New York Skyline at Night

[anandnkr]

Picture taken on a freezing day from Brookyn Bridge Park. I am not sure if the settings were right. Particularly because the building doesn't seem sharp. Where am I wrong? What should I change next time.

EXIF:
Camera: Nikon 5000
Lens: Nikon 18-200mm
Exposure: 30s
ISO: 200
F-Number: 7.1
Focal Length: 18mm
White Balance: Manual
Flash: No
Polarizing Filter: Yes
Tripod: Yes

[Hill Country Hack]

Might be camera shake if it was windy. You use a cable/cordless shutter release, self timer and/or mirror lock up? I do like the variations I've seen of this shot. I don't think I'd have used the polarizing filter. I like to stick to f8-f11 for landscapes unless I'm purposely looking for a different DOF.

Have you read about hyperfocal distance????

[RichardTaylor]

+1 on loosing the filter and using F8-F11.

I would manually focus on the foreground bridge (that should be ok) and then try a shoot with focus on the buildings.

Did you shoot RAW and if so did you sharpen when post processing?.

[Hill Country Hack]

Since I don't have an i-phone and don't carry a pocket hyperfocal chart, I focus about 1/3 distance (in your case, the bridge as suggested) between the camera and the furthest object and do pretty well. I do multiple shots varying that 1/3 closer and further just in case.

[Doug Sundseth]

Note that with a 30 second shot, mirror lockup and remote are pretty much useless. The vibration induced by mirror slap and shutter press are generally fully damped within 1/4 second or less, so you don't get enough light during that time to materially affect your photo.

Vibration (from wind or traffic, for instance) is a much bigger problem and not easy to fix. To some extent, VR might help with that, though it's possible for VR to induce vibration where there isn't any naturally, too, so that's a crapshoot.

[Barry Jackson]

I don't see the lack of sharpness except where the lights are slightly overexposed.

The wires on the bridge look crisp.

Any lack of sharpness that is there is probably coming from either the polarizing filter or being at the extreme end of a large zoom factor lens.

The only thing that bothers me is the curve in the horizon caused by the wide angle setting.

Maybe your tripod was shivering.

Good shot.

[anandnkr]

Thanks for all the great feedback..I am 100% in agreement in losing the filter..not sure why I had it there in the first place.

And also it was somewhat windy that day. Not surprised if it had something to with the lack of sharpness.

The image was shot Raw, and I did not attempt any sharpening during post processing. Will definitely give that a shot.

About focusing, I was trying to use auto focus, and I remember the camera was struggling to focus on anything (probably because there was too little light beyond the bridge). Probably a dumb question. Does everyone else focus manually (or using the distance meter) in these situations?

[crockny]

Well I am new to night shooting but I would try using live view, zoom in to what you want in focus, and manually focus it ... I have had some success with this method ...