Night landscape photography

Hi guys,

I'm new to the forums here and i must say it is full of information! I am having huge trouble getting my head around this for about a month i have struggled and read and read and read about how to take night shots of landscape photos.

For my particular shot i am trying to achieve, it is of sydney harbour at night time between 8 and 12 p.m.
Now i understand that the best light would preferably at dusk (around 7'ish at the moment with daylight savings) and i am going to do this tonight, but i am just intrigued to the following questions i have:

I have read A LOT of articles about night photography. I thought i understood it, but in fact i was totally wrong. It is about 100m to the city from my location, it is pretty well lit, i am shooting from ground level and about 10metres up, there is a lot of sky involved i would say.
Now that i have explained my location, i will explain my camera settings.

I am using a Canon EOS 400D with the standard 18-55mm lense. I plan to upgrade to a 50d and buy a canon 10-22mm lense in about a month, but i want to get this shot right, with my current setup.

The settings i have read about, tell me to use an aperture of around f/11 to f/22 and a longer shutter speed of around 20-30 seconds. I have tried this on NUMEROUS occasions, using different focal points, different metering modes, etc.... and it comes out VERY underexposed. I check the histograms and it is just hugging the left hand side of the histogram. I change the exposure compensation meter and bracket it and no matter how much or how less i set it too its always underexposed.
BUT, when i use a wide aperture of around f3.5-5/5.6 and a 20-30second shutter speed it comes out brilliant, but some highlights are blown out and i just cant figure out how to perfectly expose the shot. I cant find that middle which is perfection. I always shoot using an ISO of 100, a sturdy tripod and a wireless remote release.

It is the same angle as the linked photo below (Sorry if this is copyright i believe it isn't as i am jsut displaying it and not wanting to "copy" the shot, i am using it as an example)

http://www.istockphoto​.com …our-bridge.php?id=1176832

http://www.istockphoto​.com …our-bridge.php?id=4980927

Can you please help me out here!? Mainly on what settings to use and to maximise the light e.g. focus points, time of day shooting etc etc.

Many thanks!!!
Kory

Is there a reason why you didn't post your own photos as well?

From the sounds of it, it's simply too dark for f/11-22 and 20-30 seconds, but looking at the images you linked to, it seems to be a reasonably well lit area. The only thing is that different areas are brighter than others, so it may not be possible to get the exposure right for the whole scene in one shot.

This is where digital blending comes in. You take multiple shots with varying exposures and then blend them during PP. One shot with the bright lights correctly exposed, another with the darker areas correctly exposed. And a few in between maybe.

I've done a few cityscapes at night, and using ISO 100 and f/11, I think the shutter speeds I've needed have been between 10-20 seconds. You can have a look at a few of mine if you like, the EXIF is intact: http://www.flickr.com …n/sets/72157603​728940784/.

Cheers,
Chris

it sounds like you shooting in pretty dark place. it is possible to get good shot even at f/3.5... heres my example iso 160; 30 sec; f/3.5
(also to get best color, use kelvin WB temp settings or try different presets)

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If you're shooting at night, the histogram will almost always lean to the left, as the scene is dominated by darker tonal values. Night photography can be challenging, which also makes it very rewarding. I suggest you try starting at around 10-12 seconds at f/8 0r f/11 and take it from there. Good luck and keep us posted on how things are going!

Hi There,

Thanks for the replies, i really appreciate it!! I Have posted some photos i took at the location i am talking about. This is really dark and very late at night. I just can't seem to get my head around how to expose this. I used a "tungsten" white balance here, i can change it either way, but i thought daylight was too "warm" for this. I know tungsten should mainly be used indoors. I have also posted some shots at dusk. I have tried so many settings my hands are bleeding from turning the dial and pressing buttons!
My girlfriend for xmas is buying me a 50D with a 17-40L lense, i am hoping that from what i have learnt from here, and from various other sources, that my photos will turn out better. I wish in one way i never discovered the internet for photography as i am happy with the photos but at 100% it drives me crazy because i am a perfectionist!

Please, criticize photos below and tell me whats wrong with them!

