exposure

xirokx

xirokx

xirokx

Soldato
Joined
2 Oct 2004
Posts
4,362
Location
N.W London
Hiya...

Are those images with lights stretched in the dark, (often look like they have been taken from a footbridge on the motorway) taken by increasing or decreasing exposure?

if yes how would one go about doing this on their camera - fuji s9600?

do you open the aperture to the maximum ensuring shutter speed is at a minimum and just snap away?

if yes, once you have pressed the capture button on your camera do u have to hold it extremely still until the image registers on the camera?

pls help n clarify

thanks in advance...
 
you have it backwards.

light trails = movement from a light source, that takes time.

So you will need LONGER exposure and you CLOSE down the Aperture.

And i wouldn't hold it, use a tripod.
 
As Raymond Lin says, its not going to work too well handheld, as its likely to come out as a big blurry mess. For long exposures like this you will need a tripod.
 
messiah khan said:
For long exposures like this you will need a tripod.
Click to expand...

or summit to lean on ;)

m55_roundabout_trails.jpg
 
are there tripods for the s9600? I bet they are expensive....

Damn!!!

I just started saving as well and I refuse to stray...

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
 
you can pick up a cheap tripod for about a tenner if u just wanna have a play, obviously if you spend more you can get a better one - but any tripod should fit - look on the base of the camera, and you should see a thread for one to screw into.
 
I found night photography with my 9500 came out quite well. Usually around 15 seconds at f8, 100iso would be my starting point. Review image and histogram and change shutter, fstop as needed. I think you're stuck with a 30secs max exposure with the 9600 so might need a busy motorway if you want lots of light trails! Deffo need a tripod tho, I used to use a cheapo £15 for the 9500 which was fine for my needs then.

Example night photo with my s9500:
london_04.jpg
 
viper and mohain thats exactly what I wanna do....those light trails are great I like yours especially mohain..

how does it work to be precise?

is it low aperture like raymond suggested so f2.8 or higher? and then slightly longer shutter speeds?

As I have never done any is it trial n error?

Or can you advise any tips so I can get good clean light trails?

please advise

cheers
 
xirokx said:
how does it work to be precise?

is it low aperture like raymond suggested so f2.8 or higher? and then slightly longer shutter speeds?

As I have never done any is it trial n error?

Or can you advise any tips so I can get good clean light trails?
Click to expand...

mohain said:
Usually around 15 seconds at f8, 100iso would be my starting point. Review image and histogram and change shutter, fstop as needed.
Click to expand...
;)

Get a tripod, set the camera on manual and dial in 15 second, f8, iso100, use a remote release (or self timer) and take a pic. Check the LCD and histogram and adjust the time and/or aperture as needed. If it's too dark try a longer exposure or a wider aperture, if it's too light stop down a bit.
 
Mohain said:
;)

Get a tripod, set the camera on manual and dial in 15 second, f8, iso100, use a remote release (or self timer) and take a pic. Check the LCD and histogram and adjust the time and/or aperture as needed. If it's too dark try a longer exposure or a wider aperture, if it's too light stop down a bit.
Click to expand...


F22, ISO 100, 10 stop ND filter, 45 minutes. ;) :D
 
I think the op has a few misunderstandings about aperture shutter speed and exposure.

basically small apertures are the big numbers. it seems wrong because we quote them incorrectly. We say f2.8 and we should say f 1/2.8. The f numbers are a ratio of the maximum diameter of the lens to the opening which allows a halving of the light through for each full stop.

I.e. at each full stop further closed, the light reaching the recording media is halved.

exposure is a product of aperture setting and shutter speed. so we can get the same exposure for each aperture setting if we double the time the shutter is open.

for our light trails we want to set a long shutter speed to see a large trail and blur out any moving object, so we our constant exposure setting is usually a long shutter speed and a narrow (big numbers if using f without the 1/ ) aperture.

best way to work it out is practice and see what happens when changing one thing at a time.
 
Raymond Lin said:
You better have a FULL battery !

For exposures that last hours i'd try to find a plug in source of power or use film.
Click to expand...

I know. :( I really want a battert grip, but the third party ones for the DD40/D40X look cheap and nasty. The other option would be to use a fully manual and fully mechanical film camera that doesn't need batteries at all. :)
 
Raymond Lin said:
You better have a FULL battery !

For exposures that last hours i'd try to find a plug in source of power or use film.
Click to expand...

for that length of exposure I find a old cheap film SLR 2nd hand. Something entirely manual and mechanical would be fine. I'm sure even my EOS 5 would get though a battery if I tripped the shutter for 45 mins...
 
basically small apertures are the big numbers. it seems wrong because we quote them incorrectly. We say f2.8 and we should say f 1/2.8.
Click to expand...

thanks for that...sorry I realise my error :)...still learning all this fstop / shutter speed stuff

the lower the f number, the larger the aperture therefore allowing more light

and vice versa...

I shall have a play...shame my garden doesnt look out onto a field with lights that way I could really get the hang of light trails..

To slightly change the subject...How about ISO? Is that basically fixing the amount of light the camera automatically allows? Is there a rule you could use so for example for night photography use higher ISO and for day photography with good lighting use a lower ISO? How about when taking images of people? Or is it all down to the amount of light already present when initally taking piccies?

Please clarify

thanks for all your responses peeps :)
 
xirokx said:
To slightly change the subject...How about ISO? Is that basically fixing the amount of light the camera automatically allows? Is there a rule you could use so for example for night photography use higher ISO and for day photography with good lighting use a lower ISO? How about when taking images of people? Or is it all down to the amount of light already present when initally taking piccies?
Click to expand...

One way to think of iso, is imagine it like the volume control on a cd player. As you turn it, the sound will get louder, but any background noise and hiss will also get louder. The same applies to the ISO. At a low ISO (100,200 etc) the camera sensor accepts less light, but it doesn't show much noise. at high ISO (1600, 3200 etc) the camera will accept much more light, but the noise will also be much worse. the general rule of thumb is to use an ISO as low as possible. Sometimes however (Imagine an indoor gig) you require a fast shutter speed, and the aperture is as wide as possible, you might have to crank up the ISO to get the settings you need.
 
cheers messiah most appreciated...

can you clarify on the following point you made :-
One way to think of iso, is imagine it like the volume control on a cd player. As you turn it, the sound will get louder, but any background noise and hiss will also get louder.
Click to expand...

if the noise and hiss can be cleaned up on using photoshop? or is it best not to think like that to avoid having to touch up / clean up your pictures ?

would you say its best to be of the thinking the cleaner the image the less you have to touch up, as sometimes no matter how hard you try you will never get it 100%

What do you think?
 
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