Help with first night shots...

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Philth

Senior Member
Thought I'd give some night photography a stab... What am I doing wrong?

Tree photo info:
ISO 100
F 5.3
10s shutter

Car photo info:
ISO 100
F 4.1
3s shutter

The pic with the tree lights....I see an upside down purple tree in the sky...right above the little white tree on the right.

Again, my first ever night shots....be easy ;)
 

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Last edited:
nikonpup

nikonpup

Senior Member
car looks good. Tree is over exposed, cut down exposure time. I would shot in manual and see if i was under or overexposed. Shoot what the camera says is correct then shoot some over and under exposed, to get a feel what works best. Reflection i think is from fog/haze and long exposure.
 
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Philth

Senior Member
I forgot to mention both of those photos were in manual mode to begin with. When you say, "shoot what the camera says is correct", are you implying to use Auto or Programmed Auto? Thanks again for your help.

Also am reading to keep F stop anywhere between 8-12 for night shots. True?
 
nikonpup

nikonpup

Senior Member
"m" manual - just as u did. Spin the command dial, shutter speed changes and the bar graph will move. Hold down the +/- exposure button and spin the command dial and
watch the f stop change. When u see the bar graph at 0 u should have a good shot. I cheat and go over and under on the exposure. There are combination of shutter speed
and f stop that will give u a correct exposure. If u change the iso then the shutter speed and f stop will change. I use auto or "p" as a reference where i should be in "m".
If i am shooting in daylight i would be in "a".
 
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Philth

Senior Member
Got it! Is this the general rule of thumb for all Manual setting shooting, or does this just apply to night captures?
 
nikonpup

nikonpup

Senior Member
i use "m" manual for low light, sunrise/sunset. It can be used also for daylight. I prefer "a" aperture for daylight stationery subject. "s" shutter if there is movement.
All setting have exceptions, just part of your learning curve. Check the internet - iso - shutter speed - aperture. When you capture that war bird running from ny to la
in 10 min. Please post. :)
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Just curious, any UV or polarizing filter on the lens? Inexpensive protective filters can wreak havoc in lighting like that, and with the mirror image of the tree it almost looks like you could be getting reflection off the lens back onto the filter.
 
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eurotrash

Senior Member
Don't use filters of any kind during low-light photography. I keep my lenses bare when doing night stuff. They tend to get in the way and produce weird effects like that. Here is one that I actually DID use a filter on and shot into the sun on purpose to get the effect, but some times you may not want to use that technique. It isn't a night shot, but the effect is quite obvious.


BOKEH! by stupidphotoguy, on Flickr

I would also obviously use a tripod and use bracketing if you can. That way, you can have an automatic under/over exposed shot and see which you like. Also, I like to meter on things that are just a small amount darker than what I'm shooting. I feel like this brings out more mid tones in the darker areas without using a longer shutter speed to do so. Hope that helps :)
 
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