Night skyline shots advice

ChaseMe · 22nd of March 2012 (Thu)

I'm sure this has been discussed so I hope I'm not being annoying!

I'm a bit of a n00b so I'm looking for some help with shooting a skyline at night. How do I keep the blacks black and not wash it out with light pollution with a long'ish shutter?

I'll be using a 60D w/ sigma 10-20, maybe my 50 1.8 a bit. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Sirrith · 22nd of March 2012 (Thu)

I don't really think there's much you can do. It just depends on the place and atmospheric conditions.

For example, this is taken in Scotland, nice clean air:

IMG_9260 by noobographer, on Flickr

whereas this was taken in Hong Kong, not so nice hazy air:

peak panorama by noobographer, on Flickr

Exposure was about the same, yet one is brownish, one is less so. If you go on a clear night, you'll have less light pollution visible.

ChaseMe · 22nd of March 2012 (Thu)

Ya I hear that, I was going to go tomorrow night since it's forcasted to be clear and cold'ish. Your Scotland pic do you mind telling me the settings you used (f, ISO, etc)? That's where I'm most uncertain.

Sirrith · 22nd of March 2012 (Thu)

That shot was taken at f10, 30 sec, ISO 200. Its usually just trial and error to get the balance you like between the lights and the darkness. Make sure to use a remote release or at the 2 sec timer.

ChaseMe · 22nd of March 2012 (Thu)

Perfect, thanks so much. I have a remote yes.

ScottyK86 · 28th of March 2012 (Wed)

Forgive me for hijacking this thread, however I am also after some night time skyline advice as well.

I was wondering any tips to stop the lights flaring so much, so the neon signs and such just has a nice glow and are able to be seen clearly.

Here are a couple I have taken recently and I am just not happy with some of the lights.

Brisbane by ScottyK86, on Flickr

Cockle Bay by ScottyK86, on Flickr

x_tan · 29th of March 2012 (Thu)

^Try to shoot the 'night sky' in the earlier evening before totally dark: as in total darkness, the camera need to get correct exposure from the lighting from surrounding buildings. So the building lighting / Neon will be inevitable "over-exposure' and loss all their 'detail'.

ejenner · 2nd of April 2012 (Mon)

Yes, shoot at dusk (usually) - this takes experience to know exactly what the right light is, it usually lasts just about 10-15 minutes.

Also aperture is important. Large-ish (2.8-5.6) and lights will be crisp, small (f16-22) and they will be star-like.

Akrobatiks · 3rd of April 2012 (Tue)

Being from Chicago, I have photographed the skyline a lot. Shooting at blue hour is one of the best tips I can share with you, but you dont have to shoot then to get good results. You just have to learn the proper techniques. The way that I have found to get a perfect exposure everytime is to bracket your shots and then merge them manually in photoshop using layer masks... You just have to learn to recognize what parts of the skyline are going to be your problem areas and make sure you expose for them. Then master the art of blending each layer together to get the perfect exposure... Manual HDR if you will.

Here are a few of my night Chicago shots as examples...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see, you can achieve great results both during and even after the magic light of blue hour is gone...!

Bianchi · 4th of April 2012 (Wed)

^^^ Great shots

gt1cm2 · 25th of April 2012 (Wed)

Sorry newbie question here but what do you mean by blue hour?

Lowner · 25th of April 2012 (Wed)

Quote:

Originally Posted by gt1cm2

Sorry newbie question here but what do you mean by blue hour?

That time at dusk when the exposure includes some natural sky colour. Too late and what you see is reflected light from the artificial lighting.

colintf · 25th of April 2012 (Wed)

great shots. Thankyou for sharing them with us

gt1cm2 · 25th of April 2012 (Wed)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lowner

That time at dusk when the exposure includes some natural sky colour. Too late and what you see is reflected light from the artificial lighting.

Right, gotcha. Thanks

ChaseMe · 12th of May 2012 (Sat)

Finally got a chance to go and take the shots. I'm not unhappy, but didn't really get what I had in mind in the end. Regardless, here they are:

Montreal from Mill

Montreal from Concorde Bridge

22nd of March 2012 (Thu)	#1
ChaseMe Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 54	Night skyline shots advice I'm sure this has been discussed so I hope I'm not being annoying! I'm a bit of a n00b so I'm looking for some help with shooting a skyline at night. How do I keep the blacks black and not wash it out with light pollution with a long'ish shutter? I'll be using a 60D w/ sigma 10-20, maybe my 50 1.8 a bit. Any help would be greatly appreciated! __________________ Canon 60D \| 17-50 \| 40 \| 10-20 \| 70-200 4

