Night Photography Exposures

[popsick]

hi, great shots. can you share the exif data of the image...

[RainPacket]

And now, I shall engage in a feat of thread necromancy by bringing this thread BACK FROM THE DEAD. Dun dun dun!

Okay, more seriously... I've been going back and revisiting some of my older shots, re-processing them with post-processing techiques I have either learned since then or improved my use of. In this case, I took the 'Car by Night' shot and color-corrected the image, sharpened it and tweaked a few areas individually.

In particular, I focused in bringing out details in the bushes behind the car, and in bringing out the deep blue color of the twilight sky (and carrying that color through to the water).

This brings us from the original shot (as linked in the first page of this thread)...


...to this...


Just goes to show, even old shots should sometimes be revisited; sometimes, you can breathe new life into them.

[jiminyClickit]

Originally Posted by RainPacket

And now, I shall engage in a feat of thread necromancy by bringing this thread BACK FROM THE DEAD. Dun dun dun!

Well, if anybody could do . . .

Originally Posted by RainPacket

Just goes to show, even old shots should sometimes be revisited; sometimes, you can breathe new life into them.

Now more professionally lit, as a movie company might do. You've learned a thing or two.

[henryscat]

Just checked your flickr page - some great stuff on there! You've inspired me!

[jim.neff]

Originally Posted by RainPacket

Amazing, you have inspired me too! I love the rework on this picture. Looks like this should be in a magazine for a car commercial.

[harryhnc]

I ditto everyone's comments on your shots. They are really great. As a new comer to DLSR, it would be nice to see a tutorial of night photography to go along with these shots. Harry

[RainPacket]

Honestly, to take outdoor night exposures, what I mostly do is use a tripod. I aim for ISO 100 (200 if things are /really/ dark), f/11 to f/14, depending on my whims at the moment, and then 20-30 seconds of exposure. If you have live view (or some other way of locking the mirror up, to avoid shutter-jitter) and either a remote trigger or a timer that you can use to ensure you're not touching the camera when the exposure starts, make sure to use them.

But really, the short form is 'low ISO, small aperture, long exposure, and don't let the camera move if you can avoid it.'

If you're shooting JPG, toy with your white-balance to make sure things are cooler; live view works well here. If you are shooting RAW, you have a little more freedom in post-processing night shots. I've discovered that the ideal when you can is to get that cool, twilighty blue gradient in the sky; the effect can be very powerful.

Hope that helps!

[harryhnc]

Thank you for the lesson, that was much quicker than I expected and very informative! I print these notes so I have "cheat sheets" available when I out shooting. Harry