tips for night photography

[Rashkae]

Here's an example of how polluted it is:

Note: It really IS that hazy, and the sky really does look murky-brown. Too many diesel-fumes.

 

[Rashkae]

But on the bright side, all that pollution makes for beautiful sunrises:

PP done: added a frame. That's about it.

 

[Heartshape]

Hi Rashkae, your night shots are very sharp. What lens are you using?

 

[Rashkae]

Hi Raskesh, your night shots are very sharp. What lens are you using?

The built-in one of the V1 and H1. Mind you, those pics are reduced-quality already to make them web-friendly. The full-sized pics are much sharper.

 

[infusia]

wow~~~ very nice~~
got to buck up my night shots abit...

 

[Mezzotint]

Thanks!

Yup, considered burning the sky. Those pics haven't gone through any PP at all.

For the second pic, I used a star-8. Was thinking of getting a star-6 for different situations. But with the multitude of lights in that shot, the star-8 "felt" better.

The first pic was taken with a Sony V1 from the 48th floor of a building. No tripod, I was holding the cam out the window... It's a very smoggy city, so there's a lot of "light pollution" which contributes to the brightness of the sky.

The second pic was taken using a Sony H1, but again no tripod (as is obvious from the slight angle of the pic). Was just resting the cam on a balcony edge with the neckstrap around my neck.

Thanks for sharing Rashkae!

Well I shld have known yr 2 pictures were taken with SONY digi cams. As far as I know, SONY tends to give more purplish color cast on their images which personally I find are totally inaccurate. Nikon gives more warm color tones. FujiFilm is more towards green. Konica towards blue and Canon gives quite accurate color and more accurate if you use Custom WB (SLR context).

Star-8 filter is nice but must use it wisely. Think I'll get the Star-6. How much did u get for Star-8 btw? Where did u buy it?

Resting on the balcony edge is good enuff as long it's stable and steady to take clear sharp images but the disadvantage is the leveling part. Yr image will be slunted or tilted a little which can spoil the whole image appearance.

 

[Rashkae]

Thanks for sharing Rashkae!

Well I shld have known yr 2 pictures were taken with SONY digi cams. As far as I know, SONY tends to give more purplish color cast on their images which personally I find are totally inaccurate. Nikon gives more warm color tones. FujiFilm is more towards green. Konica towards blue and Canon gives quite accurate color and more accurate if you use Custom WB (SLR context).

Star-8 filter is nice but must use it wisely. Think I'll get the Star-6. How much did u get for Star-8 btw? Where did u buy it?

Resting on the balcony edge is good enuff as long it's stable and steady to take clear sharp images but the disadvantage is the leveling part. Yr image will be slunted or tilted a little which can spoil the whole image appearance.

Yup, the sony's are purplish for night photography, but i prefer them for daytime shots to the Canons.

I got the star-8 at John 3:16 for about 20 SGD i think. Konin.

Yup! Levelling was the big problem.

 

[Rashkae]

Here are some other V1 examples:

F5 10sec ISO100:

F3.2 1sec ISO100:

F2.8 1/8sec ISO320:

So really, you don't need an F-stop of 8 to 11 to get a good nightshot.

 

[d7t3]

you don't need an F-stop of 8 to 11 to get a good nightshot

i agree. but DOF varies with the focal length of the lens. at the same 35mm-equivalents, cameras with smaller sensors have very short focal lengths, giving more DOF than the DSLR equivalents. so if DOF matters, different apertures are called for.

also, the smallest aperture usable before diffraction affects the image varies between formats. my compact digicam can't go smaller than f/8, probably for that reason. i regularly use it at f/2.8, while i've heard advice not to use f/22 (some say f/16) or smaller on sensors smaller than full-frame.

 

[Rashkae]

i agree. but DOF varies with the focal length of the lens. at the same 35mm-equivalents, cameras with smaller sensors have very short focal lengths, giving more DOF than the DSLR equivalents. so if DOF matters, different apertures are called for.

also, the smallest aperture usable before diffraction affects the image varies between formats. my compact digicam can't go smaller than f/8, probably for that reason. i regularly use it at f/2.8, while i've heard advice not to use f/22 (some say f/16) or smaller on sensors smaller than full-frame.

