First try at long exposures at night

[BMWJNKY]

Tonight I went out and tried some long exposures using the moon as the light source. Conditions were less than ideal, slightly foggy and in the upper 30's. My attempt at some landscape shots did not turn out at all, the exposure was close but the focus was way off. If it wasn't so cold I would of stayed out longer and experimented more. After my landscape attempt failed I went to a parking lot for a park that had no lights and tried taking some photos of my car. Towards the end of my outing I started to get a better feel of what needs to be done to get an ok shot. I think for now I'm going to hold off on trying these until the weather starts to warm up because I'm just not built for the cold

I know this shot isn't anything special but I just wanted to share what I got. Focus is still a little off but I was pleased with the result. This was taken around 9:45PM with only light coming from the moon.

Full size looks a little sharper... http://www.norcal-ls1.com/multimedia.../238night1.jpg

[livin4lax09]

pretty cool, i must say. Looks like an underexposed noontime image!

[Jimmy B]

Keep at it. How long of exsposure? The most important thing is to have a small flash light with you so you can look at stuff.
Jimmy B

[BMWJNKY]

Keep at it. How long of exsposure? The most important thing is to have a small flash light with you so you can look at stuff.
Jimmy B

30 seconds at f2.8. If the light fog goes away I'll try again with a higher f stop and longer exposure. I tried some at about f6 and 2 min exposure but the focus was way off. I brought a flashlight but the batteries were almost dead so it was pretty much useless.

[BMWJNKY]

After further review this one wasn't as bad as I thought it was. It has some attempted light painting with my almost dead flashlight
F4 @ 2min
full size..... http://www.norcal-ls1.com/multimedia.../238night2.jpg

[Axle]

Ah yes, long exposure shots in near darkness. It's a tough thing to master. A few tips I've picked up (Since I do a lot of these when creeping around abandoned buildings and all)

Focus manually, keep your camera at the lowest ISO possible (digital), have a flashlight to aid in focusing (Light painting if needed), run it at about f/4.0. And use the self timer, so that the camera is perfectly stationary when it actually starts taking the photo.

Those two you got, very nice shots.

[Speed]

Hey Alex,

Nice shots. I agree with the others, the first shot looks like an underexposed daylight shot. The second shot has a tint of yellow from the light painting. Longer exposures will definitely bring them out more.

For focusing in the dark, try a Mag-Light or better yet, a handheld spotlight. It will help tremendously in getting a sharper focus.

Here's a post I did with some night exposures. The second one is self-explanatory - a star shot. The third one is a five minute exposure by moonlight, but I had some spillover from a security light in my side yard.

Photography Jeapordy Anyone?

Which camera and lens did you use for these?

[Mr Yuck]

Surprised no one else said so:
slick car

That kind reminds me of teh sonoma valley regional park parking lot.

#2 looks real good, nice and sharp, great colors.

[BMWJNKY]

Hey Alex,

Nice shots. I agree with the others, the first shot looks like an underexposed daylight shot. The second shot has a tint of yellow from the light painting. Longer exposures will definitely bring them out more.

For focusing in the dark, try a Mag-Light or better yet, a handheld spotlight. It will help tremendously in getting a sharper focus.

Here's a post I did with some night exposures. The second one is self-explanatory - a star shot. The third one is a five minute exposure by moonlight, but I had some spillover from a security light in my side yard.

Photography Jeapordy Anyone?

Which camera and lens did you use for these?

Nice star shots, those are next on my list to try.

I used my 20D at ISO 200. I'll get some new batteries for my Mag light and see if i can get the focus better.

[BMWJNKY]

Surprised no one else said so:
slick car

That kind reminds me of teh sonoma valley regional park parking lot.

#2 looks real good, nice and sharp, great colors.

Thanks for the complements on the car, its been a constant project since Sept.

Here are some more pics and info on it..... http://www.cardomain.com/ride/844308

Its currently #17 out of all the BMW's on Car Domain

[walterick]

Wow, I'm amazed that you got as much exposure as you did with such short shutter speeds. When I shoot under a full moon, I shoot at f 2.8 and about 15 minutes at iso 50. That's a far cry from 2 mins at f4!

Either way, I think these are cool shots and a great jumping-off place for more moonlit adventures. Make sure you keep us updated!
Rick

[another view]

Nice work! It does take a few tries to really start to get an idea how it works, but I'm sure digital helps. This takes some time because you only have a chance once a month...!

That's a very short exposure time, but fog is usually has some light in it from light pollution from cities. Ever seen the picture of Earth from space at night, with all the lights? Well, that's what's doing it...

[Jimmy B]

One other thing!!! use mirror lock up, it helps ecspecially with a sub par tripod.
Jimmy B

[BMWJNKY]

One other thing!!! use mirror lock up, it helps ecspecially with a sub par tripod.
Jimmy B

I tried that but was having issues with it working right with the remote release. I could hear it click the mirror out of the way when the timer would start on the remote release but it wouldn't open the shutter. I just got a nice new sturdy tripod and ball head so I'm not too worried about camera shake.