Wednesday, December 14, 2011

There are 2 ways

to produce night photos. There is the way that most people do, that is hand hold your camera at a low shutter speed and crank the ISO way up and cross your fingers. Tonight we headed downtown to the outskirts of Vancouver's Chinatown to a Cambodian Restaurant where I grabbed a quick shot of the street outside. This particular restaurant has won the award from WestEnder Magazine as the Best Vietnamese Restaurant in Vancouver for 2011

DSC00346
(ISO: 6,400 1/60 sec F 4.0 HHT Mode: Sony NEX-5n w/ 18-55mm)

On the way home I stopped on Cambie Street to snap a night shot the old fashioned way. It was drizzling a bit but I found a dry spot under an overhang. I like the reflections that bounce off the wet roads

DSC00353
(ISO: 100 5 seconds F 18.0 Sony NEX-5n w/18-55mm)

I wanted more red light trails but most cars were headed north.

10 comments:

bluekat said...

I love all the color and reflections in the second one. Nice! Rain can be useful for somethings, and making reflective surfaces is one of them.

I don't know why, but I hate to crank the ISO past 400. I love night time city scenes. Being in a small town, I'm less excited to get out and shoot. Yes, there are photo ops out there, but I love all the lights and busy-ness of the city.

Dar said...

I had to crank the ISO to 800 tonight at my daughter's school advent service, I think it's rude to use a flash during a performance & it's dark. Am hoping for the best.

Your shots are lovely.

Nikos said...

Bob

What happened to the old "B" setting?

N who used to own a Zenit

bobskoot said...

Bluekat:

My NEX can easily go up to 1600, and 3200 with acceptable noise. I had autoISO for the handheld one, but changed to manual ISO:100 for the tripod mounted one. I don't have a ND filter but wanted a long exposure to catch the trailing lights. A slight sheen on the roadway makes for good reflections

Dar:

The main problem is the bright LCD screen which distracts people behind, and perhaps the shutter noise. I have found that when you have marginal light for photos, video mode seems to work better

Nikos:

Older cameras had "B" and a tripod cable. Newer cameras can be set electronically for longer exposures. I have some old cameras too, and they make for good doorstops

len said...

Nice photo's bobskoot......love the car tail lights trailing,also
great colours bouncing from the ground.

regards

len
scootering adventures

Trobairitz said...

Beautiful night shots.

See you tomorrow night.

Doug said...

ISO 6400, Bob? I'm still hoping someone will make a sensor that equals Kodacolor 25.

682202 said...

Bob,

love the night shots. The HHT shot looks a little soft. I'm guessing that's the averages of the multiply images. The long exposure is very sharp, did you use a tripod?

bobskoot said...

Len:

When the roads are wet, there are lots of reflections, even if you can't see them with your eyes. Snap a photo and you will see what I mean

Trobairitz:

Can't wait to see you both tonight. I am leaving after work so a long drive in the dark and rain. I can bring an extra tripod if you need one

Doug:

The NEX doesn't have any problems at least up to 3,200:ISO, you can push to 6,400, and there is an interesting comparison at 12,800:ISO

682202/GAW:

the first shot was handheld. The last one was tripod mounted taken the traditional way with low ISO and long shutter speed. You would use HHT mode where you can't use a tripod or want a quick snap.

Richard Machida said...

My D60 starts getting noticeably noisier past ISO 800 and I can't justify replacing it. I like the motion in the long exposure shot. I have started looking for a set of ND filters for my 50mm lens but don't know how to determine what's good and what's bad...