Light trails

A

A.Hardcastle

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Name
Andrew
Edit My Images
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I went out last night as i am getting more comfortable with my camera and i attempted some light trails.

A lot of them weren't very good because some of the cars kept changing lanes so the trails weren't very good/consistent but this is the best one i took.

C+C

lighttrails.jpg


Thanks for looking
Andy
 
Nice image, what time did you go out, I suggest half 5 -6 at this time of the year to get a lot of cars also maybe take a trip to a motorway where there are no street lamps.

Also I would be tempted to not stand directly in the middle of the bridge maybe choose a side and shoot from there.

Good image though
 
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dannymccormick1 said:
Nice image, what time did you go out, I suggest half 5 -6 at this time of the year
Click to expand...

Id say earlier then you still have some light in the sky to be honest

I also prefer to stand in the middle to get a nice composition (y) its all subjective and different scenes need different compositions
 
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Thanks for your feedback Danny.
I went at midnight, usually until 8pm it's is stand still traffic around the M42 & M6 which is where this picture was taken.

I tried doing a few from the left but i kept on getting a curved line from the left to the top centre. I think this was from the street lights on the motorway so i will have to travel somewhere where there aren't any as you suggested.
 
I may try at about 4pm then as it doesn't get clogged up till about 5 and there is a bit of light left.
 
From that shot I would be tempted to go to the right and then youll have less white and more red + the curve looking up towards the far bridge
 
Andrew ...the reason the trails are chopped is that the exposure time is too short

from the exif
F13, 10secs, and ISO 200

you need to extend the shutter time way longer than 10secs

can you reduce the ISO value to 100..?.....i dont know the D60...:shrug:

turn off Long Exposure Noise Reduction

then set the lens/camera to Manual - not semi=auto - so you control the exposure

reduce f13 to f22 or whatever you have..:D

and set the shutter time to 30 secs to start with

if you can review the image or see a histogram it will help

on my D5000 the max time delay is 30secs which works ok but a remote release will allow longer exposures to be made

regards....john
 
Not bad Danny could do with the WB sorting out though, and the gantries block any view, you need a better location, theres to much white and not enough red
 
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Yeah I'll be honest I didn't know what i was doing Didn't knwo how to edit or anything I have improved within a year vastly though.
 
Some settings would be useful :thinking:

The thing that is rather obvious is that it's in drastic need of some CCW rotation at it's leaning quite badly to the right :shrug: also I'm guessing this was about a 5 second exposure and that you were using a high ISO because there is a fair bit of noise in the image..

I would suggest a longer exposure and drop the ISO as low as you can, I also try and avoid street lights like the plague (y)

You may want to give my guide to light trails a quick read there is a link to it in my signature it may help you (y)

You've not completed your profile so I'm not sure on your location but I'm sure you must be west midlands based as I'm sure I recognise this stretch of motorway :thinking: I'm sure it's the M42 If I'm right I can assure you there are so many better locations local (y)

Matt
MWHCVT
 
if you get out earlier in the evening, it will show sky detail
standing to the left increases the impact of the red and reduces the glare of the white
my first shots at a flyover were seriously crap due to the lights on the slip-roads..:LOL:
i now try to locate places without lighting
.


keep at it ..(y).....john
 
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Wow excellent advice guys thank you! I will be back out there soon.

Matt, i am from solihull and you're right that is from Widney Manor road over the M42 you eagle eye! :p
What do you mean by CCW rotation?
 
A.Hardcastle said:
Oh and sorry, i forgot to write up the settings. Now i can't remember them :|
Click to expand...

Camera Model: NIKON D60
Focal Length: 34.0mm (35mm equivalent: 51mm)
Aperture: f/13.0
Exposure Time: 10. secs
ISO equiv: 200
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Center Weight
Exposure: shutter priority (semi-auto)
White Balance: Auto
 
A.Hardcastle said:
Wow excellent advice guys thank you! I will be back out there soon.

Matt, i am from solihull and you're right that is from Widney Manor road over the M42 you eagle eye! :p
What do you mean by CCW rotation?
Click to expand...

As Dave said its Counter Clock Wise (CCW) rotation I thought that I recognized the road :D I've been up and down every inch of motorway in this region in the last 2 years (y) always on the look out for new locations

Just Dave said:
Camera Model: NIKON D60
Focal Length: 34.0mm (35mm equivalent: 51mm)
Aperture: f/13.0
Exposure Time: 10. secs
ISO equiv: 200
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Center Weight
Exposure: shutter priority (semi-auto)
White Balance: Auto
Click to expand...

I would avoid ISO200 especially when there are street lights on the road see this thread containing a couple of my recent light trails :D HERE

Matt
 
A.Hardcastle said:
How on Earth did you do that Dave, you sorcerer!
Click to expand...

It's called exif info, I could have got it myself if I wanted to everytime you take a photo your camera records all the settings and imbeds it in the properties of the image (y)

Matt
 
it's a good starting point, just fiddling with different compositions and angles, and then as mentioned keep the shutter open longer and you should be in business!
 
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