Light trails. Aperture/Shutter speeds.

lolage

lolage

Messages
911
Name
Ben
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi,

I enjoy taking light trails however I'm slightly baffled how I have to use quite a high aperture. If i use anything around F15 the picture starts to get over exposed. This is all only with 30 seconds exposure as I dont have a remote shutter release yet!

So in theory, when I do longer shutter speeds I will have to increase the aperture even more as more light will be getting in? :bonk: Seen shots on here with as low as F4 and looking good still. Is it just my camera or is this normal?

Thanks
 
Cant comment on if your camera is OK or not but it all depends on what your shooting, there is no real need to use f/4 for things like car trails but you could always use exposure compensation on -1 or -2. What time of day are you trying the trails? If its still a tad too light then it will always look overexposed anyway. Ive got a few on my flickr (link in my sig if you want a look) that i shot at f/22 that i was really happy with (they were my first attempts) but i defo didnt see the need to go anywhere f/4-f/14.

Si
 
Ben, can you post an example of a seriously over exposed shot, keep the exif intact on it so I can have a look at all the settings, I would not think that it is an issue with the camera, but it may be that one of the settings is incorrect for the type of shot. I would like to have a look, as a rule I tend to avoid the lower f/stops but I do play with the occasionally on trails

Matt
MWHCVT
 
Cheers.

All my shots were ISO100, with 30 sec exposure.

f7.1
f71.jpg

EXIF info: link

f.16
f16.jpg

EXIF info: link

These were taken within about 5 minutes of each other so can't see natural light being an issue - or is it? :D

MWHCVT said:
Ben, can you post an example of a seriously over exposed shot, keep the exif intact on it so I can have a look at all the settings, I would not think that it is an issue with the camera, but it may be that one of the settings is incorrect for the type of shot. I would like to have a look, as a rule I tend to avoid the lower f/stops but I do play with the occasionally on trails

Matt
MWHCVT
Click to expand...
 
lolage said:
Cheers.

All my shots were ISO100, with 30 sec exposure.

f7.1
f71.jpg

EXIF info: link

f.16
f16.jpg

EXIF info: link

These were taken within about 5 minutes of each other so can't see natural light being an issue - or is it? :D
Click to expand...

Right so looking at these I think the major issue is the conditions and not the camera, light mist can be effective but once the mist becomes fog you have to consider that the air is basically filled with moisture particles so these are going to reflect the light dramatically, just think of when you are driving in heavy fog you get a improved view through the fog with dipped head lights as apposed to main/high beam. So in the case of these photos, the fog is magnifying the spread of the lights to a much larger area than the beam would normally be focused on hence why it is appearing over exposed.

the smaller aperture i.e f/16+ is going to let in less light and improve the effect in such conditions but once the it gets really thick there is not really all that much that you will be able to do.

Hope this helps

Matt
MWHCVT
 
For what it's worth Ben, I really quite like the second one shot at f16, with a bit of post processing that would lovely
 
MWHCVT said:
Right so looking at these I think the major issue is the conditions and not the camera, light mist can be effective but once the mist becomes fog you have to consider that the air is basically filled with moisture particles so these are going to reflect the light dramatically, just think of when you are driving in heavy fog you get a improved view through the fog with dipped head lights as apposed to main/high beam. So in the case of these photos, the fog is magnifying the spread of the lights to a much larger area than the beam would normally be focused on hence why it is appearing over exposed.

the smaller aperture i.e f/16+ is going to let in less light and improve the effect in such conditions but once the it gets really thick there is not really all that much that you will be able to do.

Hope this helps

Matt
MWHCVT
Click to expand...
Thanks for the explanation Matt, makes sense now - will have to try doing it without fog chasing me. :bang:

Skyline On Fire said:
For what it's worth Ben, I really quite like the second one shot at f16, with a bit of post processing that would lovely
Click to expand...
Thanks (y)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top