how do i not to overexpose a night shot?

[youyesyou.net]

i love night phototography, street scenes, roads, lights, ect... and i keep seeing photos of streets and there are lines in the road from the car headlights. blurred people in the backround, and so on. well when i try that with my rebel xt i can only have it open for so long before too much light gets in and the photo is too bright or its just a white screen. im in paris and i would love to take some really interesting night shots, and there is more than enough opportunity, i just need to know what i need to do to my camera in order for the shutter to be open for a prolonged period of time at night, but still have it look like a night shot.

i hope im not being too confusing, any help would be great.

thanks

-adam

[PacAce]

Put the camera in Manual mode. You will most always end up with overexposed pictures if you use any of the auto modes (P, Av, Tv, etc.) for a night shot.

[acura nsx pilot]

Im not expert but I would think that under these circumstances you would either have to use a flash or just wait for the perfect opportunity where there is no cars .

[leo11877]

HI
U need a tripod in the first place. You can put the camera in Manual Mode, use F8 as Aperture value and try 6 or 8 seconds as shutter speed. You will have to try different shutter speeds. If possible use a remote control or use timer to trigger the shutter. Also RAW mode is better than JPG.

I hope this helps.

thanks
Leo.

[lostdoggy]

Neutral density filter will bring down the light and allow you to have longer exposure and still maintain Bokeh. You can stack ND filter to get the effect you are looking for.

[PhotosGuy]

U need a tripod in the first place. You can put the camera in Manual Mode, use F8 as Aperture value and try 6 or 8 seconds as shutter speed. "M" is the way to go, for focusing, too! Make sure that you're using a low ISO, like 100. A higher f# like f/16 will allow you to use longer shutter speeds, too. Experiment. Delete. And, have fun! ;-)

[d'homme]

1. Tripod
2. Focus on something, or infinity.
3. Camera on manual, experiment. try 30 secs / F16, try bulb.
4. Don't move or shake came, unless your tryn to be abstract and creative.

[wonton]

youyesyou.net, this has nothing to do with your question but since you are in Paris, can you tell me approximately what time the sun sets right now?

[BrandonSi]

youyesyou.net, this has nothing to do with your question but since you are in Paris, can you tell me approximately what time the sun sets right now?

About 1/2 hour from now. Well, 1/2 from when I posted this message, which would be 9PM CEST. Paris is GMT+2. Sunset is ~ 9:30 CEST.

[wonton]

About 1/2 hour from now. Well, 1/2 from when I posted this message, which would be 9PM CEST. Paris is GMT+2. Sunset is ~ 9:30 CEST.

It will be very weird trying to get used to the time there. So at 21:30 is when the sun sets. That is pretty late. I am in FL and the sun sets at 20:00.

[Rob612]

It will be very weird trying to get used to the time there. So at 21:30 is when the sun sets. That is pretty late. I am in FL and the sun sets at 20:00.

Well that's normal, you are maybe 4000 miles south of Paris (and a little less of Rome...) and much closer to the Equator. Here the sun sets definitely at about 9 PM in these days.

For compensation, here north we will never have the same sunset colors you have in FL. Tropics are great for those.

[clorich]

wonton,
You might find this a useful tool

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneYear.html

[wonton]

Well that's normal, you are maybe 4000 miles south of Paris (and a little less of Rome...) and much closer to the Equator. Here the sun sets definitely at about 9 PM in these days.

For compensation, here north we will never have the same sunset colors you have in FL. Tropics are great for those.

Darn, maybe my dinner reservations are too early then. I guess people eat much later in Paris than here.