Question about shooting night scene... DGrin Challenge #18

TexPhotog

Ok, so I was checking out the DGrin Challenge #18.

I was looking at photo #22 (hopefully they stay in order). It is an awesome photo and I would like to try and figure out how something like this is shot.

I looked at the EXIF info... and if I am reading this correctly, the exposure time was almost 8 minutes... right??? (464/1 = 464 divided by 60 seconds)

The photographer shot this as follows:
The Fall - tsk1979
ISO 200
f4.5
Exposure time 464s(464/1)
18mm

So my question is like this... wouldn't the f4.5 be too fast for such a lengthy exposure time???

Thanks... any help with this is appreciated...

pathfinder

Not really - Here is a frame of mine from Arches, shot in full moonlight. Full moonlight is considerably brighter than the dark of the moon of course.

ISO 1600 - 3 full stops faster than the image you asked about at ISO 200

f5.6 ( not quite one stop slower than his aperture of f4.5 )

238 secs = ~ 4 minutes ( about one stop shorter than his shutter speed )

TexPhotog

pathfinder wrote:

Not really - Here is a frame of mine from Arches, shot in full moonlight. Full moonlight is considerably brighter than the dark of the moon of course.

ISO 1600 - 3 full stops faster than the image you asked about at ISO 200

f5.6 ( not quite one stop slower than his aperture of f4.5 )

238 secs = ~ 4 minutes ( about one stop shorter than his shutter speed )

AWESOME PHOTO!!!

Very interesting... I always thought that I needed to shoot at like f16/f22 in order to get something like this... I'll have to try this once I get my D300... my D50 will only let me do up to 30 secs unless I go bulb, but I have to hold the shutter since it doesn't have a port for a wired remote, and of course, that will move my shot =C

pathfinder

For shots with shutter speeds of > 5 minutes, just open and close your lens with your lens cap or your hat after opening the shutter with the bulb setting.

TexPhotog

pathfinder wrote:

For shots with shutter speeds of > 5 minutes, just open and close your lens with your lens cap or your hat after opening the shutter with the bulb setting.

But wouldn't that still leave the same movement problem at the end of the shot???

pathfinder

Yes, potentially, but for shutter speeds that long > 5 minutes on a good tripod, any movement is minor ( less than 1 second ) and not registered over 5 - 6 minute exposure. This is not true for a second shutter flash or light painting of course.

A cable release is certainly better, but if your camera does not offer a bulb setting with a cable release what else can you do?? Like the large format photographers in the 1870s, take off the lens cap for the exposure, replace the lens cap when you finish.