The dusk photos have had the settings for white balance changed, in DPP and changed to the "landscape" setting to bring out more colour although i think it may look too fake. The first photo of the bridge, theres a lot of noise in the sky, i found if i exposed the sky right, the foreground was really dark and if i expose the city right, the sky is really really noisy. I think there is softness or just not enough quality in the lense i am using (18-55 kit lense) and the camera is suitable but could be better for landscape especially night. It seems darker or overexposed around the edges. I also understand, the best focal length is around 24mm?

I also always shoot in AV mode, unless i need to compensate and use manual mode.

Bridge details are as below:
Shutter speed: 30 sec
Aperture: f/5.6
EV Comp: +1.7
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 18mm

Dusk Photo details:
Shutter Speed: 30secs
Aperture: f/11
EV Comp: +1 Stop
ISO:100
Focal Length: 18mm

Sunset Photo Details:
Shutter Speed: 1/125
Aperture: f/5.6
EV Comp: +1.7
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 22mm

I don't know about this sunset photo, whether it is too dark in the foreground or if thats how it should look to expose the sunset properly.

It seems as though when i shoot at night, i either underexpose drastically (through EV Compensation) or i blow out highlights and the histogram display shows what i have blownout. The histogram is mostly always on the left. The sunset photo the histogram was pretty well evenly spread across from left to right.

Many thanks!

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Thats a lovely shot. Is manual the best way to setup for shots like these. Could you use ''tv'' instead and let the camera do the rest. Hope this does'nt sound like im hi jacking the thread. Just i usally shoot motorsports but wouldnt ming trying some night shots

Anto Modded wrote in post #6693051
Thats a lovely shot. Is manual the best way to setup for shots like these. Could you use ''tv'' instead and let the camera do the rest. Hope this does'nt sound like im hi jacking the thread. Just i usally shoot motorsports but wouldnt ming trying some night shots

You can, but it depends on the overall look you want. You may need a minor tweak that is a lot easier to adjust shooting manual.

Hi S7000.

That is a beautiful shot! May i ask what lense you used? I will guess the 10-22?

I am not trying to re-create the istock photos, i was just providing them as a sample of the area i was trying to photograph to show the lights as i was away from my home computer and could not get my own shots up.

I was just wondering, your photo doesnt look like it has any of noise in it, even at iso 400. Yes, i dont want to use tungsten white balance anymore for night shots, i figured that out hehe.

Is this the original image or is there processing involved?

The reason i am going up a stop, is that if i drop the EV down to 0, its too underexposed. Is there a reason you used ISO 400 instead of ISO 100? Do you feel like theres too much light too use ISO100? Or you found that it compensated well with the settings you had?
Also where was your focus point and what metering mode are you using and why?

Sorry for the newbie question, i am just trying to figure out how to "perfectly" expose this scene as im having difficulties with this night shot.

Thanks!

Thanks matey, and you're quite right I used the 10-22mm.

Ok, where to start...My shot does have a bit of noise in it (the sky mainly), a little more than I would've liked, but it still turned out well. The only PP work I've done is a little bit of work on the contrast, and some sharpening (Maybe a little bit of vibrancy too).

Ok, onto the tech side. Basically when I went to shoot this I had an idea in my head of what I wanted. I needed a long shutter speed to get the silky water, and I needed a f/stop of 16+ to get the bridge and the buildings into focus. My AF point (centre) was on the bridge (I then recomposed the shot locking that focus). The reason I shot at ISO400 is because to get a 25 second exposure at f/16 that was the ISO that got my exposure needle centred. If I shot at a lesser ISO or higher ISO it would've under or over exposed (unless I then changed my shutter speed or aperture). I was using evaluative metering, and metered once I'd recomposed off the lights in front of me.

Basically, if you take the first image you posted, at f/5.6, 30 seconds plus compensation even at ISO100 you're letting too much light hit your sensor. You can also see the back end of the bridge is out of focus due to the big aperture. if you were to use a smaller aperture you'd get the whole shot in focus, and the longer shutter speed could have been achieved. Something like that should've been around 10 seconds (from a guess).

I don't think I can do the best job about explaining the perfect exposure to you. However, a really good starting point is a Bryan Peterson's book "Understanding Exposure". It's not a long read, but it's very informative and should definitely be read by beginners who are learning about photography not SLR's.

