First Nightscape

While waiting for the Aurora to pick up I decided to try out a nightscape for the first time. It was fairly hard to tell how long I needed the shutter open to make sure the mountains were lit up enough for a good exposure but after a few adjustments I think I got a decent shot. What do you think? I've posted in this section before and I don't mind people speaking their honest thoughts, I learn best that way.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/neimad19/804538​5532/

I haven't shot nightscapes myself, so I can't offer any advice for improvement, but the mountains look well lit to me. Good job

I don't have much experience with nightscapes, but the mountains look great! Would like to see a bit more detail in the pine trees though if I had to critique it.

Yeah a little more details in tree. Is this a composite image? I ask with the fact that the stars are not moving with the time lapse....can we see both ways. Looks nice and clean though.

stillinamerica wrote in post #15067748
Yeah a little more details in tree. Is this a composite image? I ask with the fact that the stars are not moving with the time lapse....can we see both ways. Looks nice and clean though.

Il have a go at bringing out the details in the trees in LR now Nope, its a single image. The clouds were moving pretty fast over head and there is a little elongation noticeable on a 100% crop which I predicted for a 20s Exp. @ 18mm but not enough to worry me.

Beautiful shot, looks amazingly crisp and clear, and the fast moving clouds add an extra dimension to the image. Makes me feel as if I am there, gazing at those stars.

I like to do some night photography, city scapes, landscapes, and occasionally my motorcycle when I get out at night. The key to long exposures, as you've found out already, is simply to experiment with them!

I wouldn't worry about bringing detail out in the trees; it's a night scene, and your subject of interest, the mountain, stands out beautifully in contrast to the darker trees. For me, that is a nice lead-in into the image.

I've never done or even seen a nightscape, but this looks pretty awesome to me!

Thanks! I tried bringing a bit of detail into the tree line by touching up the exposure along it but I'm no master at Lightroom and it just became too noisy again and un-natural looking.

I feel like the dark trees let you focus on the mountains anyway...but that's just me

That is a great shot I think. I have some questions though (i have only tried a couple night shots)...

This was a 20 second exposure? How did you keep from getting star streak, or does the 18mm focal length allow you go get away from that. I notice streaking beginning around 10s, give or take. Also, what was your ISO? I'm surprised you got that much light with a 18-55mm kit lens, even at 3.5f if that's what you took it at.

RevvdImages wrote in post #15070313
That is a great shot I think. I have some questions though (i have only tried a couple night shots)...

This was a 20 second exposure? How did you keep from getting star streak, or does the 18mm focal length allow you go get away from that. I notice streaking beginning around 10s, give or take. Also, what was your ISO? I'm surprised you got that much light with a 18-55mm kit lens, even at 3.5f if that's what you took it at.

Great shot OP. I love the lighting on the mountain. Looks like moon lighting?

There is some simple math you can apply to figure out how long of a shot you can take before getting streaking...

ShutterSpeed = 600/FocalLength
(dont ask me where 600 comes from because I have no idea but its what I was taught and works very well)

If you have a 50mm lens on a crop camera then take the effective FL of 50mm which is 80mm. If using a full frame camera then you would use 50mm obviously.
600/80 = 7.5 seconds

I use my 17-40 on my 5D2 at 17mm for many night shots and I am looking at 600/17 = ~35 seconds.

So yes focal length is everything. Hope this helps!

mrbubbles wrote in post #15070371
Great shot OP. I love the lighting on the mountain. Looks like moon lighting?

There is some simple math you can apply to figure out how long of a shot you can take before getting streaking...

ShutterSpeed = 600/FocalLength
(dont ask me where 600 comes from because I have no idea but its what I was taught and works very well)

If you have a 50mm lens on a crop camera then take the effective FL of 50mm which is 80mm. If using a full frame camera then you would use 50mm obviously.
600/80 = 7.5 seconds

I use my 17-40 on my 5D2 at 17mm for many night shots and I am looking at 600/17 = ~35 seconds.

So yes focal length is everything. Hope this helps!

Thanks

It's one of those things I could probably figure out through experimentation, but seems like every time I decide to do night shots, it is full on cloudy lol.

Looks great. The only thing I'd suggest with a 5 minute shutter would be to have someone walk along the trees with a flash and repeatedly fire it while walking the tree line. Issues might be getting the lighting causing an issue where it hits the grass - perhaps put it on a long pole and hold it high up?

sswanson wrote in post #15072015
Looks great. The only thing I'd suggest with a 5 minute shutter would be to have someone walk along the trees with a flash and repeatedly fire it while walking the tree line. Issues might be getting the lighting causing an issue where it hits the grass - perhaps put it on a long pole and hold it high up?

I would do that if the exposure was 5 minutes but it was only 20 seconds so unless I had Usan Bolt with a flash light I doubt I could evenly light paint an area that big.

Ah, I misread something then. thought it was longer. Yeah, you'd have to have a lot of people out there with flashlights or something, and that would be more likely to end up with it looking odd than improved, I'd bet.

Might be fun to try though.