[ktownkid]

Hello-
Is there a secret about making good photos at night with a digital camera??? Some of my photos look great but others are wierd. Is it a lighting thing??? Look at the photo below. The weather was clear and the temp was 70 degrees. I don't think it was the neon lights because my other photos turned out good.

Thank you kindly-
ktownkid

 

[YenkoChevelle69]

Do you have a feature on your camera for shutter time? THe longer the shutter stays open, the more light it collects making for some pretty kick ass pictures....

 

[troposcuba]

yeah, the better ones work just like a film camera for exposures. you can change film speed, f-stop, shutter speed etc. longer exposure with a larger aperature (smaller f-stop #) work best for night shots, but you and your subject need to be as still as possible or it will just blur the pic. but if you don't have those options, see if you can take it without the flash for subjects that are not right up close to the camera. the flash does not do much to fill in a shot like the one you displayed. and the camera might adjust the exposure to make up for lack of flash giving you a longer exposure and better pic (if you can hold still long enough).

 

[DaDon]

I'm no expert, but it looks like the light from the oncoming cars may have messed up the shot. Actually, not even the cars as much as whatever that light is to the left of the lead car coming at you. Maybe a motorcycle or reflection from a store window. Looks like it washed out your pic a bit.

 

[Alan]

Like the guys said above, night photos are usually shot better with manual settings. I usually have to experiment each time to get the picture I want. A steady camera is a must! I will set mine on a post or some other stationary object. With a long exposure, once you press the button to take the picture, don't move the camera, there will be a delay before the picture is snapped (more exposure = longer delay). You can get some awesome shots at night be experimenting with the manual settings (if your digital camera has them).

 

[BB_Mike]

Just turn the mode-dial to the "half moon" setting.

Be sure to keep very still. If you shake, the picture will be blurry.

 

[ktownkid]

Thank you gentlemen-
I will try all those suggestions. I need to find out how "adjustable" my camera is.

ktownkid

 

[gbell00]

some times it's best to set your wb or white balance man. because it will try to compensate for the brighter parts of pic.also use aperture priorty and set the widest lens opening these should help you could also set your own iso high number maybe iso 300 or 200 or 400
PS film camera would do better set all man.

 

[Alan]

Here's an exposure shot I took inside an old lava tube on the Big Island of Hawaii this summer. I had the camara set on a fence post. Coolest exposure shot I've taken so far.

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/641_4157a.jpg

 

[BB_Mike]

Here's an exposure shot I took inside an old lava tube on the Big Island of Hawaii this summer. I had the camara set on a fence post. Coolest exposure shot I've taken so far.

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/641_4157a.jpg

Alan, that picture is horrible.

 

[Alan]

I didn't aim to please with that shot Mike

 

[Old fat bald guy]

looks like the ISO was set high and you got some "noise" in the pic. Try a software program like "neat image" or "noise ninja" to reduce the amount of "speckle" in the pic...... what kind of camera do you use? i shot this on a tripod w/o flash before 6:00 am using a minolta S404 http://www.pbase.com/shayfah/image/11797404

same camera, still have noise in the image after using a "despeckle" & "smoothing" action in the software....... the ISO was 400 (max for the camera) and it felt like 15-20 seconds on the shutter http://www.pbase.com/shayfah/image/26154060

http://www.pbase.com/shayfah/image/40708285 this one required no despeckling, but I did have a better camera - Minolta A2

 

[Shred Zeppelin]

I took this pic a couple of weeks ago with a Sony DSC-P10, not expensive or advanced by any means. I had to play around with the settings for a bit to achieve this photo...and use a cardboard box as a resting point.

Obviously in your case this may have been harder to do due to the positioning of the car in relation to the lighting. I think the big issue you had, like others have said, is the lights of the oncoming traffic combined with reflections. Just play around with the camera and you'll figure things out, that's what I did.

 

[troposcuba]

looks like the ISO was set high and you got some "noise" in the pic. Try a software program like "neat image" or "noise ninja" to reduce the amount of "speckle" in the pic...... what kind of camera do you use? i shot this on a tripod w/o flash before 6:00 am using a minolta S404 http://www.pbase.com/shayfah/image/11797404

same camera, still have noise in the image after using a "despeckle" & "smoothing" action in the software....... the ISO was 400 (max for the camera) and it felt like 15-20 seconds on the shutter http://www.pbase.com/shayfah/image/26154060

http://www.pbase.com/shayfah/image/40708285 this one required no despeckling, but I did have a better camera - Minolta A2

nice shots ofbg

 

[Old fat bald guy]

nice shots ofbg

Thanks for the kind words Sean

OFBG