sunrise needs help

[wanderella]

how did this happen??....took this shot this a.m.....used a tripod and remote triggger.... polarizing filter and star filter on 18-55mm kit lense on canon 450d....4sec shutter, f16, iso400....why so much noise.....why ghost lights from lamps....what did i do wrong....please help.....thanks

[Sterling]

The noise happened because it is very underexposed which is when noise becomes evident. I don't know how the 450d is for noise control, but decreasing the ISO to 100 and increasing the exposure time to 16 seconds would probably produce less noise. Of course, it would still be underexposed. Ideally you could use an ND filter to keep the sky from getting too bright while you properly expose for the bridge. Alternatively, you could take 2 shots, one properly exposed for the sky and one properly exposed for the bridge and combine them in Photoshop.

The ghost lights are likely from stacking so many filter layers. I'd get rid of the star filter. At f/16 you'll probably get nice stars on the lights anyway.

Not sure why you'd use a polarizing filter here. Were you just using it to increase your exposure time?

[wanderella]

okay, thanks.....i guess i was using the polarizer for what you suggested the nd filter for.....i'll try that one...i was wanting to get the sky at that purply-orange sunrise color and have the street lamps with the star/rays....but you say with the longer exposure i could achieve that effect?....it was rather dark, which is why the 400iso......i'm gonna go back in the next day or so and i will try your suggestions and see what happens....i was quite disappointed with my efforts this a.m.....although i did get some decent b&w shots....it's a nice little bridge, i would like a good shot....try, try again...thanks for the help!!!!

[Sterling]

I should clarify, it is actually a graduated nd filter that will do what I suggested - a filter where it is dark on the top and fades down to clear at the bottom. Without that or without some work in Photoshop it'll be tough to get a shot where both the sky and the bridge look good.

It's not the long exposure that will produce stars but the small aperture. Once you get up into f/16, f/22, and beyond, stars will come naturally from bright points of light. The star filter will produce longer "rays" and will be effective even at large apertures. I've never been a fan of star filters but that's just personal taste. A negative side effect with adding additional filters is the possibility of extra reflections.

I would definitely bring your ISO back down to 100 (or 200 if that the base ISO for your camera) and try again. I'd take the polarizer off and try a 8 second exposure as a starting point.

[navcom]

Definitely agree with Sterling. Use your aperture to get the star effect. Smaller apertures produce the star effect much more naturally. Star filters for the most part are kind of gimmicky and most are not very high quality. Really cheap star filters can ghost or cause flares all by themselves without any additional filters.

[wanderella]

great ideas....i do have a cokin graduated nd filter i can use....i'll try the tips yall have suggested...hopefully there will be some clouds in the next couple of days....make it a bit interesting...i really appreciate the help....thanks.....