A bit of a crap image

ams99

ams99

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Alan
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Hi all,

I know this photo is pretty naff but, its my first ever attempt at long exposures.
A key learning point for me is......... when its dark and raining then a) take an umbrella and b) take a torch so you can see what you're doing.

I also found the image was bright orange, presumably from the lighting.

Can any of you guys offer pearls of wisdom, tips and techniques you use for night time photography?

In this image i focused on the motorway sign and then switched to MF to maintain the focal point. I set up in Aperture priority and spot metering to get some rough settings to expose for the sign and then switched to Manual mode.

I think the exposure was around f16 at 15 seconds

Cheers

Alan

 
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Everyone has to start somewhere. I like this shot personally. The Orange tint you mentioned is from the lights and a light balance change will easy solve that.
Only thing j can suggest is trying different angles and focal lengths. Sometimes seeing a bigger picture of where the lights are heading can work nicely.
Keep up the practice.
 
Thanks for taking the time to comment Simon. After i saw the quality of images on show i must admit, i was a little worried.
This really is a huge learning curve for me and at some point would love to produce something a tad more respectable.
Ive left a little more in the frame and moved the levels black slider on this one.

Not quite the starbursts i was anticipating though :(

 
I think you're being a bit hard on yourself. It's a pretty solid first attempt in my opinion.

Composition is good though it would be nice to have seen some trails in the right hand lane of the slip road. Was it closed or was it just a case of waiting for the right time?

The white balance issue is caused by the lighting. Personally, I would shoot raw and sort it out afterwards but you could fiddle around with different options at the point of shooting.

Your exposure is pretty good in the first though I might suggest shooting with a little more light in the sky, either just before sunrise or just after sunset. At this time of year that often means less traffic but in winter, timings come together nicely.
 
Hi Graham,

To be honest, as it was dark and wet i didnt give much thought to the balance of light between the lanes. A good point you make is trying with more ambient light. I will be giving this a go and use it as a comparison / learning point.

Cheers

Alan
 
Ive not seen the tutorial myself so thanks for posting that - ill have a butches.

One of the things I learnt about long exposures were that some times less is more... what i mean by that is that you don't always need the biggest F number - try taking it down somewhere between F9 to F11... This also means you dont have to leave you shutter open as long too - making it look a little less complicated with whats going on in the image (obviously this depends on how busy the road is too)

I cant remember what tutorial i watched this on - let me see if i can find it out for you - for me the 2nd picture is the strongest

Good luck :)
 
No worries - i need to get out and do some more myself to be honest. I think you may have just inspired me to do so :)
 
The star burst effects easier to achieve if you use a narrower aperture eg f16 to f22. It does mean you'll need to use a longer exposure though
 
gad-westy said:
I think you're being a bit hard on yourself. It's a pretty solid first attempt in my opinion.

Composition is good though it would be nice to have seen some trails in the right hand lane of the slip road. Was it closed or was it just a case of waiting for the right time?

The white balance issue is caused by the lighting. Personally, I would shoot raw and sort it out afterwards but you could fiddle around with different options at the point of shooting.

Your exposure is pretty good in the first though I might suggest shooting with a little more light in the sky, either just before sunrise or just after sunset. At this time of year that often means less traffic but in winter, timings come together nicely.
Click to expand...

Just a quick note on this, from what I can tell of that image the far right hand lane is in fact the hard shoulder, so it would be expected to be empty. I could be wrong mind. I don't know the layout of the road there.
 
RandomGeordie said:
Just a quick note on this, from what I can tell of that image the far right hand lane is in fact the hard shoulder, so it would be expected to be empty. I could be wrong mind. I don't know the layout of the road there.
Click to expand...

I meant the right hand side of the slip road heading to the M54 (i.e. the slip road on the left of each image). The sign above the carriageway identifies it as a traffic lane but in both instances it is devoid of light trails. It may have been closed or too quiet or it may be an example of when it's worth waiting for the right moment to trigger the shutter.
 
I think it was a case of timing. Although i suspect i may still have been waiting until now for the outside lane to have sufficient traffic but, it wasnt a consideration i gave much thought to at the time which is a good learning point.
 
gad-westy said:
I meant the right hand side of the slip road heading to the M54 (i.e. the slip road on the left of each image). The sign above the carriageway identifies it as a traffic lane but in both instances it is devoid of light trails. It may have been closed or too quiet or it may be an example of when it's worth waiting for the right moment to trigger the shutter.
Click to expand...

Ah yes I see what you mean now! I was more focused on the M6 as that's where the majority of the traffic is.

You could probably edit in more trails using the existing ones in photoshop. It's not something I could do myself but I'm sure plenty others could offer advice.
 
Hi guys,

Same place but different time and taking on board your points.

This time i went earlier in the day to capture some ambient light in the image. I also changed lens so i could use a lens hood. Having cursed the breakdown vehicle for having the discourtesy of stopping in my image i think it actually added some interest.

