First try at night landscape photography. C&C please

[envyr]

Please tell me what you think about my first attempt. I had a really good time finding a good view of the city and waiting till the "blue hour," a tip that I picked up from reading these forums. My P&P involved cropping, boosting the contrast a bit, and sharpening. Thanks for taking a look and I look forward to hearing what I can do to improve.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2171/2354430363_fa30a050bd_b.jpg (http://flickr.com/photos/envyr/2354430363/)

[adam LC]

An excellent first attempt:)

Only a couple of blown areas (for 30 secs), Well done.

[LeuceDeuce]

Definately a good first try.

What were your settings on the shot? A shot during twilight shouldn't take 30 seconds so I'm curious as to what your settings were.

[envyr]

I'm an idiot, I took a lot of shots and I thought this was one of the 30 second ones. I just checked my raw file and it's ISO 100, f/8, 10 second exposure. Sorry about that.

[LeuceDeuce]

Right, that makes more sense.

Try the same shot again with a higher ISO, and you'll get much sharper results. Take a couple sets and see which you like better. ISO 400, ~2.0 secs, f/8 and ISO 200, ~4.0 secs, f/8.

If you find unacceptable noise (you definately shouldn't) run noise reduction on the blue channel (the noisiest channel), and you should be good to go.

Don't forget to lock the mirror before taking the shot.

[envyr]

Thank you for the suggestion. When I get another free evening I'll head back to the same spot and try your suggestion. I've never heard the term "lock the mirror" before though. Can you elaborate please? I'm using a 400D if that matters. . .

[adam LC]

I thought 30 seconds was a bit long:) I just figured you had an ND filter on or something like that... I still like the shot, good cropping too.

[adam LC]

Thank you for the suggestion. When I get another free evening I'll head back to the same spot and try your suggestion. I've never heard the term "lock the mirror" before though. Can you elaborate please? I'm using a 400D if that matters. . .
Mirror Lock Up is one of your cameras custom functions, check your user manual.... basically reduces camera shake. MLU with the 3 second self timer is useful if you don't have a remote release cable.

[LeuceDeuce]

Thank you for the suggestion. When I get another free evening I'll head back to the same spot and try your suggestion. I've never heard the term "lock the mirror" before though. Can you elaborate please? I'm using a 400D if that matters. . .

The 400D definately has mirror lock. It is item number 7 on your custom function menu. When you use mirror lock you will have to depress the shutter button twice. The first depression locks the mirror in place while the second starts the exposure.

Also if you don't have a remote switch, you should use the timer function. If I forget my cable I use the 2 second timer to take the shot.

[LeuceDeuce]

adamlc is a faster typer :D

[envyr]

I found it, thanks so much for the help! I can't wait to try this again

[neil_r]

Try the same shot again with a higher ISO, and you'll get much sharper results.

I disagree, I use low ISO and a very sturdy tripod.

These were taken at ISO 100

http://www.ambrosiabbs.com/gallery/photo/large/Newcastle_Jan06_N6H7115.jpg

http://www.ambrosiabbs.com/gallery/photo/large/Newcastle_Jan06_N6H7119.jpg

[LeuceDeuce]

I disagree, I use low ISO and a very sturdy tripod.

These were taken at ISO 100

http://www.ambrosiabbs.com/gallery/photo/large/Newcastle_Jan06_N6H7115.jpg

http://www.ambrosiabbs.com/gallery/photo/large/Newcastle_Jan06_N6H7119.jpg

And the water is almost glass like which would indicate that you have no wind at all. I would expect that you can achieve better results at lower ISO under these conditions.

In the posted image I am seeing a lot of blur. At an exposure of 10 seconds any problems with mirror movement or shutter pressing would be all but ignorable. Therefore I would make my best guess and assume that this image was taken when the wind was not quite so still.

Not to argue with someone with clearly more experience than myself, so if I'm wrong I'm wrong but I'd still like to see the results of the change in setup.

[neil_r]

You are correct it was not that windy, but the river was running quite fast and the long exposure time soothed it out some.

The second shot was taken from the bridge in the first shot. I had to junk quite a few of the pictures because someone walked across the bridge during the exposure and the vibrations softened the image.

I strive to use as low an ISO as possible for night shots and rely on a Benbo MkII Tripod which is made out of scaffold poles (and you need a sherpa to carry it) to maintain stability throughout the exposure.

This was taken when it was windy but again at ISO 100

http://www.ambrosiabbs.com/gallery/photo/large/London_Hotel_Sep06_N6H0299.jpg

P.S I also have had a lot of practice.

[adam LC]

I'm in the low ISO gang:)

My fav setup for long exposures is 5D; 24-70 (nothing wider except fisheye which isn't sharp enough), ISO 50 and an ND8 filter... depending on conditions of course.

[envyr]

I had another chance to get out there today after work and take a few more photos using LeuceDeuce's suggestion, including the mirror lock. I feel like I learned a good bit more about my camera, but the picture looks pretty similar to me. What do you think?
http://fsds.us/pic/nashville2.jpg

Thanks again everyone for the feedback, lots of helpful and knowledgeable folks around here