First try at long light exposures...

I captured these from the sidewalk last night..I'm still saving up for a decent tripod so I had to rest the camera on a bus bench, but I think that did the trick for the most part, please let me know what you think..I couldn't find any pedestrian friendly overpasses to shoot from

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

I know what you want to achieve - but to me personally it doesn't work.

Exposed too long - I personally think a higher position would be advantageous too.

I agree... maybe too long of an exposure, and a higher vantage point is needed....

At least now you know how to do it. Now you just need a better location.

I Like the second, the streetlights have starred nicely, it's just the light trails which are a bit uninteresting.

I have an idea for an awesome shot but I'll need to get a tripod and scope out a good area. Thanks guys.

corkneyfonz wrote in post #11048336
I Like the second, the streetlights have starred nicely, it's just the light trails which are a bit uninteresting.

Really? For me it's the exact opposite, you can get starred lights anywhere through a long exposure... Plus the starredness of the lights take away from the streaks, which seems like the focal point.

Check your white balance, these photos will pop a little bit more if they weren't so warm and yellow.

You will definitely have a ton more fun with these with a tripod, I must say these are very good results for not having one.

I used a $40-50 tripod for the last 3 years, and it worked really well, it was definitely a consumer model, and the only reason I upgraded was because it just kind of fell apart. What kind of tripod are you saving up for?

any kind..I have a $40 one but I lost the part that connects to the camera when I sold my camcorder..but I'd like to have a nice reliable one around the $150-$300 range at some point.

I found the 2nd one interesting because, even though the lights end, there is no car at the end of them..

When trying to capture some specific cool looking effect like light trails you often focus too much on achieving the desired effect and not enough time thinking about the overall composition and background of the photo. Try finding a place that would make a good cityscape or that has some interesting elements in it, this way you light trails from cars will add to the overall photo.