That flashlight trick is realy neat. You can also use a flashlight to illuminate just parts of the scene or to outline certain objects like cars and stuff.
Night and dusk photos are great fun to do, but the problem that I have is picking the best digicam (not DSLR) for long exposures. As far as I have seen FUJI seems to be the best in terms of noise, but I really don't know for sure. Exposures longer that a few seconds are also not that easy to find in a compact digicam. And then there's the problem of apertures, ...
Maybe a "choosing a digital camera" article would be a good addition to the series? Explain the features... include photos take with different features. That's what I've always looked for but never found when shopping for a digital camera. Sure, a 5 MP camera will take a more detailed photo than a 3 MP camera... but how MUCH more detailed? Would it matter to me? Stuff like that is hard to find answers to unless you can take two cameras side by side, shoot the picture, and examine the results yourself.
Good article, but you fail to mention the importance of the digital camera's sensor size. The Canon 10D that you have (as well as my 300D) has an APS-C size sensor, much larger than those found in point-and-shoot digital cameras, resulting in MUCH less grain and noise during night shots. If you are shooting with high ISO, then the grain will be unacceptable. Long-exposure shots will also have pretty bad grain.
steve - awesome article, esp. because i've been waiting to do some shots similar to the cars on I-40 .. now i have no more excuses to delay.. (well except for all the ones i keep telling myself)
Thought it might be worth mentioning the open source photoshop imitator, GIMP here. Windows binaries are available, and it provides a zero cost way of doing many of the things photoshop can do.
Ok... gotcha... I didn't mean RIGHT under the lense, but wasn't sure if the ideas was to heat/light the air just in front of the lense or what. I understand now, thanks.
Please don't hold a lighter under your lens! :-) The idea is to stand several feet in front of your camera and use a flashlight or lighter to "draw" in the air. This light will be recorded by the camera and can look really cool. A flashlight doesn't necessarily have to be pointed directly into the lens; pointing the light somewhere in the direction of the camera will work. Pointing the light directly at the lens will create a lens flare effect if thats what you want. There really are no rules for this type of thing, but its a fun creative way to paint with light. I hope this helps to clarify.
I just happen to live "far from civilization in the wilderness of Maine"! Haha! We do have a beautiful dark sky and it's great for star gazing. I've taken quite a few good pictures with slides on my old Canon AE-1, but haven't had much luck with my new digital Nikon D-70. I was going to attempt Gatak's suggestion of stacking multiple photos to create a virtual longer exposure, but haven't had the time to attempt it. Max Lyons has a wicked cool website with some software he has written to do just that. http://www.tawbaware.com/index.html Check out Image Stacker. Lots of other great software there too.
I find that it is possible to take night pictures of buildings (pubs) without a tripod or a convenient place to rest the camera on or against, just by using continuous shooting mode. The important thing is to hold your breath while the shots are being taken, and at all costs prevent any rotational movement of the camera (a few millimeters sideways or up/down movement is okay though).
Provided the exposure isn't too long (1/2 sec is the most I ever usually need, around about 1/4 sec is more common) there's almost always one or two of any set of five shots that is pin sharp. If all of them are blurred, just fire off another set of shots until you get a good one. That's the beauty of digicams, you could never do that with old film cameras :)
Good article =) Night photography can be fun and give many interesting effects.
A small tip. If your camera doesn't support very long exposures, or if it gives very high noise levels with lots of hot pixels you can take several (5-10 or more!) pictures with low exposure. Then you can add them together in Photoshop or with special tools to create a virtual long exposure. The result would have very little noise and high dynamic range too.
It should be noted in the article that, even though the guide is aimed towards beginners, the photos are taken with a DSLR capable of getting far smaller aperatures than ANY normal digicam could. f25 in that dusk shot? Very few digicams go above f8.7, and therefore couldn't even come close to getting those shots.
They are neat photos but they seem like a waste of space to me; anyone who plops down $1000+ on a camera isn't going to be learning techniques from AT photo guides.
Good article.
Also, it is important to cover the viewfinder in SLR cameras when taking long exposures. Also, try not to point the lens towards any light source to minimize occurance of Flare like in your cloud shot.
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sxr7171 - Saturday, February 19, 2005 - link
You can find upto 30 secs on all the Canon S and SD series point and shoot digital cameras.AtaStrumf - Saturday, February 19, 2005 - link
That flashlight trick is realy neat. You can also use a flashlight to illuminate just parts of the scene or to outline certain objects like cars and stuff.Night and dusk photos are great fun to do, but the problem that I have is picking the best digicam (not DSLR) for long exposures. As far as I have seen FUJI seems to be the best in terms of noise, but I really don't know for sure. Exposures longer that a few seconds are also not that easy to find in a compact digicam. And then there's the problem of apertures, ...
