Attempting Night Shots

[grouseking]

For the first time, I attempted a few night time shots, and have now become quite interested in what I can do. I think the max exposure time I can have is 15 seconds, so that is what I shot last night. The moon helped the light out in a few of the pics.

Positive critiques and happy comments are welcome. This is my first time trying this out so I'm fragile.

First pic: I've always wanted to take a picture like this, along a road. Now I need to get to a city, and find a way to get that annoying glare spot that is to the left in the tree.

These next two I'm not sure if I really "like" but I enjoy how they came out because I've never shot this way before.

This pic is kind of neat because you can see the cloud movement over the 15 seconds. Plus they are lit up by the moon.

And finally, this one has grown on me a little. I don't know how much I like the glare of the moon, but I like the clouds and the trees.

 

[JohnL]

In your follow on shots similar to your first image, get to a vantage point where the headlights do not shine directly at the camera. Try a balcony, elevated porch, on a bridge overpass, a second floor window, etc. Stop down to f/11 or f/8. Your exposures will be longer than a wide open lens but your images will be crisper and you'll pick up more action in the longer time exposures.

For your images of the moon with long exposures, you're not going to get much different or better than what you shot unless you shoot on a night where the moon is 1/4 or less and the moon's apparent movement is towards the open end of the crescent moon. I'll leave that for you to pick the right night.

Good first attempts. Keep up the experimentation.

JohnL

 

[Raymond]

I have a bunch of night shots, too. Is your camera a Canon? That’s what I have, and am also limited to 15 seconds. It’s too bad that the camera doesn’t know enough to just stay open long enough to correctly expose the scene.

These first two were taken on March 10, 2009, at 4:10 and 4:33 a.m., respectively.

That blur by the roof is smoke coming out of the chimney, which is hidden at this angle.

This one was taken a week later, at 4:36 a.m. It’s grainy, because I’d forced the ISO up to 800.

The red glow is from the EXIT signs inside, and I caught a vehicle passing by on the road as well as a jet overhead.

 

[Technetium]

One of my favorite conditions to shoot under is full moon on a cloudless night. Shoot away from the moon with a long exposure, and the sky can turn blue like day, but with star trails! The moonlight will also nicely light up the ground in an eerie light.

I've only gotten to do this once, though. Here's one 30-minute exposure (with an additional 30 minute wait for noise reduction):

Not the most exciting composition, though... I want to try this again in Acadia this summer.

 

[MichaelJ]

Here's one 30-minute exposure (with an additional 30 minute wait for noise reduction):

Was that additional 30 minutes in-camera or post-processing? What tools were you using that NR took 30 minutes?

 

[Technetium]

Was that additional 30 minutes in-camera or post-processing? What tools were you using that NR took 30 minutes?

That was the in-camera noise-reduction process. It takes as long as the exposure. What it does is run a second exposure with the shutter closed to locate pixels that become overheated, and then subtract the bright spots from the original image. Without it, the image would be dotted with blue, red, and green marks. As far as I know, all DSLRs have this ability, and I definitely recommend turning it on if you tend to go for longer exposures. It does mean a lot of sitting and waiting, though. I think newer DSLRs handle heat noise better now, but I'm not really sure (I'm still using an old Nikon D50).

 

[JohnL]

Here is a long time exposure (IIRC about 70 minutes) without noise reduction.

In this enlargement, http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2705/4541658245_6354cdefe0_o.jpg you can see the extraneous red and white dots much more easily.


JohnL

 

[Grumpy]

To my eye, the most successful night shot shared here so far is the first in Raymond’s series (post #3), of full moon, trees and a house in early morning, before daylight. What makes this work for me is the texture in the snow and ice, the hint of ground fog or rising mist, the silhouetted trees and the semi-silhouetted house backlit by the bright moon. This is all very evocative and authentic – unpretentious, unaffected and real.

John L's circular light streaks in a night sky also is an interesting image, in that it reveals something we don't see by "just looking."

I think this makes a case for shooting not simply to produce an "effect" (such as light streaks) but also to capture and depict the ambience of an entire scene, or to reveal something particularly surprising.

G.

 

[MichaelJ]

That was the in-camera noise-reduction process.

Cool, I've never seen it work so effectively. I'll have to revisit it with my camera (Canon 40D).

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Depending on your Canon model, CHDK may allow longer shutter speeds.

Tim

 

[DougPaul]

That was the in-camera noise-reduction process.

Cool, I've never seen it work so effectively. I'll have to revisit it with my camera (Canon 40D).

I have experimented with the in-camera noise-reduction in my Canon Digital Rebel XTi for 30 second exposures and couldn't see any difference. YMMV--this might depend on the particular sensor (maybe I was just lucky), the sensor technology (CMOS vs CCD), the exposure time, the manufacturer, or who-knows-what-else.

In general, keeping the camera cold will help to reduce thermal leakage noise from the sensor.

Doug