Camera Labs

Hey guys,

I paid Clarke Quay a visit for the sole purpose of giving night photography a try. Long exposures helped by my ever-shaky tripod.

The Singapore City Skyline

I wanted to crop out the peoples' heads but I'd rather a rectangular photo with all the reflections. Also, I thought there was the feeling of scale and 'there are people there.' No editing or filters, just my camera and tripod.
9 tries to get it right.

Camera: Sony A200
Mode: Manual
Aperture: f22
Shutter speed: 6 seconds
ISO sensitivity: 800
Long exposure Noise Reduction and High ISO noise reduction ON.


All constructive comments most certainly welcome!

SnS

P.S.: This would have been the alternative entry to this month's On Assignment.

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.: Sony DT 18-70mm :: Sony 75-300mm :: Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1 :: Minolta 24mm f/2.8 :: Sony 50mm f/1.8 :: Samyang 8mm f/3.5 fisheye :: SLIK Pro 330DX :: Manfrotto 496RC2 :.


my flickr

From a purely technical standpoint I think you could improve a bit. I'm not going to pretend to be the most knowledgeable about this, but I think your aperture and ISO settings are a bit off. f22 seems really extreme to me for a night shot...maybe try to stick to a lower number? Maybe f8-f16? I think some weird things start to happen once your aperture gets really small.

As to your ISO, in my opinion it should be a couple stops lower. That high ISO is producing a lot of noise around and above the buildings. Personally, I'd stick to 100 to keep the noise low.

That said...take this with a grain of salt before someone who really knows something comes along. Keep at it!

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Nikon D80, Nikkor 18-200mm VR, and a trusty FM2 with a MF 35-135mm

Hi colin,

thanks for your comments

I thought i'd have needed a smaller aperture for such a landscape shot, and it could be compensated with the higher ISO.

But i've noted what you said, and thanks again!

SnS

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.: Sony DT 18-70mm :: Sony 75-300mm :: Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1 :: Minolta 24mm f/2.8 :: Sony 50mm f/1.8 :: Samyang 8mm f/3.5 fisheye :: SLIK Pro 330DX :: Manfrotto 496RC2 :.


my flickr

SnS, just say you where experimenting.

I dont mind that appreture at all, i m in favor of it. Why? because when you use an appreture smaller then lets say f22 all the "strong" light becomes "starshaped" and that is much more appealing then if you where to shoot at lets say f/8 or something it just becomes a "halo"

You could have taken this shot at 30sec, ISO 100 F/22 and gotten a really good image with almost no noise if not any at all. As far the composition goes its quite good, it really works and there are loads of lights down there which is really nice

About those two people on the side: bummer indeed because they ruin the shot and you cant really crop it because you will ruin the reflection in the water which are just lovely!

Keep it up, and try what i said ISO 100, F/22 (try f/12-18) and see the difference and a shutter of 30sec should be more then enough

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My Picasa

My Flickr

I think it is slightly overexposed and the aperture is too small. You start to lose sharpness to diffusion at f/22 so a slightly larger aperture might get you a more crisp shot. Additionally, because 6 seconds demands a tripod anyway, just lower the ISO and use a slower shutter speed. Good first attempt though.

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Graham
Flickr

Hi alex and graham,

thanks for the constructive opinions!

And now i know what I should do next time - and how to continue getting starshaped lights without a star filter.

SnS

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.: Sony DT 18-70mm :: Sony 75-300mm :: Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1 :: Minolta 24mm f/2.8 :: Sony 50mm f/1.8 :: Samyang 8mm f/3.5 fisheye :: SLIK Pro 330DX :: Manfrotto 496RC2 :.


my flickr

Can't add any more than what's been said, but I didn't know that f22 or smaller gave you the starlights. I like that effect, thanks for the tip!

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Mark
Nikon D300 / Sigma 10-20mm / Nikkor 17-55 f2.8 / Nikkor 18-200mm VR / Nikkor 50mm f1.8 / SB600 Speedlight
Mark Amy Photography
My Squidoo lens - Images of China

Hi, I like your photo and I've earned lots from the other comments made about your shot.

If you live in Singapore can you tell me where is the best place to buy Nikon equipment as I'm going to be there in October and I was going to buy a DSLR if the prices were cheaper than home. Regards.

Being a photography novice, I was told the best night shots were usually taken at base ISO (mostly ISO100, or ISO200 which is the native ISO for some DSLRs) and on a tripod for sure. I also like to use small aperture to change the shape of light sources but f22 will reduce the sharpness of the image (only noticeable when looking at individual pixels). There's also a filter to give you the starlight effect so you can use larger aperture.

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GALLERY

But I can't see orchard towers!

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