Night sky not black?


Status
Not open for further replies.

Gymrat76

Senior Member
May 10, 2004
1,605
0
0
47
Need some opinions here. The following is a shot taken last night using long exposure during last night's blackout. However, I've noticed that in this shot (and other night shots I've taken), the sky comes out a bit orange, and not a darker black/grey, like it was that night. Am I doing something wrong or what?

30770619.jpg


Thanks!
 

its the clouds
cloudless nights sometimes end up a bit coloured too, depends on the length of the exposure

but if there is clouds, almost all the time u will end up with orangey skys
 

It is also a phenomenon called light pollution. Because of the sheer extent of urbanisation, lights are found everywhere, so our urban night skies are never truly black. We live in constant twilight
 

Ah, so the orange skies are actually correct? To make them darker I'd need to Photoshop them eh? :)
 

Hi,

Light from street lamps are casted onto the clouds. There's will also be a glow around built up area because of the lamps. Only in a total blackout all over the island then will the sky be dark. Still waiting for that to happen. ;p

Cheers!
 

OK thanks, because when I look at the sky, it doesn't look orange... guess it only appears in photos, huh? :dunno:
 

Gymrat76 said:
OK thanks, because when I look at the sky, it doesn't look orange... guess it only appears in photos, huh? :dunno:

Actually when you look at the sky on any given day, you see the orange cast, which is more intense near the horizon. When shooting long exposure, this orange cast is captured with greater effect.

Cheers!
 

Thanks dude,

Here's another one of Ghim Moh in darkness:

30772823.jpg


Cheers
Jason
 

edwinywh said:
Yup,though u see dark skies at night,but when u capture it with long exposures,the skies become orangy and red.

http://members18.clubphoto.com/edwin772918/2424225/guest.phtml

The night time pics are shot at sentosa,about 11+ - 12am in the night!
hahaha.....

Sorry,forgot to mention that the night time pics are 1sec exposure.Luckily my friend can hold it that long.
hahaha......
 

edwinywh said:
Yup,though u see dark skies at night,but when u capture it with long exposures,the skies become orangy and red.

http://members18.clubphoto.com/edwin772918/2424225/guest.phtml

The night time pics are shot at sentosa,about 11+ - 12am in the night!
hahaha.....

that's because of the oil refineries located offshore.
 

Gymrat76 said:
Ah, so the orange skies are actually correct? To make them darker I'd need to Photoshop them eh? :)

they are not "correct" because according to you, you saw darker skies on that night... but because you needed an appropraite meter value on the darker building in the foreground, there was no choice but but to overexpose the skies... its ok for a picture but if you must have total accuracy (photos many times cannot achieve this), then by all means use photoshop.
 

believe it or not...when there is no light at all. Even with long exposure the picture will be still total black since there is no light for it to amplify.
 

sky will be a nice dark blue if you shoot on a cloudless nite.
 

ok, thanks for the feedback guys :)
 

It will be truly black when it is cloudless + very clear air, or if you are in a location with little light pollution. Eg, rural Malaysia or Indonesia. In my wife's hometown in Indonesia somewhere further from Tg Balai, the night view is breathtaking. Take a 30s ISO 400 f2.8 exposure with a prime lens of the cloudless sky and you will go woah....just don't mind the slight star trails and very slight noise (on a dSLR).
 

Status
Not open for further replies.