Suggestions anyone?
Jeff7181 - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
Maybe a "choosing a digital camera" article would be a good addition to the series? Explain the features... include photos take with different features. That's what I've always looked for but never found when shopping for a digital camera. Sure, a 5 MP camera will take a more detailed photo than a 3 MP camera... but how MUCH more detailed? Would it matter to me? Stuff like that is hard to find answers to unless you can take two cameras side by side, shoot the picture, and examine the results yourself.shuttleboi - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
Good article, but you fail to mention the importance of the digital camera's sensor size. The Canon 10D that you have (as well as my 300D) has an APS-C size sensor, much larger than those found in point-and-shoot digital cameras, resulting in MUCH less grain and noise during night shots. If you are shooting with high ISO, then the grain will be unacceptable. Long-exposure shots will also have pretty bad grain.shuttleboi - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
How about reviewing the Epson P-2000 and the Archos AV400 as digital storage devices, like I've been suggesting the last 7 months?Vinney - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
steve - awesome article, esp. because i've been waiting to do some shots similar to the cars on I-40 .. now i have no more excuses to delay.. (well except for all the ones i keep telling myself)Poser - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
Thought it might be worth mentioning the open source photoshop imitator, GIMP here. Windows binaries are available, and it provides a zero cost way of doing many of the things photoshop can do.http://www.gimp.org
Jeff7181 - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
Ok... gotcha... I didn't mean RIGHT under the lense, but wasn't sure if the ideas was to heat/light the air just in front of the lense or what. I understand now, thanks.HauntFox - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
This is just what I needed, I been wanting to take some night photos :Dstephencaston - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
Please don't hold a lighter under your lens! :-) The idea is to stand several feet in front of your camera and use a flashlight or lighter to "draw" in the air. This light will be recorded by the camera and can look really cool. A flashlight doesn't necessarily have to be pointed directly into the lens; pointing the light somewhere in the direction of the camera will work. Pointing the light directly at the lens will create a lens flare effect if thats what you want. There really are no rules for this type of thing, but its a fun creative way to paint with light. I hope this helps to clarify.Jeff7181 - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
I didn't quite understand the flashlight/lighter technique... are you pointing them at the lense, or holding them under the lense, or...?apriest - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
I just happen to live "far from civilization in the wilderness of Maine"! Haha! We do have a beautiful dark sky and it's great for star gazing. I've taken quite a few good pictures with slides on my old Canon AE-1, but haven't had much luck with my new digital Nikon D-70. I was going to attempt Gatak's suggestion of stacking multiple photos to create a virtual longer exposure, but haven't had the time to attempt it. Max Lyons has a wicked cool website with some software he has written to do just that. http://www.tawbaware.com/index.html Check out Image Stacker. Lots of other great software there too.PrinceGaz - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
I find that it is possible to take night pictures of buildings (pubs) without a tripod or a convenient place to rest the camera on or against, just by using continuous shooting mode. The important thing is to hold your breath while the shots are being taken, and at all costs prevent any rotational movement of the camera (a few millimeters sideways or up/down movement is okay though).Provided the exposure isn't too long (1/2 sec is the most I ever usually need, around about 1/4 sec is more common) there's almost always one or two of any set of five shots that is pin sharp. If all of them are blurred, just fire off another set of shots until you get a good one. That's the beauty of digicams, you could never do that with old film cameras :)
stephencaston - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
We used a Canon 10D for the star pictures. Thanks for all the comments and remember we are open to suggestions for future guides.Gatak - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
Good article =) Night photography can be fun and give many interesting effects.A small tip. If your camera doesn't support very long exposures, or if it gives very high noise levels with lots of hot pixels you can take several (5-10 or more!) pictures with low exposure. Then you can add them together in Photoshop or with special tools to create a virtual long exposure. The result would have very little noise and high dynamic range too.
hoppa - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
It should be noted in the article that, even though the guide is aimed towards beginners, the photos are taken with a DSLR capable of getting far smaller aperatures than ANY normal digicam could. f25 in that dusk shot? Very few digicams go above f8.7, and therefore couldn't even come close to getting those shots.They are neat photos but they seem like a waste of space to me; anyone who plops down $1000+ on a camera isn't going to be learning techniques from AT photo guides.
eosguy - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
Good article.Also, it is important to cover the viewfinder in SLR cameras when taking long exposures. Also, try not to point the lens towards any light source to minimize occurance of Flare like in your cloud shot.
Souka - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
Look forward to reading this... lotta open windows to peek into.....*JK*
sideshow23bob - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
What camera was used on the long-lasting exposure pics at the end of the article?Nice article...yeah I-40.
gustavowoltmann1996 - Friday, March 26, 2021 - link
Really to do photography is an art. I love to do this and I am a Yoga Teacher (Gustavo Woltmann)