22nd of March 2012 (Thu)	#2
Sirrith Cream of the Crop Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 8,466	Re: Night skyline shots advice I don't really think there's much you can do. It just depends on the place and atmospheric conditions. For example, this is taken in Scotland, nice clean air: IMG_9260 by noobographer, on Flickr whereas this was taken in Hong Kong, not so nice hazy air: peak panorama by noobographer, on Flickr Exposure was about the same, yet one is brownish, one is less so. If you go on a clear night, you'll have less light pollution visible. __________________ -Tom Flickr \| Zenfolio F-Stop Guru review \| RRS BH-40 review

22nd of March 2012 (Thu)	#3
ChaseMe Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 54	Re: Night skyline shots advice Ya I hear that, I was going to go tomorrow night since it's forcasted to be clear and cold'ish. Your Scotland pic do you mind telling me the settings you used (f, ISO, etc)? That's where I'm most uncertain. __________________ Canon 60D \| 17-50 \| 40 \| 10-20 \| 70-200 4

22nd of March 2012 (Thu)	#4
Sirrith Cream of the Crop Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 8,466	Re: Night skyline shots advice That shot was taken at f10, 30 sec, ISO 200. Its usually just trial and error to get the balance you like between the lights and the darkness. Make sure to use a remote release or at the 2 sec timer. __________________ -Tom Flickr \| Zenfolio F-Stop Guru review \| RRS BH-40 review

22nd of March 2012 (Thu)	#5
ChaseMe Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 54	Re: Night skyline shots advice Perfect, thanks so much. I have a remote yes. __________________ Canon 60D \| 17-50 \| 40 \| 10-20 \| 70-200 4

28th of March 2012 (Wed)	#6
ScottyK86 Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 78	Re: Night skyline shots advice Forgive me for hijacking this thread, however I am also after some night time skyline advice as well. I was wondering any tips to stop the lights flaring so much, so the neon signs and such just has a nice glow and are able to be seen clearly. Here are a couple I have taken recently and I am just not happy with some of the lights. Brisbane by ScottyK86, on Flickr Cockle Bay by ScottyK86, on Flickr __________________ Scottyk86 on Flickr

29th of March 2012 (Thu)	#7
x_tan Cream of the Crop Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: ɐılɐɹʇsnɐ 'ǝuɹnoqlǝɯ Posts: 7,206 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Night skyline shots advice ^Try to shoot the 'night sky' in the earlier evening before totally dark: as in total darkness, the camera need to get correct exposure from the lighting from surrounding buildings. So the building lighting / Neon will be inevitable "over-exposure' and loss all their 'detail'. __________________ Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today. - James Dean

2nd of April 2012 (Mon)	#8
ejenner Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 1,595 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Night skyline shots advice Yes, shoot at dusk (usually) - this takes experience to know exactly what the right light is, it usually lasts just about 10-15 minutes. Also aperture is important. Large-ish (2.8-5.6) and lights will be crisp, small (f16-22) and they will be star-like. __________________ __________________________________ 5DII, 7D, S95. 10-22, Sigma 15mm FE, TS-E 17, 17-40, 24-105, 70-200 f4 IS, Sigma 85 1.4,100L,135. http://www.flickr.com/photos/48305795@N03/

3rd of April 2012 (Tue)	#9
Akrobatiks Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 270	Re: Night skyline shots advice Being from Chicago, I have photographed the skyline a lot. Shooting at blue hour is one of the best tips I can share with you, but you dont have to shoot then to get good results. You just have to learn the proper techniques. The way that I have found to get a perfect exposure everytime is to bracket your shots and then merge them manually in photoshop using layer masks... You just have to learn to recognize what parts of the skyline are going to be your problem areas and make sure you expose for them. Then master the art of blending each layer together to get the perfect exposure... Manual HDR if you will. Here are a few of my night Chicago shots as examples... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As you can see, you can achieve great results both during and even after the magic light of blue hour is gone...! __________________ JamieLinkPhotography.com Body: EOS 5D Mark II - Battery Grip BG-E6 Glass: EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM - EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM - EF 50mm f / 1.2L USM - EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM - Extender EF 2x II - Extender 1.4x III Last edited by Akrobatiks : 3rd of April 2012 (Tue) at 19:17.

4th of April 2012 (Wed)	#10
Bianchi Goldmember Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: USA Posts: 2,160 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Night skyline shots advice ^^^ Great shots __________________ My Gear 4 Sale 100-400 Lis nice sharp copy

25th of April 2012 (Wed)	#11
gt1cm2 Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 76	Re: Night skyline shots advice Sorry newbie question here but what do you mean by blue hour?

25th of April 2012 (Wed)	#13
colintf Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Bristol, UK Posts: 147	Re: Night skyline shots advice great shots. Thankyou for sharing them with us

12th of May 2012 (Sat)	#15
ChaseMe Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 54	Re: Night skyline shots advice Finally got a chance to go and take the shots. I'm not unhappy, but didn't really get what I had in mind in the end. Regardless, here they are: Montreal from Mill Montreal from Concorde Bridge __________________ Canon 60D \| 17-50 \| 40 \| 10-20 \| 70-200 4

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