c&c pls...

[sachinhonap]

Hi,

I am new to photography & to this forum.
I have shot a few pics in my Nikon D5000 using the bulb mode.
Attached is one. Could i please have comments?
Also please let me know where i can improve.

Details:
200mm
f/29
105.2seconds

Thanks & Regards
Sachin

[Krusty79]

Welcome to the forum. It looks like your image has a sharpness issue and composition issue. When I look at your image, it looks like there is a lot of grain. Was there some haze in the air? Did you use a high ISO? I have read on this forum that if you start using apertures smaller than f/11 or f/13, the diffraction effect reduces sharpness, so you don't have to use such a small aperture.

You have captured the city lights all right, but it helps a lot if there is one particular building or light that attracts the eye an acts as the subject. I see some lights in your image, but nothing in particular stands out, so unfortunately, it does not hold my interest. If you look at the other night shots that get good reviews, they usually have a definite subject. It helps to have a subject in mind that you want to lead the viewer's eye towards.

You may also want to check your white balance setting because the whole image seems to have a yellowish cast. Was the sky really that color? It would help give contrast to the scene if it was more of a dark blue.

[bruceliv]

"You may also want to check your white balance setting because the whole image seems to have a yellowish cast. Was the sky really that color? It would help give contrast to the scene if it was more of a dark blue."

The exposure is too long. It's probably reciprocity failure.

I agree about isolating the subject. I would also suggest checking the curves at playback. Perhaps take many photos at different exposures. Whatever lens was used, f/29.0 is pretty extreme and can cause blur from defractiion.

My wife "nailed" shots in Cape May at night with her Nikon P&S, and hand-held (1/6 sec)!

[inkista]

Originally Posted by bruceliv

The exposure is too long. It's probably reciprocity failure.

Uh... don't think the D5000 uses film. (only film has reciprocity failure; sensors get hot pixels) Or did you mean the OP was assuming there would be reciprocity failure and overexposed?

And I think the main culprit on the exposure is the aperture setting of f/29.

My thoughts: it's kind of fuzzy and overexposed. The technical glitches get in the way of appreciating it as a photo, and they're pretty easily fixed. My advice would be a) make sure you have a sturdy enough tripod. Camera shake blur is a killer on shots like these. b) Use a larger aperture. f/29 is small enough that you may be cutting into your sharpness via diffraction effect. f/8-f/16 will give you plenty of DoF for this kind of shot. Aperture extremes will also highlight flaws in your glass. c) You don't always have to use a really long exposure for night photography. Depending on how your metering is set up, chances are the camera's AE system is going to bias towards overexposure with night shots, because the majority of the scene is so dark. Try underexposing by a stop or two of what the meter tells you to do. d) Try using hyperfocal distance to focus, rather than autofocus or focusing by eye.

[bruceliv]

Originally Posted by inkista

Uh... don't think the D5000 uses film. (only film has reciprocity failure; sensors get hot pixels) Or did you mean the OP was assuming there would be reciprocity failure and overexposed?

And I think the main culprit on the exposure is the aperture setting of f/29.

Inkista, you are correct.
Well, a little bit "like" color reciprocity in the sense that longer exposure times in digital can add other problems, e.g., color shift.

[sachinhonap]

Thank you all for your suggestions and comments. It is really helpful.

What I could see with my naked eye was practically looking golden-black, (it was cloudy) – so I thought of capturing it as it looks. The picture is what I see from my window (it’s quite far so I zoomed in to 200 mm.) I have shot this picture with a tripod and remote click.

I agree now that it looks like a sharpness and composition issue – there is nothing particular (other than the centre light) which catches the eye, or leads the eye to...

Also, I don’t think the Nikon55-200mm lens (it’s a cheap one ) gives good sharpness at 200mm. I could be wrong – has anyone faced this problem? Or it could be a combination of the aperture and focal length I used along with other setting like white balance.

The shot looks grainy in the dark/black areas - but I guess it’s not noise - as I have shot it with lowest ISO.
Since the ISO and aperture was small – I used a very long exposure so that the sensor could take in more light. I think the texture of darkness is causing it to look noisy.

I will retry this with an f/11 (you all are right f/29 gives diffraction). I assume matrix metering would be ideal in this case as the scene is far away.

Last help - I would like to know how to use hyperfocal distance to focus..

[sachinhonap]

attached is one more which i shot which has shapness issue, and looks a bit grainy even though it is shot with lowest ISO.. Again this is at f/29 (now i know my err - i will correct it next time i shoot )..
this is at 145mm; 121sec;

[bruceliv]

Originally Posted by sachinhonap

I will retry this with an f/11 (you all are right f/29 gives diffraction). I assume matrix metering would be ideal in this case as the scene is far away.

Last help - I would like to know how to use hyperfocal distance to focus..

Actually f/8.0 is the sweet spot for the 55-200mm at longer distances. I've used this lens, and at full zoom, it's not that sharp. (Best at f/11 for close range.) It's better not to go to extremes.

Hyperfocal distance, on older lenses were easy to estimate because there would be scales printed right on the lens for depth of field.

The lens in the following picture is focused at approx 1.2m and set at f/8.0. the color code for this f-stop is pink. Observe the pink scale lines. They are now set between 1-1.2m. For this lens, at this setting, everything between 1-1.2m will be in "acceptable focus."



Now to modern lens. Most do not have DoF scales like the example above. You can purchase a scale or just use a calculator off the net:

Depth of Field Table

On this table, plug in the focal length (say 150mm), the camera (D5000), set to feet or meters (meters). Note, with this setting at infinity, the hyperfocal distance is 94m at f/8.0.
Therefore, if you focus your camera at 94m, you will have an acceptable DoF from several meters closer than 94m to infinity.

But why bother if the closest distance you need is further than 94m?

[sachinhonap]

Thanks a ton Bruce.. i got it now..
With the above knowledge, i will try to improvise my shots in future...