night time photography - it's hard work

[ricky1980]

just got back from a quick walk (3hrs) from blackfriars to embankment...stopped off 3/4 places where there is good composition on the north side and spend approx 30min each stop trying to get a good sharp shot at the scene i wanted.

OK my tripod head is to blame mostly here cos it wobbles a lot. but playing with the exposure is hard work! anyone shares the same sentiment?

what was most disappointing was the fact that i wanted to shoot the wheel and it was not running well annoyed. although saw loads of buildings and architecture i would have dismissed normally, i think a dawn walk will prove to be well worth the while, and the thing i noticed from the skyline was how massive St Paul's cathedral is...it dominates the eastern riverside so much

 

[Sylvester XxX]

Pictures or it never happened

 

[hepburn]

shame that. A little tip about your wobbly tripod - keep the centre column fully lowered to help prevent wobble.

 

[grahamc]

another tip for a wobbly tripod (I have one myself) get yourself a wireless remote

 

[hepburn]

another tip for a wobbly tripod (I have one myself) get yourself a wireless remote

or timer mode, and also use mirror lockup to further reduce vibrations.

 

[ricky1980]

did timer mode, but it's wobbly under the windy conditions actually it's not the tripod thats wobbly, its the quick release plate

 

[hotchef23]

what head you using i had same problem until; i tightened the releae mechanism.

 

[as-i-said]

get a new quick release plate

 

[ricky1980]

i got the bog standard pan head form Velbon which came with the tripod. I have ordered a redsnapper ball head, so quite looking forward to that

 

[StewartR]

...but playing with the exposure is hard work! anyone shares the same sentiment?

Nope.

I just dial in ISO 100, 5-10 seconds at f/8. Check the histogram and tweak if it doesn't come out right first time.

A few examples (click on pictures to see bigger versions in my SmugMug gallery):

ISO 100, 5 secs at f/8


ISO 100, 5 secs at f/8


ISO 100, 15 secs at f/8


ISO 100, 5 secs at f/8


ISO 100, 8 secs at f/8

 

[ukaskew]

OK my tripod head is to blame mostly here cos it wobbles a lot. but playing with the exposure is hard work! anyone shares the same sentiment?

I think it's as hard as you want to make it, really. Photography for me is all about fun, so I take an extremely relaxed approach to night photography, and for me personally it works quite well as I still concentrate on wandering around looking for shots, not setting up for ages. It's born out of necessity as I'm always with my other half when out at night, and don't want her to be hanging around bored.

Like Stewart, it's always something around 6-8 seconds or thereabouts, ISO200 (lowest standard ISO on the D90) and a 'mid' f number, maybe bumped up to f20 or something if I want some pretty stars. I do take it to the extreme in so much as I don't use any 'traditional' support, every night shot in my portfolio uses a wall, fence, bench or something along those lines to support the camera.

Just did a little experiment and dug out a few night shots, nearly everything falls into the range mentioned above...

6secs, f10, metal railing

8secs, f14, bridge support

6secs, f11, stone bridge

 

[Markk]

Ukaskew...very nice shots