could i use hyperfocal focusing for this night-time shot?

lexie

lexie

Messages
952
Name
keith
Edit My Images
Yes
after recieving some help in this forum regarding correct exposure for shooting this bridge i went back to play around with some settings. i'm almost happy with this shot but i was relying on the cameras auto focus to get the bridge sharp, but it seems to be at the expense of the lights in the background lights, and the right hand lights on the bridge as the dissappear over the hill.
i shot at f/10, is this small enough to pull everything into focus or would i need to go to f/16 and higher?
also where would i need to set my focal point? the lights below the bridge are on the far side of the river, roughly half a mile away if it makes a difference. i'm taking a rough guess at somewhere behind the bridge?

DSC04962landscape.jpg
 
With a subject at that distance, you could shoot at f/1.4 and everything would be sharp - it's all at infinity. I'm not sure what it is you are seeing with those far lights, probably some flare going on, but it's not focusing.

Hyperfocal distance technique is to maximise depth of field when you have both near and distant subjects that need to be sharp, like 6ft away and infinity. It usually applies to wide angles as it's not really practical with longer lenses, because infinity gets much further away with focal length.

Have a play with that DoFmaster link ;)
 
cheers dude. i seem to have the same problem with these lights everytime i go back there. it's only using the 18-55 kit lens, as it's all i have that goes that wide, perhaps it's the lens, or maybe a little camera shake because i have no mirror lock up function and it was a bit on the windy side.
i'm getting happier with the shots i'm getting now but it's the little things which are niggling now just.
 
Kit lens will be sharpest edge to edge around f/8. Go much higher than that and all lenses (regardless of quality) are affected by something called diffraction. Higher than f/16 it really starts to destroy detail sharpness.

Some flare is pretty much inevitable. Those lights against the dark background are massively over exposed, could be some sensor blooming going on as light spills to surrounding pixels. If you've got a protection filter on there, take it off, and never fit it again unless you really need it.

Long exposures on location are very hard to get critcally sharp. You think the tripod is steady, but it's not. Wind and road vibration are killers. It's much worse with the centre column up. Mirror lock is handy, but mirror slap is not really an issue with exposures longer half a second or so, as the vibration dies down very quickly. MLU is most effective around 1/30sec to 1/4sec.
 
I guess i'll just have to embrace the blurry lights then lol. I might try once more as the sun is setting and there is a bit more light in the sky and hopefully not have as much of a contrast between sky and lights.
On the whole i'm happy with it, maybe i'm being picky. But that's how we improve isn't it!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top