Mitsubishi Eclipse 3G Club banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

Help with exposure at night when taking pics of traffic.

Jump to Latest
1 - 20 of 23 Posts

martin m

· new project = s13?
Joined
·
3,039 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
I just went out and tried to take some pics of the traffic on the interstate and it didn't work out the way I wanted it to. I'm using a canon 10d, does anyone have any tips to get more color out of the picture and just the head/tail ligths instead of the street lights? Also here are 2 pictures I like that I took today.

Image
This is a lamp on the wall in the hallway.

Image
IMO I think this is pretty good for riding in the car and having it on manual.

And here is what I'm having trouble with :noplease:

Image

Image
 
#2 ·
lower fstop and longer exposure is what i do on my lil point and shoot, seems to cut down on light halo's.
 
#3 ·
the third picture looks like it has a lot of camera shake.

its appears that your shutter speed was too low for for the focal length only if you are hand holding the camera

or

you keep the shutter speed and focal length but make sure you use a tripod
 
#4 ·
martin m said:
I just went out and tried to take some pics of the traffic on the interstate and it didn't work out the way I wanted it to. I'm using a canon 10d, does anyone have any tips to get more color out of the picture and just the head/tail ligths instead of the street lights? Also here are 2 pictures I like that I took today.



And here is what I'm having trouble with :noplease:

Image

Image
Click to expand...
I'm assuming you're trying to do a headlights/brakelights streaks on the highway shot?

For a shot like this, in general you're going to need:
-A long shutterspeed. I see that you're using 1s and 4s. I think you're going to need something closer to 15s-20s to get the long, continuous light streaks that you're probably aiming for
-Tripod, it looks like you're using one, or at least bracing the camera against something
-Timer release or cable release to avoid camera shake

Now in regards to your shots. You're shooting directly into the streetlights, combined with the long shutter speeds, they're blowing out your shots. Even using bracketed exposures and HDR trickery, I'm still not entirely sure if it's possible to expose this scene correctly.

I've never tried a shot like this, maybe someone more experienced can correct me. If you were to try this again I would suggest a spot on the highway that is very dark with the only lights being those of the cars.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I've got some like this someplace but I'd have to find them.

Pretty much everything Kaotic said above but I'd like to add a couple things.

To me it looks like you either didn't use a tripod or it's not a very stable one? They can get expensive so I don't blame you...but if you can add weight to it somehow (like hanging your camera back from it) that will help.

Don't shoot "into" the street lights. If you can, remove them completely and just try to frame the shot without them.

you're shoooting at F4. WAY too open. Close the F stop down to around F8 or even F11. You'll start to see the lights appear as star shapes. not the car streaks but points of light like the street lights. This will also allow for the even longer shutter exposures as well.

Use a lens hood. If you don't have one, buy one. They are cheap.

This is the best I've got right now to show as an example. You can see the star affect beginning to show up on the street light to the right. The streaks from the cars wasn't even something I wanted, I just didn't have anywhere else to shoot this from and I didn't want to crop that much out of the image. This was shot at F7.1
http://www.alloverphotos.com/Travel/Vegas/vegas photos/027lrg.jpg

I think once you get the exposure down a bit more the street lights won't be so much of a problem.

Oh, and it looks like this is a highway? But obviously the faster the cars are traveling, the shorter the shutter speed needs to be to get the longer streaks... but start with an f8 and keep the ISO to 100-200. Let the shutter fall where it likes but if it's shorter than 2s close the aperture more.
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
Thanks guys, and yes I have a tripod but it's not an expensive good one. I will put the lens shade back on and fix the F stop and try and get the streetlights out of the picture.
 
#12 ·
HIJACKER said:
Curious - why does that make a difference, I've never heard this before.
Click to expand...
I see Flippy linked something so I won't go into it,but basically as bass ackwards as this sounds, when an IS/VR lens is on a tripod and it's not "finding" any movement it actually causes movement by looking for movement. :lol:

there are some of the newer (canon at least) lenses that you can leave the IS turned on while the lens is on a tripod.
 
#13 ·
Anus! said:
I see Flippy linked something so I won't go into it,but basically as bass ackwards as this sounds, when an IS/VR lens is on a tripod and it's not "finding" any movement it actually causes movement by looking for movement. :lol:

there are some of the newer (canon at least) lenses that you can leave the IS turned on while the lens is on a tripod.
Click to expand...
Hmm.. interesting. I'll have to take shots next time one with and one without to see if there is any difference. It does sound retarded though. :lol:
 
#15 ·
HIJACKER said:
Hmm.. interesting. I'll have to take shots next time one with and one without to see if there is any difference. It does sound retarded though. :lol:
Click to expand...
yeah, totally backwards.

My 28-135IS does have to be turned off. And I have left it on before only to pull my hair out when I couldn't get tack sharp images. they won't be blurry to the point where you can't tell what you took a photo of, but they will just have that little bit of blur that annoys the hell out of you.

now my 100-400,which is my only other IS lens, says it needs to be turned off as well but i have mistakenly left that one too and didn't have a problem. However that lens has the two mode IS (one is for panning so it only corrects on one axis) so maybe I had it in that mode and that's why it didnt' seem to cause a problem.

here is a link to canon lenses that do or do not need it turned off.
DLC Photography: IS and Tripod Use

and here is a link to Nikons.
Using VR Lenses on Tripod

i honestly forget what you shoot. :lol: sorry.

edit: for the canon people, i'll save you the trouble of clicking. except for the new 70-200f2.8 no one here is buying the lenses that do not need to be turned off. :lol:

edit2: sorr for the thread hijack.
 
#17 ·
Cheap ass sigma people. :p

Is it possible to use the OS function with a tripod?
A. The vibration caused by the firing of the shutter and the movement of the mirror is transferred to the tripod. The characteristics of these movements are different to those experienced during hand held photography and the OS system cannot compensate for them.
If you wish to use a tripod, please switch off the OS function.
Click to expand...
 
1 - 20 of 23 Posts
About this Discussion
22 Replies
9 Participants
Last post:
HIJACKER
Mitsubishi Eclipse 3G Club
posts
2.8M
members
51K
Since
2004
A forum community dedicated to Mitsubishi Eclipse 3G owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, troubleshooting, turbos, engine swaps, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Vehicles & Parts Classifieds Members Rides Problem Reports New Member Introductions 3G Eclipse GT/GTS Specific