Barn at night

[Planepics8]

All sizes | IMG_2582 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I love this barn. I took this photo at about 10PM. One of my first night photos. F2.7 @ 64 seconds.

ISO 100
F2.7
64 seconds
White Balance was Sunny
Focal length was 6mm
Taken with my Canon Powershot S3 IS 6MP with CHDK installed

This is my first post on the forums. Is it under/ overexposed? Could I have done it better differently? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks!

[Krusty79]

I like the barn and how it contrasts with the foreground colors. In fact, I'd like to see more of the foreground and less of the sky, as I find the foreground colors more interesting. The barn and foreground do look underexposed to me, probably because the relatively bright sky has fooled your meter. You could have used a graduated neutral density filter to offset that. I also noticed some spots on your image, so you might check your sensor or lens for dust.

[RichardTaylor]

The "spots" are stars.

The image is technically underexposed (although exposure can sometimes be considered an artistic decision)..

Have a look at the histogram - most of the pixels are on the left hand side.

Try a levels & curves adjustment when PPing, it will make quite a difference.

When shooting, especially with scenes like this, let the histogram be your guide (not the screen on the back of your camera)
.
To make things a bit easier, when shooting, try a couple of shots with shorter exposures at very high ISO. They will be noisy but will very quickly give you an idea if the "correct" exposure. Then adjust the exposure for a low ISO (So noise isn't a real problem).
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Your pic is a good start to night time photography.

[windrider86]

we'd love it if you could post your photo here for us, please and thank you

[2stroke]

I love the night shots and have been getting a little more into it.

I think you have something here, but as mentioned, just needs some tweaks in curves and levels.

With CHDK installed you can save RAW files correct? Work from the raw if possible and get the histogram moved to the right.

I love how the night sky gets blue and yet still gets stars, and you were right to use daylight as the WB starting point. Good composition, I would like to see a few more of the stars out.

Here is a shot I took lit by the moon and brought back with curves and levels. The rock is lit on the bright side by about 3/4 of moon and on the warmish side by my campfire.
DSC08762r | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
and by the way, the funny green lights at the bottom is my kids playing hide n seek with glow sticks and flashlights.