Any comments on how i could further improve would be appreciated - processing or other tips.

Thanks,
Alan

 
Cheers Tony.

Its all about learning. Having taken a break i have forgotten how i produced some of my images in my 52!!
I think we will be learning and striving to improve for as long as we have cameras. The learning curve is never ending which makes it so pleasurable (or frustrating!!!!! )

Cheers
Alan
 
Hiya Alan, good first effort (y) Think the recovery does add to the image also :)

For me it's the broken trails that lets the photos down a bit. I can't see what settings you were using, but know that bit of motorway fairly well, its a busy stretch, whats the exposure time and aperture? Upping the exposure time gives you fuller trails because it gives the vehicles time to pass through the full image. I'm happy to go up to f22 plus to achieve a longer exposure if I have to, failing that I've been having a bit of success with an ND8 (3 stop) filter. It turns a 6 second, f22 exposure to a 25 second, f16 exposure @100 ISO :)

Edit- obviously there are other combinations of exposure time , I was just using the above figures as an example.
 
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Have a search on here for MWHCVT - pretty much the guru on traffic trails and other night time silliness:)
One of his tutorials is here - linky clicky thingy - for traffic trails.

Good first attempts though - keep practising:)
 
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Big improvement with the latest shot, keep at it.
Not sure what settings you used, but if possible, go for a longer exposure. This will help prevent the trails starting/finishing abruptly within the shot. Something like 60 to 90 seconds usually works well, though you might need a ND filter before it gets dark to attain those sort of lengths.
 
I like both of these, and again they inspire me to try to have a go with something similar, being reasonably close to the M6 it might give me something to do over winter.

Interesting in the second shot you've captured what appears to be a "Mr Last Minute", tail lights going from the right hand lane to the hard shoulder at possibly the last point he'd have got away with it.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys.

The settings i used were f22 @ 15-20 secs.
Basically, with no filter (i dont own one) i set up at f22 and as the light went down so the shutter speed increased. It was getting quite dark at this point. I could have stayed a touch longer and waited for the shutter speed to increase further but fear i would lose much of the ambient. Based on what you guys mention regarding increasing the shutter speed to ensure i have full trails i think the only option would be to purchase an ND filter. Is this right?

Any recommendations for a filter (size and density to fit a 55-210 E mount Sony lens. Looking at Phil's comment should i be looking at an ND8 (3 stop) ?

Thanks all,

Alan
 
Looking at how bright the sky is in the second shot Alan I'd say stay at the location a little later, this alone will give you a longer shutter speed, as you've said. There looks to be loads of light left in that sky. I have to be honest and say I was expecting the shutter speed to be less, even the aperture to be wider, I would say the settings were ok (y)

The other thing I've found with locations like this, is just keep taking shots and look for the ones where the trails are more consistent, you will get one and it'll certainly help to improve the image.

As for a filter, I'd suggest a 3stop, I've found them to be just about right for light trails, the 20 seconds @ f/22 is equivalent to 80 seconds @ f/16 with a 3stop.

I have a Hoya Pro1 ND8 that I bought from the classifieds at the beginning of this year specifically for trails which works well, but recently I was kindly given a set of filters from a mate who was upgrading. They are just a cheap set off E-bay like these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Full-Grad...kin-P-LF291-/141121607908?hash=item20db80d8e4, I've found them very good for want I want and they don't break the bank ;)

I took this shot the other night with a 3stop and a 3 stop hard grad filter added https://flic.kr/p/yr5toy .They do give a little colour cast but IMO nothing too bad.

Looking at your profile you have access to the classifieds, I wouldn't know the thread size you need (it'll say on the lens) , you could stick a wanted add up for a screw-in type:)
 
Going to endorse what Phil-D says above about the cheap filter sets, they are perfectly adequate for these type of shots. The key to getting the best from them is not to use too many at the same time, the colour cast can get pretty horrendous. One at a time though, the cast is only very slight.
Funnily enough, I recently bought my second set, the first after 3 years of shooting on the beach was getting a bit scratched from continually having sea spray wiped off them.
This set is slightly better value, it comes with an additional single filter holder, useful for wide angle shots, plus it also includes a lens hood, which can be useful sometimes.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Ne...=sr_1_7?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1442848163&sr=1-7

Also worth considering from the same supplier, are the screw-on ND's which I prefer for light trails. Rather than a magenta cast, they have a slightly blue one, which helps to cut down the yellow of streetlights. Nice and cheap to experiment with aswell ;)
This should take you to their shop page http://www.amazon.co.uk/Filters-XCSOURCE-Accessories/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n:1104464,p_4:XCSOURCE

Hopefully something of use to you.
 
Thanks for those links - I haven't delved into the world of filters yet (save for a bargain bag of 52mm Euro filters from the car boot sale the other day) and that does look like a cracking price.
 
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