Edit:

The effect you were going for can be achieved with short shutter speeds, large aperture and a low ISO however as you can see i'm geting light reflecting off the clouds. This was one of my first pictures I took with my 400D (Once I got the wide angle I went for a re-shoot of this). the exif is:

4 sec
f/4.0
ISO200
27mm

IMAGE IS A REDIRECT OR MISSING! HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

This thread inspired me to try. I only had a few mins when it wasn't raining last friday. I was in Windsor Ontario Canada and got of a few quick shots of Detroit. It was actually hard because it was also foggy over the city at the same time and the fog was reflecting the downtown lights... So here is my first ever try..Thanks for inspiring me.

I will have to look it up for sure.
But I believe
f/11
iso 800 Whoops accident, didn't pay attention..I think you can tell this is iso 800
20 second exposure. 17-85 IS lens @ 17
I was bouncing them around from 15-30 seconds and the 30 second ones were over exposed in areas. Also shot some at f/16 and I didn't like any of them.

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Canadian Techdiver wrote in post #6709533
This thread inspired me to try. I only had a few mins when it wasn't raining last friday. I was in Windsor Ontario Canada and got of a few quick shots of Detroit. It was actually hard because it was also foggy over the city at the same time and the fog was reflecting the downtown lights... So here is my first ever try..Thanks for inspiring me.

I will have to look it up for sure.
But I believe
f/11
iso 800 Whoops accident, didn't pay attention..I think you can tell this is iso 800
20 second exposure. 17-85 IS lens @ 17
I was bouncing them around from 15-30 seconds and the 30 second ones were over exposed in areas. Also shot some at f/16 and I didn't like any of them.

You got a lot of grain in there, but I kind of like it. Gives it a dark vintage feel.

My co-worker looked at it and said it best. She liked it... "It looks Gothem Cityish, from Batman" Sorry added the water mark because her cousin works for the city of windsor and they asked me if they could possibly use the photo. So I added it and sent this link as a temp to them. full size image is at home... IT would be way cool if someone used my image for something.. I am a total newbie.. so that is exciting. Hijack off.

Realitysas I like your three shots in the second on you should straighten the horizon... that just throws me off. In the sunset one. I like it but it is up to you if you like that. The bridge will remain dark in the forefront until the sun sets and you get a more even exposure of everything....personal​ly I love this shot. Not quite a nightime shot but I love it.

I shot mine in maual. No EV comp.. I left it at 0 or neutral.... in Maual I can adjust my shutter speed or my aperature whichever I want and then I can just play with it from there. set yoru f-stop to f/11 and then take 4 or 5 pictures at different shutter speeds. Then change to f/16 or f/9 etc and experiment with different shutter speeds. Then open up your files and look at your exif data and write down your favorites... Next time you have a great starting point to go from...

Canadian Techdiver wrote in post #6709784
My co-worker looked at it and said it best. She liked it... "It looks Gothem Cityish, from Batman" Sorry added the water mark because her cousin works for the city of windsor and they asked me if they could possibly use the photo. So I added it and sent this link as a temp to them. full size image is at home... IT would be way cool if someone used my image for something.. I am a total newbie.. so that is exciting. Hijack off.

Realitysas I like your three shots in the second on you should straighten the horizon... that just throws me off. In the sunset one. I like it but it is up to you if you like that. The bridge will remain dark in the forefront until the sun sets and you get a more even exposure of everything....personal​ly I love this shot. Not quite a nightime shot but I love it.

I shot mine in maual. No EV comp.. I left it at 0 or neutral.... in Maual I can adjust my shutter speed or my aperature whichever I want and then I can just play with it from there. set yoru f-stop to f/11 and then take 4 or 5 pictures at different shutter speeds. Then change to f/16 or f/9 etc and experiment with different shutter speeds. Then open up your files and look at your exif data and write down your favorites... Next time you have a great starting point to go from...

Nice one buddy!

Best way to learn is get out there and do it. Once you get a feel for what you want, you'll start to achieve it easier.

I will take into account what you have said and i will take some photos tomorrow night and post them when i get home. Thanks for all the help i enjoyed it, very helpful people! I'll try one of the bridge and of the city centre, although i highly doubt they will look as good as yours but i'll have a play around in manual mode also as i normally just stick to AV.

Many thanks!!