my first night pics

[gaz1912]

here are a few pics from last night, comments and critacisma welcome, how could i improve light trails and get them a little more focused, i used a nikon d60 with standard 18-55 lens

 

[Revels]

A lower aperture will get more of the lights in focus.

What f number did you have it on? I used f16 when I did mine I think and that seemed to work but im not expert..

 

[Ian]

Not having tried them myself I'd imagine it would very much be down to the traffic flow? If there's all sorts of cars going past, the light will not be in exactly the same place causing the trails to look a bit indistinct. From other photos I've seen it also seems to depend on the amount of additional light sources affecting the scene.

Having said all that; as Revels says, using a narrow aperture will probably reduce the glare and keep it more focused.

 

[gaz1912]

thanks guys i had the f on f5.6 and also tryed f11 but didnt see much difference, i had my shutter speed on about 20 seconds and iso on 100, ill just have to keep tryin

 

[Ian]

Aye it's the best way

It's always a bit of a balancing act, as by using a narrower aperture, you may find that the shot is underexposed, so you might end up with the red and white lights and the rest of the photo without any detail. So then you'd have to raise the ISO, which would increase the noise. It's finding the settings that produce a photo you like that's the hard part!

If you look at the first two photos in post 9 of this thread: http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?t=387230

they were taken with the settings:

25 seconds
f/7
ISO 100
44mm

and

15 seconds
f/4
ISO 100
28mm

which is what makes me think it is partly down to location and traffic flow. I'm not sure what setting you had for white balance, but they look maybe a bit yellowy? Other than that I do like them though

 

[Gaz.]

A fair crack for a first attempt matey, play with the settings more, take more pictures too. That way, you'll start to develop in your photography.

 

[gaz1912]

thanks for your comments, ill keep practicing, might enrole on a course as only had my camers since christmas. (IAN) i had the white balance on auto as not figured what to do with that yet lol.