alexr
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Post by alexr on Aug 8, 2015 16:20:35 GMT
Simone, thanks, very kind comments. To be honest the walk along the South Bank from Westminster to Saint Pauls has so many great night shots you are spoilt for choice and I do feel very lucky to live so close. One reason I"ll be doing that section again is that in the 3 years since I have upgraded my camera, lenses, PSE and I now capture in RAW as a matter of course, so I'm expecting a big improvement. Doomed to failure, probably... ;-))
And sorry for not commenting on your starting image. You definitely should be pleased with that, I particularly love the selection of lights in the water and the amount of detail up the 'Eiffel Tower'.
Sydney, I did mean to say that your second image is a real improvement on the first, as the full span of the arch superstructure is now visible; so a really good job processing. And yes, life is often a trade off between noise and sharpness/detail. To my mind I can pretty well always live with the noise, so I think you've done the right thing.
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Madame
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Post by Madame on Aug 8, 2015 20:44:25 GMT
It's quite rural where I live, and not so dark this time of the year, so I post an old picture if that's OK?  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 0:39:23 GMT
Marianne, of course it is ok. That is a beautiful shot. Would you be able to share your settings with us?
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Madame
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Post by Madame on Aug 9, 2015 9:26:58 GMT
Thank you, Simone. It's 2 sec. at f11 ISO 100. With a tripod..  Focal lenght 24. This was before my lightroom days, so I don't think I have edited more than a levels adjustment in Elements. Maybe I should give it a go... |
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Madame
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Post by Madame on Aug 9, 2015 11:23:57 GMT
I duplicated the layer, blending mode screen, removed the crane. Some touch up with the healing brush. I see that the noise got worse when I used the screen blending mode.  |
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alexr
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Post by alexr on Aug 9, 2015 15:40:15 GMT
Marianne, I'm just seeing a small grey outline of a square. Is this the postimage problem being discussed in another thread?
Edit: as soon as I posted, your image popped into view. Odd.
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alexr
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Post by alexr on Aug 9, 2015 15:44:56 GMT
So, Marianne, that edit has made it a gorgeous image. You have really lifted the gloom, the reflected lights have become a feature of their own, and the pools of light on the dock add a lovely balance. Great job!
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Madame
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Post by Madame on Aug 9, 2015 16:34:07 GMT
Thanks so much, Alexr! I was surprised that it made such a difference!
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Post by fotofrank on Aug 9, 2015 21:00:33 GMT
Taken at 18mm, 10sec F16 iso 200, Nikon D7100  |
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Post by Sydney on Aug 9, 2015 23:26:00 GMT
This is an image I took in Tokyo on a recent trip to Japan in June. I used my Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 in night hand held mode since I didn't have a tripod. The exif settings are: ISO 1600, F7, 1/60 sec. I used Photomatix to boost contrast, sharpness, and vibrancy as well as for noise reduction. u.cubeupload.com/Sydney/ShinjukuNightLights.jpg |
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Post by hmca on Aug 10, 2015 2:24:40 GMT
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Post by Sydney on Aug 10, 2015 5:01:37 GMT
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larry
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Post by larry on Aug 10, 2015 21:00:50 GMT
Hi everyone. This is a really interesting thread  Night photography can obviously be a bit tricky but this is the process I normally go through in taking a photo of a night scene. 1. Use a good quality, sturdy tripod is a "must do" to have any chance of getting a tack sharp photo. 2. Use a remote shutter release or at least the 2sec timer, again to help get a tack sharp photo. 3. If I remember, I enable Mirror Lockup as well. To set the exposure - 3. set the lens to wide open. 4. set the ISO to 1600 or 3200 depending on how much light is coming from the scene. 5. try to find a mid tone area in the scene and spot meter it. Example - Say the spot meter reading 2sec for ISO 1600, F2.8 I then adjust the Aperture down to what I want to get the DOF I want and reduce the ISO to a more acceptable level regarding noise and increase the shutter speed to maintain the same Exposure Value as my camera's meter reading. Remember that doubling the shutter speed is equivalent to increasing the exposure by 1 F-stop and halving the ISO is also equivalent to increasing the exposure by 1 F-stop. So an equivalent exposure to the meter reading could be F4, ISO 400, 16sec |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2015 1:10:20 GMT
Fantastic photos everyone, thank you for sharing them with us.
larry, thank you for your steps you use to get a tack sharp night shot; would be great if you could share one of your shots taken with those steps.
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alexr
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Post by alexr on Aug 11, 2015 7:01:37 GMT
To set the exposure - 3. set the lens to wide open. 4. set the ISO to 1600 or 3200 depending on how much light is coming from the scene. 5. try to find a mid tone area in the scene and spot meter it. Example - Say the spot meter reading 2sec for ISO 1600, F2.8 I then adjust the Aperture down to what I want to get the DOF I want and reduce the ISO to a more acceptable level regarding noise and increase the shutter speed to maintain the same Exposure Value as my camera's meter reading. Remember that doubling the shutter speed is equivalent to increasing the exposure by 1 F-stop and halving the ISO is also equivalent to increasing the exposure by 1 F-stop. So an equivalent exposure to the meter reading could be F4, ISO 400, 16sec Larry, thanks for sharing your procedure. As a matter of interest, why do you take your initial spot reading with such a high ISO, knowing that you will reduce it? Perhaps it is just me not being able to handle 3 variables in my head, but I always fix my ISO from the start to the best value that I believe can be achieved, and then only worry about changing aperture and shutter speed. |
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Focal lenght 24.
