Need help - Moving car lights at night

[scootermcq]

I shot this picture tonight while I was waiting for my Son at guitar lessons. This is my first attempt at slow shutter speeds with a moving object at night. Just does not seem as dramatic as some that I have seen. I would really appreciate some suggestions on how people are doing this and getting better results.

Thanks.



Nikon D60 on tripod
55-200mm lens 4-5.6
125 mm
10 seconds open shutter
f5
ISO 100
all set in manual
No flash

[henson]

i like the look of the picture.

[Sterling]

Were the cars moving away from you? If those are taillights, they look really orange rather than the red I'd expect. As far as drama goes, that will depend a lot on the location of your shot. I can't say that I see a lot of drama in that stretch of road.

[outamyway]

Try shooting from a highway overpass or another elevated location. Try shooting farther down the street for longer streaks.

[scootermcq]

Originally Posted by Sterling

Were the cars moving away from you? If those are taillights, they look really orange rather than the red I'd expect. As far as drama goes, that will depend a lot on the location of your shot. I can't say that I see a lot of drama in that stretch of road.

Yes they were moving away from me, so you raise a good point about color. Anyone have any ideas about that?

I was thinking that location could have something to do with it. Like you suggest a highway would be more active than the street I happened to be on. I think the street lights also took away from the picture, and I was thinking a dark stretch of highway might give me the results I was after.

[BCampbell]

First, I would set a smaller aperture. Any softness from being near wide open is going to be magnified on a long exposure. With that lens, I would say try around f/11, if not smaller.

Try different exposures, this feels a little underexposed.

Now, composition is entirely different. You are probably at too long of a focal length. These light trail photos are most striking when the trails are actually going somewhere, they dramatically lead the eye through the scene. All you have here are a few lines cutting through the frame. Where are they coming from, where are they going? What's the point? To experiment, try a few different scenes; try a busy highway, try a straight solitary road, try a curved section, and try to find an S-curve. These all provide different dynamics.

You might also want to search something like flickr, you should be able to find plenty of photos for inspiration.

[scootermcq]

Originally Posted by BCampbell

First, I would set a smaller aperture. Any softness from being near wide open is going to be magnified on a long exposure. With that lens, I would say try around f/11, if not smaller.

Try different exposures, this feels a little underexposed.

Now, composition is entirely different. You are probably at too long of a focal length. These light trail photos are most striking when the trails are actually going somewhere, they dramatically lead the eye through the scene. All you have here are a few lines cutting through the frame. Where are they coming from, where are they going? What's the point? To experiment, try a few different scenes; try a busy highway, try a straight solitary road, try a curved section, and try to find an S-curve. These all provide different dynamics.

You might also want to search something like flickr, you should be able to find plenty of photos for inspiration.

Some great points there, gives me some stuff to try..... THANKS

[scootermcq]

Based on the feedback from you kind folks, this is what I have come up with now...



I found an overpass on a highway that was absent of street lights. Darn near froze to death, because it was minus 20 C with the windchill, so this was a quick snap and run...

Suggestions on how to improve on this are welcome and appreciated.

D60
18-55mm @ 18mm
6 second shutter
F11
ISO 400

[dishingthedivine]

Originally Posted by scootermcq

Based on the feedback from you kind folks, this is what I have come up with now...
..
I found an overpass on a highway that was absent of street lights. Darn near froze to death, because it was minus 20 C with the windchill, so this was a quick snap and run...

Suggestions on how to improve on this are welcome and appreciated.

D60
18-55mm @ 18mm
6 second shutter
F11
ISO 400

All i can say is that you are one DEDICATED photographer if you're out in that kind of cold. My hubby and I wanted to take a picture of a new light set up in our yard and decided against it because it was a chilly 40 F outside.

[kirbinster]

The first one looks like the whitebalance is off due to the sodium vapor lamps - try adjusting white balance.

Here a couple of examples with exif data, hope it helps you:

Camera: Nikon D300
Exposure: 2.5
Aperture: f/16.0
Focal Length: 85 mm
ISO Speed: 200


Camera: Nikon D300
Exposure: 3
Aperture: f/16.0
Focal Length: 85 mm
ISO Speed: 200