Newbie question on night shots


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Eugene

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Apr 30, 2002
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Hi all, can i ask how to take a good night shot?
the pic below is the shot i took yesterday, and i find
the light on the buildings too bright and the buildings rather
dark. Settings are shown below.
Thanks all! (hope u dun mind the crooked pic, on a slanted bridge)

Click here for image

Camera Model: Canon PowerShot G2
Firmware: Firmware Version 1.10
Shutter speed: 4 sec
Aperture: 3.5
Exposure mode: Tv
Metering mode: Evaluative
ISO: 50
Lens: 7.0 to 21.0 mm
Focal length: 10.0 mm
White balance: Auto
Saturation: Normal
Sharpness: Normal
Contrast: Normal

:what:
 

In what ways would you like to improve your shot? Your photo looks relatively ok to me.....

The lights are too bright and the buildings are dark... that's because of the huge difference of the amount of light from both sources...

To bring out the details of the buildings, the lighted areas will be overexposed.

if the lighted areas are just right, i will lose details of the buildings. in this case u will have a silhouette where the buildings are blacked-out and u will be able to see only the lighted areas.

additional point is that your picture dont seem sharp... maybe u can try stopping down the lens to a smaller aperature.
 

Just a question.

How do I judge a picture sharpness by the aperture settings? Or is it boils down to experience? Or it's seenable on the LCD?
 

Try stopping down your aperture to say f5.6.

What has a slanted bridge got to do with a crooked image??? Leveling of the horizon is one of the factors that make or break this kind of shot.
 

Originally posted by Kit
Try stopping down your aperture to say f5.6.

What has a slanted bridge got to do with a crooked image??? Leveling of the horizon is one of the factors that make or break this kind of shot.

Thanx all for ya comments!
hmmm....

the leveling can't be done with my tripod... lol...
yes i agree it's rather blur, weird thing is to prevent
my hands from shaking it, i used the timer.



:dunno:
 

Originally posted by mervlam
In what ways would you like to improve your shot? Your photo looks relatively ok to me.....

The lights are too bright and the buildings are dark... that's because of the huge difference of the amount of light from both sources...

To bring out the details of the buildings, the lighted areas will be overexposed.

if the lighted areas are just right, i will lose details of the buildings. in this case u will have a silhouette where the buildings are blacked-out and u will be able to see only the lighted areas.

additional point is that your picture dont seem sharp... maybe u can try stopping down the lens to a smaller aperature.

In that case, does that means i can only choose between bright lightings but overexposed... OR properly exposed with darker detailed buildings...


:what:
 

Originally posted by Eugene


Thanx all for ya comments!
hmmm....

the leveling can't be done with my tripod... lol...
yes i agree it's rather blur, weird thing is to prevent
my hands from shaking it, i used the timer.



:dunno:

I don't get it. That's what a tripod is designed to do, to help you with the leveling. Are you sure you're totally familiar with it?
 

Originally posted by Kit


I don't get it. That's what a tripod is designed to do, to help you with the leveling. Are you sure you're totally familiar with it?

ehehe... silly me... just thot of adjust the legs to level the shot...
STOOPID ME!!! Thanx for enlightening me...

silly one...
:embrass:
 

Originally posted by Eugene


ehehe... silly me... just thot of adjust the legs to level the shot...
STOOPID ME!!! Thanx for enlightening me...

silly one...
:embrass:

Adjusting the legs will roughly get you there but not there yet. You still need to do some fine adjustments on the tripod head in order to get the horizon levelled.
 

Originally posted by Kit


Adjusting the legs will roughly get you there but not there yet. You still need to do some fine adjustments on the tripod head in order to get the horizon levelled.

Hmm... my tripod head can only be rotated counter clockwise...
which is the oppposite direction... therefore not helping...
so only can use the legs... ehehe... :what:
 

Originally posted by Eugene


Hmm... my tripod head can only be rotated counter clockwise...
which is the oppposite direction... therefore not helping...
so only can use the legs... ehehe... :what:

Ever thought of flipping the tripod 180 around or mount your camera backwards?
 

Originally posted by Kit


Ever thought of flipping the tripod 180 around or mount your camera backwards?

*SLAP FOREHEAD!!!!
lol.... yah hor.... ahaha...
dummy me...

SHHHhh.... dun tell others ah...
:embrass:
 

Originally posted by Eugene


In that case, does that means i can only choose between bright lightings but overexposed... OR properly exposed with darker detailed buildings...


:what:

it is normal for night scenes to have lighted areas to be overexposed..... like the fullerton hotel in your pic... it is normal....
 

Thanx all for your comments!
appreciate it!
will practise more with my dc!

Have a great week!
 

Originally posted by Eugene


Thanx all for ya comments!
hmmm....

the leveling can't be done with my tripod... lol...
yes i agree it's rather blur, weird thing is to prevent
my hands from shaking it, i used the timer.



:dunno:

Your pic is blur and the reason for this blurry effect is that your subject distance is only 9.3m. It should be set to infinity (in this case 66m).
 

some tips of taking nite shot using a DC

- use a stable tripod
- use remote control / timer mode
- compose a few test shots to check the exposure
(use apeture settings like f/5.6 , f/8 and shutter speed 4-16 sec)
- always use M mode
 

Originally posted by Goondu


Your pic is blur and the reason for this blurry effect is that your subject distance is only 9.3m. It should be set to infinity (in this case 66m).

Oh yah... that explains it...
that means i have to use Manual focus...
= )
Thanx!

:what:
 

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