Long Exposure

anvilimage

I was out shooting late the other night (really late) and grabbed this at about 1AM @ Crissy Field in San Francisco. 30 second exposure in complete darkness with only moonlight helping. Read more about my night out shooting on my photo blog @ www.anvilimage.com. C&C appreciated!

Know Your Way


-joe

Skippy

anvilimage wrote:

I was out shooting late the other night (really late) and grabbed this at about 1AM @ Crissy Field in San Francisco. 30 second exposure in complete darkness with only moonlight helping. Read more about my night out shooting on my photo blog @ www.anvilimage.com. C&C appreciated!

Know Your Way

-joe

Gosh Joe, for 1AM it looks pretty darn light

Was it a full moon? intesting how the light from about the middle of the walking platform is brighter than the forground or the background.

Caught a lot of detail in this shot, I would like to see it darker myself,
if not for the stars, I would not have picked up that was 1AM at all.

I like the shot, well done .... Skippy
.

anvilimage

Skippy,

It was actually pitch black out there and the moon did little to help me see where I was going! With the shutter set @ 30 seconds it just keeps gathering light and can make it look really bright... Try it sometime!

-joe

Dogdots

What a wonderful photo I've been practicing this, but still need much more practice.

redleash

Really a nice shot! I would never have thought it would gather that much light either--amazing. Is that Alcatraz on the right?

Jack'll do

Great capture Joe. Could you give us some more info... aperture, FL, iso etc.

dlplumer

Very good and very interesting. Obviously there was some light, even though imperceptible, since there are very distinct shadows. I'm planning some night shooting this evening.

Dan

anvilimage

Redleash: Yes, that is Alcatraz on the right! Others may also recognize Angel Island to the left...

Jack: I shot this with my 40D through a 24-105mm L lens at 24mm. I took a total of six shots and burned the first three just trying to get a good focus! This shot was the best of the next three at ISO 200/f4.0 for 30 seconds.

Thanks for all of your comments!

-joe

JustPlainMe

This is a rudimentary question, not particularly related to long exposure, it might be more appropriate to ask in the technique forum. This shot is so beautiful and clear and sharp---when you are shooting a shot in the dark like this, how do you focus the lens before you start the shot? I have tried a few long exposure shots making sure I placed my camera on a stationary object (my tripod is not steady enough) and I still get fairly blurry images. It could be that my lens, which hunts a LOT in low light (even in artificial light inside a house, for example) just isn't up to the task. I haven't tried one with my wide angle lens yet. Any pointers?

Drin

Very nice. I like these kinds of shots but my little Rebel XS can't really do them without a LOT of noise. Cool, though.

anvilimage

JustPlainMe: I had trouble getting my camera to focus in the dark, too. I ended up using a flashlight.... Lit up the subject a little, got a focus, shut off the flashlight and then shot. Once I got a focus, I turned off AF so that it wouldn't undo that effort. Worked pretty well!

Drin: What ISO are you shooting at? I'm not familiar with your camera, can you set the ISO?

-joe

Drin

anvilimage wrote:

Drin: What ISO are you shooting at? I'm not familiar with your camera, can you set the ISO?

It's a low end Canon DSLR. I can set the ISO but I think the long exposure does it in. I may try again and see if I can fiddle it into submission. Haha.

DaddyO

Nice one. Came out good for you. Long exposures can be very
rewarding for result.

JustPlainMe

Joe, I just came back and checked this thread, I forgot I had asked a question. The flashlight idea is a great idea, I think when I was trying these I was in complete darkness and there was no point of reference for the camera. I'm going to try this sometime soon. Thanks!