What is the key to skyline pictures?

[wonton]

I am pretty new at photography and wanted to try to take a few night pictures of some skylines. I understand to get best results, use a tripod. How does one get the nice sky colors in the back instead of just black? Any tips are appreicated.

Thanks again.

[Persian-Rice]

FLW filter, shoot raw, overexpose slightly, never ever shoot when it is very dark, shoot 5 minutes before the sky is completely black. I like to shoot with a small aperture at 20-30 seconds. I dont know what camera you have, but spot metering works very good.

Best is to have a sky with cloudy spots, not completely covered and not completely clear.

Those are my preferences for a night skyline and I am very happy with the results.

[robertwgross]

I've done some "dark" photography of mountain skylines, not city skylines. I shoot before sunrise, typically between 20 and 40 minutes before the sun is on the horizon. At that hour, there is a lot of color in the sky, even though there is not a lot of light. The color is what you want. The dimness of the light is beaten by simply taking a longer exposure time, which simply requires a tripod and maybe a remote cable (to minimize camera shake).

As a general rule, you are shooting mostly in the sun direction, so using a polarizer will have no positive effect, and it will be mostly negative.

I've tried it with and without a graduated neutral density filter. That depends on lots of things.

Sometimes you want to leave the foreground dark in silhouette. Sometimes you want to light it up a bit. If it is a building two blocks away, forget it. If it is a foreground object twenty feet away, then flash can do it.

---Bob Gross---

[apoh]

i don't have the "key" to perfect skylines, but i've been experimenting with low light stuff so this is what i do.

- pick a suitable night
- use a sturdy tripod that is suitable for the weight of the camera.
- remote shutter release cable
- very small aperture to get the "stars"
- low iso to reduce noise
- shoot in an area where there is little ambient light.
- probably need to consider white balance at some point as flo lights will give you a green cast
- check histogram often

if your camera can do bulb mode, it gets even more interesting with the longer exposures and smaller apertures.

i shot this in pitch black darkness.
http://www.portscan.ca/blog/archives/bwog050316.jpg

[wonton]

Thanks for all the tips. I just got the Digital Rebel XT. I have not tried taking a raw picture yet. I will soon though. I do have a cable release remote.

[Persian-Rice]

In terms of Apoh comment of the green cast, there is a better chance of getting a nasty orange/red cast instead of green.

here is my best skyline so far:
http://img43.exs.cx/img43/1908/topan7hr.jpg

[dhbailey]

Persion-Rice, that is a fantastic skyline!

Wonton, look at it, and follow everything Persion-Rice said -- he obviously knows what he's talking about!

[KevC]

That's an awesome shot Persian. I absolutely adore it. Would you mind if I use it for my desktop wallpaper? If not, could you send me a bigger version? (1400x1050 please...)

Hm. I really hafta try that... I wonder if my 50/1.8 will do...

[robertwgross]

I don't think your lens will be as critical as using a good tripod.

The scene is nearly all a distance away, so depth of field control is not an issue.

I would just bracket the exposure.

---Bob Gross---

[apoh]

here is my best skyline so far:
http://img43.exs.cx/img43/1908/topan7hr.jpg

mad propz! that's an awesome shot!

[wonton]

In terms of Apoh comment of the green cast, there is a better chance of getting a nasty orange/red cast instead of green.

here is my best skyline so far:
http://img43.exs.cx/img43/1908/topan7hr.jpg

That is an awesome shot. How did you get the sky to be that color?

I have never worked with RAW before, can you use Photoshop CS or some other software?

[Persian-Rice]

combination of a FLW(Magenta) Filter and RAW.

[cjm]

How do you get the lights not to star out like this?

http://members.shaw.ca/cmphotos2/PictureTakerPics/NighEdmonton.jpg

I took this picture at F 8.0 for 15" seconds and I seem to always get stars from lights. Is there a filter I need to have to make it so it doesn't streak like this?

[mbze430]

shorter shutter speed will help it from sparkling the lights

[OceanRider]

In terms of Apoh comment of the green cast, there is a better chance of getting a nasty orange/red cast instead of green.

here is my best skyline so far:
http://img43.exs.cx/img43/1908/topan7hr.jpg

Nice shot, I live in TO too....how long did you leave ur shutter opne for this shot?

[Persian-Rice]

cjm, try doing a shorter exposure, you will get "starring" no matter what you try, but you can reduce it.

Ocean Rider, 30 seconds.

[dicky109]

One of the effects I've used is to go out & shoot shortly after a rainstorm. You can get some pretty dramatic shots with a cloud background, especially when the city lights reflect off of them.

Enjoy!

[robertwgross]

Yes, if it is a breezy night, then clouds will likely be blown away and you get a very black sky over the city lights. On the other hand, if it is a still night, and if any fog or clouds are hanging around, then the city lights make a glow over the skyline.

You just have to decide which effect you want and show up.

---Bob Gross---