Help with night shots.

Crossy

Crossy

Crossy

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Joined
23 Oct 2006
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1,600
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Newcastle, The Toon
Hi there. Tonight if fancy taking a trip down into Newcastle and getting a Few photo's of the Tyne and the bridges. Ill be heading out when it starts getting dark and ill still be there when its Dark. Does anybody have any tips on Getting the best out of my Camera at night? Its a Nikon D40x. Ill also be taking my Tripod.
 
You're probably looking at exposures of at least a second, probably more, so don't forget the tripod. Unless you have a remote shutter release then use the self timer so that you don't jiggle the camera when taking the shot.

With a tripod you can get away with long exposures so wind the ISO down to keep the image noise down. Play about with the aperture as well, high f stops tend to give interesting effects to point light sources like streetlights.
 
One interesting tip robgilbert86 once gave me is to underexpose by a couple of stops at night. This should capture a more realistic* view of the scene as the camera isn't trying to make everything 18% grey.

*what your eye sees
 
steveo said:
i thought that wasnt a problem on digitals ????
Click to expand...
A DSLR still has a physical mirror so it's still just as much of a problem, if not actually worse since people now look at photos enlarged to a much greater degree than an old fashioned 4x6 print.
 
Also, if it's windy give it a miss. It's amazing what difference a stiff breeze can make!?!
 
rpstewart said:
You're probably looking at exposures of at least a second, probably more, so don't forget the tripod. Unless you have a remote shutter release then use the self timer so that you don't jiggle the camera when taking the shot.

With a tripod you can get away with long exposures so wind the ISO down to keep the image noise down. Play about with the aperture as well, high f stops tend to give interesting effects to point light sources like streetlights.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that mate. Ill definitely give these techniques a go!. Ive never actually messed around much with Manual mode so i hope to get a good start with this help.

beano said:
Also, if it's windy give it a miss. It's amazing what difference a stiff breeze can make!?!
Click to expand...

Its drizzling a little bit now, hopefully it clears up. But there's no wind what so ever and its still very warm.
 
xolotl said:
One interesting tip robgilbert86 once gave me is to underexpose by a couple of stops at night. This should capture a more realistic* view of the scene as the camera isn't trying to make everything 18% grey.

*what your eye sees
Click to expand...

Very good point; I often find myself manually stopping down in dark conditions as the meter tries too hard to get the exposure dead on :p
 
Ok. Heres my attempt Guys.

DSC_0693copy.jpg


I know it still needs a little work. But im still fiddling with Lightroom and CS3. Looks alright for a first attempt me thinks.
 
Wow! That looks really good. The central composition works really well with this shot, proof that the rules can be broken. ;)
 
yep...like that. as beano mentioned the central composition works nicely as you've got two sets of leading lines on the left and right drawing you in towards the bridge.

good stuff.
 
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