Night street lights

[ucci]

Anzac Avenue at night. Using night shot pre setting and telephoto lens. Taken from a hillside approx 4km from subject

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Ken,

I see from the EXIF this was shot at 250mm, f/5.6 and 0.6 seconds at 400 iso.

Looking at the image, there is a definite telltale of the camera having moved during the exposure, all the light sources that should be pin points are actually smears from bottom left to top right (at about 30 degrees).

Did you use a tripod?
If not, it's quite good, but shows why we need a tripod for this type of shot.

If so, did you press the shutter with a finger?
If so, that'll be why.

If not, did you use a remote release or self timer?

If remote release, did you use Mirror Lock Up feature?
(if the Canon 1000D has it)

If you did everything right, did the wind blow?
Or was the tripod's centre column extended?

Sorry, a lot of questions

Good composition, although you could probably lose 10% off the left hand side and improve it further.

HTH,

[ucci]

"I see from the EXIF this was shot at 250mm, f/5.6 and 0.6 seconds at 400 iso. " I cheated and used the automatic night shot setting

"Looking at the image, there is a definite telltale of the camera having moved during the exposure, all the light sources that should be pin points are actually smears from bottom left to top right (at about 30 degrees)." Hey if you reckon that is bad. A couple of the shots I discarded were more than just furry balls of light. They were whopping great curved streaks of light. They were so bad I reckon I could have posted and pretended that it was an intentional artistic efect; and almost possibly have gotten away with it.

"Did you use a tripod?" Yes I did
"If not, it's quite good, but shows why we need a tripod for this type of shot." Even with a tripod these sorts of shots seem to elude me and my fat fingers which lack the delicate touch.

"If so, did you press the shutter with a finger?
If so, that'll be why." Yes I did

"If not, did you use a remote release or self timer?" Don't have a remote. Tried to buy one but local camera guy feeds me the line that they are no longer available for my canon 1000D. Which I find hard to believe. But you are brilliant! Always have this blurring problem with night shots. Never occurred to me to use the self timer. ( Told you I was stupid!) Thanks for an excellent tip. Well it is to me anyway, even if others know it to be self evident!

"If remote release, did you use Mirror Lock Up feature?
(if the Canon 1000D has it)" No I didn't. And yes I think it has. My lenses do have this anti shake control thingy on them. Don't know how efective it is, particularly in trying to cope with a pair of shaky old hands/ body

"If you did everything right, did the wind blow?
Or was the tripod's centre column extended?" It is always windy up on our hill. Just a matter of how much so, from a gentle breeze to a howling gale. I think the central column was partially extended

"Sorry, a lot of questions "
Hey, no problems. Happy to respond, as it is all to my advantage. I am learning so much and really appreciate the tips and advice. Thank you for taking the time and effort to help me. I am sure that in reality you really have far better things you would rather be doing!

"Good composition, although you could probably lose 10% off the left hand side and improve it further." Thank you for this cropping advice. Sometimes it is hard to know just how much to crop before the shot becomes too ' truncated' and chopped off, giving it a stunted, overly compressed look

Cheers
Ken

[ucci]

Hi Dave
Went back and tried your suggestion of slicing off about 10 percent from LHS. Made a big improvement. ( Still a crappy shot I know, but a better 'balanced' and more visually pleasing, crappy shot!)
Sorry about the way the responses to your questions posted. I tried to leave your text alone and insert my responses in Italics so they could be spatially related but visually distinct. Didn't pan out as I expected. Sorry. Maybe should have used a different text format. Anyway, once again, thanks for most helpful advice and comments.
Cheers
Ken

[RockNGoalStar]

Ken,
If the "anti shake" feature on your Canon lenses is the same as the "vibration reduction" feature on Nikon lenses then you should make sure this is turned off when using a tripod. I believe that when the camera is still the VR function will work against you and actually introduce some blur.
Maybe someone can confirm this for the Canon lenses.
Follow all of Dave's advice and make sure that your tripod is on a solid surface and try again, I'll be interested to see how it comes out
Good luck.

[ucci]

Hi RockNGoalStar
Thanks for advice re AV lens control. Was unaware of possible interference. I went out last night and had a go at what Dave suggested. Played with settings using AV and TV and got some interesting shots using the self timer. Took multiple shots at each setting to check reproducibility of automatic timed shots. Seemed to produce consistent results. I think the self timer idea worked. However the AV lens control was not turned off. Maybe have to look at repeating exercise with it off. The results do seem a bit better than my first posted effort. I have posted a couple of shots from last night for comment. Have to admit I really took to them with the cropping tool. Just hope I haven't over done it...... " You want lights? ... I'll give you lights!!!"
Cheers












Ken

[ucci]

Here are two pics I mentioned which I messed up posting
Ken