Camera Labs

This is my first DSLR attempt. Pls give comments and advice.

I have a question, how come the buildings on the sides appeared bent? Is it my camera setting?

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/6748/img0426it.jpg

Manual
ISO 400
18mm
f8

This link may help streets.

Cheers

http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtop ... ight=4xxxx

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Nikon D7000, D40X, Nikkor 18- 200 VR II, f3.5-5.6, 70-300 AF non VR, Kit Lenses.

I'm not going to comment on the composition, but I'll say a little about your camera settings.

The EXIF says f11 for 10 seconds. The image looks pretty noisy though, so did you have the noise filter on? This is different from noise reduction which reduces high ISO noise. The noise filter reduces noise generated by the sensor during long exposures.

Since you obviously used some form of tripod or stand for a 10 second exposure, I'd suggest a lower ISO setting and maybe f8 to reduce the noise. If you wanted the long exposure to blur the water, then ISO200 @ f8 will achieve a similar result but with less ISO noise .

Also, your image looks a little yellow - common for night shots, but perhaps a personal preference. You could set up manual WB and adjust the settings while seeing the results in live view. Alternatively you could shoot raw and change the WB in your camera's software.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/53061745@N02/

Panasonic G3: 9-18mm, 14mm, 20mm, 45mm

Hi 4xxxx, Kimchi,

Thanks for your advice. I only have 18-55 lens and not filter other any other accessories, it is my first DSLR, will try out this lens for a little longer.

When I viewed the RAW file on DPP, it seems fine, however when upload, there seemed to be lots of noise and pixelated.

I was out taking pictures this afternoon at about 4.30pm, the sun was so bright, didn't like the pictures taken. Sigh..

kimchi is not talking about a physical filter that you thread in front of the lens. He is talking about a menu option that helps reduce the noise generated from long exposures. To answer your question in the first post, building in the sides of the frame appearing bent is caused by lens distortion. You can only correct this in post-processing using software like photoshop or lightroom.

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Nikon D90

Welcome to the forum, Streets - another member living in the UAE at last!

I'd recommend locking the ISO down as low as possible when shooting night shots like this. That will reduce noise. Also using a delayed timer and/or remote shutter release which will help with sharpness.

In terms of exposure, it is tricky in scenes like that in Dubai at night. As a positive, I find a White Balance temperature of 2700 - 2900 at night to be good with the street lights we have here. That will get you the most authentic colour balance straight out of the camera.

As a negative, there are lots of very bright lights on buildings and lots of areas with little or no lights. In situations like this it may be worth finding the optimum exposure to not blow the highlights too much and then bracketing. When you get home you can use photomatix or an equivalent bit of software to blend the images (I occasionally use the Exposure Fusion option in photomatix to blend the exposures).

If you use one shot only, when you try to recover the shadows (like in the yachts in the marina) you'll introduce too much noise, but if you've exposed more correctly for the shadows in your bracketed shots, this noise will not be so apparent when blending.

@Timmy, @ Dubaiphil,

Thanks alot for the tips, they are really helpful. I will put that into practice the next time.