Night time exposures...

Jambo_84

Jambo_84

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I'm sure there was someone who posted a pic on here a while back of a scene taken in darkness but a really long exposure (16 min i think) and it almost looked like a surreal daytime effect, can't find the post now. Just wondered if anyone had done this and if it was possible!?
 
16 seconds in total darkness? Surely it must be 16 mins!
 
wegotitugetit said:
not sure which post but would be 16 seconds not mins
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not necessarily, for star trails you'd need a long exposure such as this - and also out in the country (moorlands?) so that you use the available moon/star light to get an ethereal exposure.
 
kfridge said:
not necessarily, for star trails you'd need a long exposure such as this - and also out in the country (moorlands?) so that you use the available moon/star light to get an ethereal exposure.
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I think thats what it was, some landscape scene with no light at all but with such a long exposure it was almost like it was daytime, I'm just wondering if this works! I may have to resort to turning all the lights off in the house and sitting in darkness for 16 mins :lol:
 
animal168 said:
depends what you want from the image. not many pitch black spots in the uk for a 16min exposure, your bnever that far from a big town or city.
light pollution can create some cool cloud effects as per my post
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Gotta have a crack at this, many thanks :thumbs:
 
With the clear nights I've been experimenting with long exposures. 6 minutes was just starting to get me some good star trails.

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Not a fantastic picture and too much sodium lighting, but you get the idea. In this I've found the pole start so next time will be at about F22 for 17mins. :thumbs:
 
17 mins, gotta love it! Gonna have to have a go at star trails myself, for some reason I've never got round to it
 
Jambo_84 said:
some landscape scene with no light at all but with such a long exposure it was almost like it was daytime, I'm just wondering if this works!
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7 minutes at night...

 
GlasgowGunner said:
what do you focus on with this kind of shot?
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Normally a shave below infinity. If you're shooting for star trails at around F22 then that's ok, if there's going to be some foreground subject matter or a wider ap then take a torch and focus on the subject. :)
 
Oooh, I wanna have a go at this.
It looks fun :)
Just got to find a nice composition.

How do you guys guess the timings? Do you shoot at say, maximum ISO and then just stop down increasing the shutter speed as you go?
 
I do loads of night stuff but usually am assisted by streetlights of some description and rarely go above 30 seconds at f/7.1 up to f/11.

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Some stunning images, I need to have a go, tomorrow!
 
I have a reasonably new baby which hampers my ability to get out in the day but once everyone is in bed I fly out for an hour and take shots. I have taken shots of allsorts and like the flare you get off streetlights at f/9. I usually MF on infinity and just experiment by taking a few of the same thing at various f stops with various shutter speeds but am getting better at nailing what I want within three now. Contrast masking can bring out detail well if you give that a whizz.
 
foodpoison said:
How do you guys guess the timings?
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Personally, I stick the iso on 1600, the aperture on f/2.8 and take a shot in AV. This gives me a shutterspeed and lets me see roughly what i'd get. From there, I can calculate the required shutterspeed for iso 100, f/11 - 8 full stops. If I want the shutterspeed longer, increase to f/16, or use a ND.
 
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Both long exposures taken in pitch black. First shot is light pollution, 2nd shot is the moon.
 
I've just got myself a 10 stop ND and remote release for daytime stuff and I'd love to try some really long night shots too. While we're on the subject, what can I expect in terms of battery life when I'm exposing for minutes at a time?
 
wow - some simply stunning photos there guys - a real inspiration for me!
 
The Matt said:
I've just got myself a 10 stop ND and remote release for daytime stuff and I'd love to try some really long night shots too. While we're on the subject, what can I expect in terms of battery life when I'm exposing for minutes at a time?
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You'd best have a couple of fully charged extra batteries with you. At least 2, although if its very cold, even more would be advisable. Oh yes, and if its cold, don't forget a flask of something to keep you warm! ;) :lol:
I really enjoyed the evenings when I was out. Where I live there is little or no light pollution and sitting around for 30 mins at a time gave me the chance to look at the stars, something I don't normally do very much. Tucked up in the sand dunes with a flask of coffee and my wife - very nice indeed. :D
 
happy haggis said:
You'd best have a couple of fully charged extra batteries with you. At least 2, although if its very cold, even more would be advisable. Oh yes, and if its cold, don't forget a flask of something to keep you warm! ;) :lol:
I really enjoyed the evenings when I was out. Where I live there is little or no light pollution and sitting around for 30 mins at a time gave me the chance to look at the stars, something I don't normally do very much. Tucked up in the sand dunes with a flask of coffee and my wife - very nice indeed. :D
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Damn, why does the world of photography seem hell-bent on consuming all of my disposable income? I miss my Fuji Bridge camera. It took AA-size and cost a few quid to keep spares for :lol:
Thanks for the tip. Guess I might have to invest in at least one spare, being the proud owner of just the one battery right now.
 
The Matt said:
Damn, why does the world of photography seem hell-bent on consuming all of my disposable income? I miss my Fuji Bridge camera. It took AA-size and cost a few quid to keep spares for :lol:
Thanks for the tip. Guess I might have to invest in at least one spare, being the proud owner of just the one battery right now.
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Take a look at 7dayshop.com, their compatible batteries are under £5 each. I got some for our 5D and they are still going strong 18 months later. :)
 
68lbs said:
Personally, I stick the iso on 1600, the aperture on f/2.8 and take a shot in AV. This gives me a shutterspeed and lets me see roughly what i'd get. From there, I can calculate the required shutterspeed for iso 100, f/11 - 8 full stops. If I want the shutterspeed longer, increase to f/16, or use a ND.
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How do you calculate the shutterspeed?:bonk:
 
Using 68lbs example:
1600 iso to 100 iso is 4 stops 1600 - 800 - 400 - 200 - 100
f2.8 to f11 is 4 stops 2.8 - 4 - 5.6 - 8 - 11
Say the shutter speed was 1 second in the original shot you need to increase that by 8 stops: 1 - 2 - 4 - 8 - 15 - 30 - 60 - 120 - 240 secs or 4 minutes.

HTH
 
happy haggis said:
Using 68lbs example:
1600 iso to 100 iso is 4 stops 1600 - 800 - 400 - 200 - 100
f2.8 to f11 is 4 stops 2.8 - 4 - 5.6 - 8 - 11
Say the shutter speed was 1 second in the original shot you need to increase that by 8 stops: 1 - 2 - 4 - 8 - 15 - 30 - 60 - 120 - 240 secs or 4 minutes.

HTH
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that was great, and very informative - never heard, or knew of this rule before!

thanks very much - will try some practice!
 
No reason why you can't practice indoors. Try shooting a lit candle or something. It is of practical use for any long exposures. It just saves time doing long test exposures, that's all. :)
 
I regularly shoot a sequence of images over 2 or 3 hours pushing the shutter speed and ISO as hard as I can, last night I was aiming for 3 or 4 minutes per exposure and I got 30, so nearly 2 hours, and had a bar left on the battery from about half full. My original Canon battery is good for this sort of thing, from fully charged for the entire session with spare. I reckon I could probably get 4 or 5 hours from fully charged out of the battery at a push.
 
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