Taking parking lot car pictures at night

[Trevorcjones]

I took some pictures here tonight, didnt turn out so well. Any help? I have a Rebel Xti with a 28-70mm lens.

[th3r0m]

Photos would be great as well as information on what you thought did not turn out to well. Hard to help with so little information. :)

[Trevorcjones]

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h154/Trevorcjones/Car/IMG_1779.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h154/Trevorcjones/Car/Untitled-3.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h154/Trevorcjones/Car/IMG_1769.jpg

[Trevorcjones]

happy? lol

[Vermin87]

Hmmm..the first shot is overexposed...all of them kinda are, but the first one especially. Try a faster shutter speed. Also, light lessens in intensity the further away you are, so i would stick the black car closest to the light, since black absorbs light, then the gray/silver 350z, then the truck furthest from the light source so that you dont get too much light bouncing off of it.

Might wanna try using a flash to fill in the harsh shadows underneath also, and moving in closer and bring the crop in tighter would help..the cars look too far away

[gooble]

They all look out of focus too. Were these on a tripod?

[howzitboy]

bit soft and the tree really ruins the shot. they do seem bit soft so try faster shutter speed or tripod or better yet, both.

[vvilko]

1 and 2 are over exposed. its lost lots of detail.

as vermin said it should go:

light > black > grey > white

[PhotosGuy]

You might try when there's still some light in the sky to even out the contrast. Or when you get tired of doing that, read this: A few Car Lighting Tips (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=70290)

[andrewc]

These were shot at ISO 100, was always going to be long exposure - 2.5 seconds for 1st, 4 seconds for the last. If they were handheld them I'm impressed!

You should have upped the ISO which would allow a faster shutter speed, or allowed a smaller aperture which for wiper depth of field.

[Stewx]

Sorry to butt in here, but what does a faster shutter speed accomplish in this case? If he's got a tripod, shouldn't he use the lowest ISO possible, for least grain?

[Trevorcjones]

Yeah, I used a ISO of 100, and a shutter of around 4-6 seconds. It was on a tripod. I feel the ISO of 100 wasnt a good idea? I did some before at the same time and spot. Just using a ISO of 800/1600 freehand. Here they are
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h154/Trevorcjones/IMG_1472.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h154/Trevorcjones/IMG_1471.jpg

how are these?

[blam]

I think those last 2 are much better than the first 3. especially the last shot

the first 3 look overexposed and OOF, when metering, try not to include the black sky as it will most likely OE your photo

also, IMHO the composition of the first 3 are very boring.

[Hermeto]

I like the composition on vertical shot, although both of them are decent exposures.
As mentioned above, first 3 are overexposed.

BTW, EXIF for both pictures shows the same, probably because you stuck them together..

It's getting better, seems that you are getting hang of it..

[Trevorcjones]

Thanks, I think I am going to do 1600 ISO, freehand with shutter around 1/60, 1/80 and just try and remove the noise in Photoshop. I will be posting back here soon. I need to take some pics of my 06 eclipse anyhow haha

[PhotosGuy]

Thanks, I think I am going to do 1600 ISO, Properly exposed 1600 is pretty good in the "properly exposed" areas. But the black sky will be "underexposed" and very noisy.

ISO 200-6400 20D Tests (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=269964)

[lungdoc]

Although a tripod was used, did you use mirror lock-up and remote release or a timer - both can affect the apparent sharpness? Also often difficult to lock focus in low light, use of a the built in flash as focus assist can help - flash firing can be turned off via custom function in 30D but not I believe on XTi so you'd need (I think) to close flash after focus lock.

[blam]

I've done long exposures on a tripod without lock up with tack sharp images. no need for mirror lock up IMHO.

[lungdoc]

I don't really disagree, and the effect of lock up is less with really long exposures. The effect of lock up is certainly a lot less than that of not using a cable release or that of an unsteady tripod.

[Trevorcjones]

hmm, thanks for the help. when I go back ill try using a ISO of 800-1600 instead of 100.

[andrewc]

Sorry to butt in here, but what does a faster shutter speed accomplish in this case? If he's got a tripod, shouldn't he use the lowest ISO possible, for least grain?

well a faster shutter speed would reduce blur caused by camera shake would it not? Which is worse - a sharp image with some grain, or a blurred image without?

At least with noise, you can take steps to reduce it with Neat Image or Noise Ninja afterwards, you can't correct a blurry image.

[lungdoc]

well a faster shutter speed would reduce blur caused by camera shake would it not? Which is worse - a sharp image with some grain, or a blurred image without?

At least with noise, you can take steps to reduce it with Neat Image or Noise Ninja afterwards, you can't correct a blurry image.

I think you missed the point slightly in that he has a tripod. Assuming it is used appropriately, is solid and the subject is not moving even a very long exposure should be sharp - i.e. the camera shouldn't shake.

[blam]

hmm, thanks for the help. when I go back ill try using a ISO of 800-1600 instead of 100.

stick to 100-200

you will get lots of noise in those ISOs as curtis pointed

sped the 20$ or less and get a remote shutter or sturdier tripod

[303villain]

another thing you could do if you dont have $$ for a shutter release is use the self timer. With the camera on your tripod, compose/focus, use low ISO for a longer but less noisey result, and activate the self timer, that way your hands will be off it and theres less chance of any vibration or movement.