: I think tungsten, Most photos are at shutter speeds of 25-28sec. No exposure compensation. Hahahaha and yes my IS was on. I thought it would help.Hahaha would try again without IS.

THanks

Nice shots there!. I like the 2nd pic most.
You mentioned most of the photos taken at 25-28sec exposure? How did you get the cars sharp there?

 

[giantcanopy]

The last shot seemed short of the merlion head.

You can try to shoot just before the last light to have more colors in the skies. There are many others who have shot the merlion and the area, and you can take reference to see how others can compose the shots in a different way.


Ryan

 

[dennisc]

Why don't you try HDR next

 

[barracuda88]

Hmmm... I like the color of the durain....:bsmilie:

 

[marvintheroundone]

Nice shots there!. I like the 2nd pic most.
You mentioned most of the photos taken at 25-28sec exposure? How did you get the cars sharp there?

Haha Thanks!
O That shot was kinda lucky. I wanted to shoot the cars streaking past for the effect. But just as my exposure was around 5sec, the redlight came on, so I had like 15sec of exposure with the cars not movin. Yesh, thats how the cars became so sharp...hahaha

 

[marvintheroundone]

Thanks all for your c&c..
Really great advices.
THanks!
I go look up more photos.!
Thanks

 

[attap seed]

a good first attempt.

but do chk out this thread.

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=440640

 

[David Kwok]

Hi, just started photography a few months back.
Did some reading up on low light photography and night photography, so decided to give it a try.Hahaha Urm, I am using canon 450D with 17-55mm IS USM and a 430Ex speedlite.
These were generally taken at the esplanade park.
Please do let me know on what I can do to improve my shots. Really like to go back there again and give it a second try.

Thanks and thanks again

These are my humble opinion on each of them

#1
Kinda dark exposure, cannot see the waters. You might want to try long exposure to bring out a smooth water. If you are not those that mind digital blending, you can try taking 2 shots, one over exposed to show more background light, another exposure metered on the merlion to correctly exposed the merlion, both shots must be on tripod and exact perspective. Blend them together using layering to bring out the background colours better. Another approach is adjust your shadow and lighten it up in PS. But take note that lighten the shadow might bring out more noise too.

#2
This looks abit dark too, but still okay. In terms of composition, I find the framing kinda tight. This my opinion, it's fine if u feel okay

#3
Quite okay

#4
Wooo this is dark man. First impression, did Singapore had a power cut ? It doesn't know the beauty of the heart of Singapore. With all the lights from the offices it should be a nice scenery. This shot is very popular among photographers, you can go around in flickr and find alot of similar shots done beautifully

#5
This wide angle or panoramic view is good, except my personal preference will be don't cut the merlion head away