Correct. That's why there's no real "formula" for nightshots. It will vary from camera to camera.

 

[d7t3]

yes. though the thread starter did say that he/she is using a DSLR and wants to maximise detail. i think the advice can be a bit more specific in this case.

 

[roti_prata]

So really, you don't need an F-stop of 8 to 11 to get a good nightshot.

f/5.6, 8, 11 as we were taking abt were more for SLRs as these f/ stops r the common [pt of maximum sharpness] for most lenses. and of course they giv better DOF

 

[pRoLoS3r]

The first pic was taken with a Sony V1 from the 48th floor of a building. No tripod, I was holding the cam out the window... It's a very smoggy city, so there's a lot of "light pollution" which contributes to the brightness of the sky.

Can you share where u took that pic from ? which building ?? and location ? I am curious .

 

[Rashkae]

Can you share where u took that pic from ? which building ?? and location ? I am curious .

Oh, that's in Manila.

Hey, I currently live in YCK... You too, huh?

 

[reezaelias]

Thanks to everone for their tips. I think my problem is due to me not using a tripod. I do not have the pictures that I took now. But I will be going to the durian this thursday to take pictures again. I will be bring a tripod. After that I will post my images and hopefully can get comments on where I went wrong.

The settings I am using is Aperiture Prioroty f4.5 @ iso200.

Anyone can tell me what is DOF Focusing in detail.:dunno:

 

[MDZ2]

I sort of playing around with Nikon D70. Resently have been taking pictures at night(landscape, mostly buildings). But the results are not that good. Meaning the pictures are rather dark and i do not get that much detail. I looking for tips on how to get a nice image with as much detail as possiable.

If you want to take properly exposed night shots, and your current pictures are all dark ie. underexposed, you can do 2 things:-

a. If you are using the autoexposure mode, try adjusting the exposure compensation to the positive side ie. overexpose you pictures more until the picture is to your liking. (Do not adjust the shutter speed as your camera will only compensate by adjusting the aperture)

b. In manual mode, set the aperture to your desired selection, and half depress your shutter. The exposure meter will tell you if the scene is under or over exposed. Adjust the shutter speed until the exposure meter comes to rest at 0. Then take the picture. If the picture is underexposed, then just reduce the shutter at 1/3 stop intervals and keep taking until you get the desired exposure. Take note of the difference between what your camera sees and what you like. In future you will know how much to compensate from the camera's reading.

Hope this didn't confuse you more.

 

[d7t3]

i have no time to write in detail. but basically:

for an aperture, the scene will seem sharp slightly nearer and slightly farther than the actual focus point.

the zone that looks sharp (called the DOF) increases when you use higher f-stops (such as f/11).

to make best use of the DOF zone, rather than focus on the nearest point, or the farthest point, focus somewhere in the middle range. very roughly speaking.

 

[reezaelias]

i have no time to write in detail. but basically:

for an aperture, the scene will seem sharp slightly nearer and slightly farther than the actual focus point.

the zone that looks sharp (called the DOF) increases when you use higher f-stops (such as f/11).

to make best use of the DOF zone, rather than focus on the nearest point, or the farthest point, focus somewhere in the middle range. very roughly speaking.

Thx for the info. I think i can sort of understand what DOF Focusing is.

 

[reezaelias]

If you want to take properly exposed night shots, and your current pictures are all dark ie. underexposed, you can do 2 things:-

a. If you are using the autoexposure mode, try adjusting the exposure compensation to the positive side ie. overexpose you pictures more until the picture is to your liking. (Do not adjust the shutter speed as your camera will only compensate by adjusting the aperture)

b. In manual mode, set the aperture to your desired selection, and half depress your shutter. The exposure meter will tell you if the scene is under or over exposed. Adjust the shutter speed until the exposure meter comes to rest at 0. Then take the picture. If the picture is underexposed, then just reduce the shutter at 1/3 stop intervals and keep taking until you get the desired exposure. Take note of the difference between what your camera sees and what you like. In future you will know how much to compensate from the camera's reading.

Hope this didn't confuse you more.

Thx MDZ2. I get what you are saying. :thumbsup: I will try it tomorrow. And will post the picture here for you all to comment.

 

[reezaelias]

Anyone got a recommendation on a good tripod brand and model.