Serious frustration!!

drummerkev

drummerkev

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Name
Kevin
Edit My Images
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I went over to Salford quays last night to take some night shots and was pleased with my results until i got home!

I came home uploaded them on to my mac and they were just completely shocking in honesty! i thought i had taking some decent shots while i was out! But they are just completely boring shots with no life and also there not as sharp as i wanted them to be, they looked great on the camera but on here they were really disappointing.

I really cant work out where im going wrong though in honesty.

I set the camera up on a tripod and set a timer on there to get rid of camera shake
I manually focused this time to get it absolutely bob on.
I chose my composition carefully, to see what would be best.
I took several shots at different exposures
and i came home with one decent shot!!

Where am i going wrong?!?!



Quays1.jpg


Quays2.jpg
 
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You're going to have to post examples for anyone to be able to comment with any degree of confidence, could be a range of things.
 
fitzer said:
You're going to have to post examples for anyone to be able to comment with any degree of confidence, could be a range of things.
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agree can't give any advice with out photos and preferably Exif info
 
First impressions of the first shot there is that exposure wasn't long enough... I can't see the data from here - but what was your ISO/Shutter duration/F number?
 
For me, they're boring because there is no obvious subject. Nor is the landscape of much interest. A foreground subject/interest is especially important in night photos. It doesn't have to be a large or even significant subject, just something to add to the composition, such as a bollard in the right place.

Just my opinion.

Talking about the samples in particular, the first shot could have been a lot better if exposed for longer, and if the entire bridge had been included.
 
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cymruchris said:
First impressions of the first shot there is that exposure wasn't long enough... I can't see the data from here - but what was your ISO/Shutter duration/F number?
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My settings were IIRC F22 iso 100 and then a 25" shutter speed. lens was approx at 25mm.




So what i need is a longer exposure. Then either to get a wider field of view or to have some form of foreground interest. Better taking the shots at dusk. I think i might head down again tonight and see if i can retake them weather depending!
 
drummerkev said:
My settings were IIRC F22 iso 100 and then a 25" shutter speed. lens was approx at 25mm.
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What lens is that with, Kev ? My experience of Canon kit lenses is that they are rarely sharp beyond f18 so 22 might be pushing your luck a bit.

You did have IS turned off, didn't you ? ;)

Mind if I have a fiddle with one of the shots ...?
 
drummerkev said:
My settings were IIRC F22 iso 100 and then a 25" shutter speed. lens was approx at 25mm.




So what i need is a longer exposure. Then either to get a wider field of view or to have some form of foreground interest. Better taking the shots at dusk. I think i might head down again tonight and see if i can retake them weather depending!
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You probably don't really want to be using f22 to be honest. Anything over f16 and diffraction can become a problem.

Might be worth working within f8-f16 and taking it from there.

Also, does your lens have IS/VR on it? If so, did you disable it when using the tripod?
 
drummerkev said:
Yeah the lens does have IS on it, and no i dont in honesty, is that something i should try? I really think i need to upgrade my tripod as it seems to be a little shakey at times.

Any recommendations for a rock solid one?
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So it could simply be that you left IS switched on, in which case that's the source of your softness, but the other observations about not pushing it out to f22 are probably still valid. If there's one thing that everyone should do with thier kit it's set it up on a tripod and do some tests to see where their lens starts to diffract. It can save a bit of heartache when the anticipated jubilation turns sour when the shots are unwrapped later. And different lenses start to diffract at different points so it's worth checking them all out.

re Tripods. What's your budget ? The Slik Pro 400 DX is relatively inexpensive but a perfectly adequate tripod for small to medium-sized setups.
 
Nothing come easly,for night shots it is a lot of trial & error,keep going back,try diffirent postions,and exposure.

It will get better,and you are getting out with your camera :)
 
Night shots often need a bit of a tweak in post. If you turn on your `permit my shots to be edited` thing, people here will probably have a go at some variations.
 
Would agree with above. If IS was on, that is almost 100% the reason why things aren't sharp. IS on a tripod works against you as it is trying to compensate for movement that isn't there hance the softness/blur.

F/11 will also like be sharper than F/22. They also look a little underexposed though it's tricky to get the balance with night shots as you don't want them looking too bright.
 
drummerkev said:
Out of interest why would f11 be sharper than f22?
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By f/22 youl be suffering from lens diffraction. You will however have a larger depth of field and maybe some post sharpening will help too.
 
kman said:
By f/22 youl be suffering from lens diffraction. You will however have a larger depth of field and maybe some post sharpening will help too.
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In general terms it's true about getting a larger depth of field with F22 over F11 but in this example it looks like the OP could have got everything in focus with a wide aperture as there is nothing close to the camera.
 
Agree with most of the observations here.
Try going down for the "blue" hour, this is the hour after sunset and before proper "black" night.
As you have water there as well I would be tempted to get down to a lower viewpoint maybe, get square on to the opposite buildings and try a central reflection type shot with the waterline in the middle of your frame.

2p.

Good luck.
 
drummerkev said:
Sorry what's is Op?
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Original Poster - You

drummerkev said:
And I think I'll try a lower viewpoint tonight dependant on weather. Hope it's decent! I wanna get these shots done!!
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Turn the IS off and don't go out further than f18

Don't get wet

Take your coat, and a brolly

Wrap up warm

Look at the state of you ......

;)
 
I still thing your worrying to much,photographer has a learning curve,we all make mistake,just get back out their,after all it is about learning from our mistake,and trying different things :)
 
simonblue said:
I still thing your worrying to much,photographer has a learning curve,we all make mistake,just get back out their,after all it is about learning from our mistake,and trying different things :)
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+1!!!

The beauty of digital is that all you've wasted is a bit of time ;)
 
Kevin, if you go to: My TP> Edit Your Details, there a box at the bottom of the page to allow image editing. This shows on your sig that you're happy for people to edit your shots if you're happy with this.

I like the new ones, particularly the one with the sweeping railing. And here's one of your originals after a bit of photoshopping:

08f55e9a.jpg
 
One little tip as well that I've found useful - take a shot of anything, as long as it covers the range of black to whites. Copy it to the computer you use for editing and compare the image on screen to your camera LCD, set the screens so that they match. This will help no end in getting your exposures right on location.
 
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