Night shooting in New York

[anthonymagister]

Hello, everyone. I have some quick questions about night photography. I have never really done any, but I am going to New York tomorrow morning and was hoping to get some tips. What is the best ISO for night time city skyline shots? I have a Canon T3i. I know that I am going to need a higher ISO but I also don't want to risk too much noise. Are there any tips that you can give me that I might not think of? I am a moderately skilled photographer (i.e. I am comfortable with all the manual setting on my camera as well as many post processing techniques). I have a wide angel 10-22mm lens that I was planning on using.

Also, anyone of you who have been to New York have any recommendations as far as locations to shoot?

Thanks for the help.

[sabcoolin]

As far as for the location try the battery park or the exchange bridge in jersey city to get good views of the skyline..... Dont forget to take the Saturn island ferry to get some good pictures of the statue of liberty.

Make sure to carry your tripod because you will be using low shutter speeds to get good exposure by keeping your ISO low.

[Shadowman]

Also be sure to get some shots before, during, and after the sun sets.

[rpcrowe]

As far as for the location try the battery park or the exchange bridge in jersey city to get good views of the skyline..... Dont forget to take the Saturn island ferry to get some good pictures of the statue of liberty.

The Ferry is a great value in an otherwise quite expensive venue. However, be careful of the turbulence when passing the "Rings of Saturn"

A night shot from the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge is always a good bet. Of course, Times Square lights are wonderful. However, unless you are shooting only those lights, there will be quite a bit of movement so use an ISO which will be able to stop the action with a decently fast shutter speed. Better to have a sharp image with a bit of noise than a noise free unsharp image. Lady Liberty (with a long lens if you have one) on a clear night at the golden hour, shot from Battery Park is a good bet as I imagine the memorial to the Twin Towers might be...

BTW: Cityscapes with an UWA lens have the same problems as landscapes with UWA focal lengths. You tend to get a lot of sky and forground which can be quite uninteresting - especially at night. Often, especially with city scapes across water, the only interesting portion is a narrow band of lit up buildings and the reflection of those buildings in the water...

Finally: Although NYC is a LOT safer than it was when I grew up there. Ensure that you are not alone in a deserted area when shooting and keep your wits about you.

[William W]

. . .What is the best ISO for night time city skyline shots? . . .

The "best" ISO to use will be the lowest possible ISO after considering these main two factors:

1. The Shutter Speed required to provide either -
a) arresting of Subject Movement
b) arresting of Camera Movement
c) creation a suitable Motion Blur in the Scene

2. The Aperture required to -
a) provide the DoF required
b) utilize the lens for suitable Image Quality (takes into account matters such as: Sweet Spot, Diffraction and Lens Flare etc.

Generally, for Night Time Shots, I will prioritize Shutter Speed first, then Aperture (as laid out above) and thus: the resultant is the ISO selection.

WW


PS - take any "Protection" Filters OFF.

[nimitzbenedicto]

.......
Also, anyone of you who have been to New York have any recommendations as far as locations to shoot?

Thanks for the help.

Hi Anthony,

Aside from the icon Statue of Liberty, the other most popular destination now is the One World Trade Center complex. ( 9/11 ground zero ). If you're in shape, it's walking distance from the pier/Battery park.

Happy trip. Happy shooting !

[rpcrowe]

I forgot to mention... NYC has some of the most interesting people watching (and photographing) in the world. I was going to say "people watching and shooting" but decided against that terminology...

[AB26]

"people watching and shooting" ...

That is what you get in Johannesburg on a night "shoot"!

[jcuknz]

I think the key point to night shooting is that, depending on the shot, you are photographing a light source which needs less exposure than if you are photographing what the lights are illuminating ... but the beauty of digital is the instant review to check what you actually have. And now there is HDR .. well the whole business has huge potential.

[anthonymagister]

Thanks to all of your replies. I ended up not being able to get out at night a lot. My nest four shots I took are on the Nature and Architecture Forum under the thread New York in IR. Thanks again!