First attempt at night photography

[pentahedron]

All sizes | DSC_0166 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Nikon D3000
Shutter speed: 1.6
Aperture: 4.8
ISO: 400

No flash

And I didn't have a tripod, instead I used a monument that was in the shape of one and I wasn't sure if I was on public or private property so I didn't want to stick around too long and find out, but in general what are you thoughts on it? Is it too bright? How can I get the streelights to shine in a way like they do on this?

Richmond from the 9th Street Bridge | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[IABoomer]

I think it's a bit bright. I'd probably bump the ISO back to 200, stop down the aperture closer to f/8 or maybe even f/11 which will help you get that starburst effect on the lights, then set the shutter for the exposure.

[pentahedron]

Originally Posted by IABoomer

I think it's a bit bright. I'd probably bump the ISO back to 200, stop down the aperture closer to f/8 or maybe even f/11 which will help you get that starburst effect on the lights, then set the shutter for the exposure.

Thanks. I completely forgot about resetting my iso since I had been shooting at 400 all day. And i'll keep the f/stops in mind next time. Would setting my f/stops to high like f/22 make the lighting really sharp and keep it around the lightposts?

[IABoomer]

You might not have to go clear down to f/22 to get the effect. The picture you linked to was shot at f/11. My light trail shot below was done at f/13.



My shot of the capital was shot at f/11.



If you search the forum, you might find that f/22 could introduce some potential softness as diffraction creeps in.

[pentahedron]

Thanks and those are really nice!

[sk66]

I agree it is too bright, but I think the issue is the long exposure. It appears to be causing noise in the blues (hard to really tell at this size though). What mode were you in?

[pentahedron]

Originally Posted by sk66

I agree it is too bright, but I think the issue is the long exposure. It appears to be causing noise in the blues (hard to really tell at this size though). What mode were you in?

I was in manual mode.If by blues you mean sky, the sun was just going down so there was still some light out.

[fmark]

i agree that it's a little bit bright. maybe too high iso,

@iaboom - nice night shots you got there. what is your iso setting on both shots?

[IABoomer]

Originally Posted by fmark

i agree that it's a little bit bright. maybe too high iso,

@iaboom - nice night shots you got there. what is your iso setting on both shots?

Light trail EXIF:
Camera Nikon D40
Exposure 20
Aperture f/13.0
Focal Length 210 mm
ISO Speed 200

Dome EXIF:
Camera Nikon D40
Exposure 6
Aperture f/11.0
Focal Length 70 mm
ISO Speed 200

200 is the lowest the D40 goes, IIRC.