[photography] How to capture traffic @ night???

[Jimi_Hendrix2001]

how do i take a pic of traffic at night where you can see the stream of lights from the car?

like in the madonna ray of light video but still images

anyone know what i mean?!!?

I have the canon a60 camera. :D

[blobberTHEjobber]

I've done this with a film SLR over the M11. Set the camera up on a tripod somewhere dark, use a remote shutter release with an infinite shutter time. When traffic is passing allow exposure, otherwise cover the lens with card,

5-10 minutes of exposure gives cracking pics. I would imagine that if your camera doesn't allow infinite ******* release it wouldn't work/

[Jimi_Hendrix2001]

Originally posted by blobberTHEjobber
infinite ******* release /

hehe - thanks for the tip, i don't think my camera does that though - it was only £99!! lol

[camaj]

IIRC you need a wide appature and long exposure time. The reason why it's blured is because the film has been exposed for far longer than normal. The low light conditions require a wide exposure to maximise the amount of light through.

As BtJ says you need to keep the camera steady though!

[sjg1]

Canon A60 can do pretty long exposures - up to 30s I think, but it has to be done in manual mode. Put exposure time right up and experiment with the aperture value.

You really need a tripod though - can get a decent budget one for about £20. You can get around the camera shake by using the self-timer. Don't worry about having a cheap camera, I've seen some very good night pics in that style taken with A60s/A70s. Pick somewhere with plenty of traffic though, as obviously you won't have the luxury of taking in several minutes worth of traffic.

[big raj]

what about on a digital camera (olympus c-750)?.

[1966]

Originally posted by Jimi_Hendrix2001
hehe - thanks for the tip, i don't think my camera does that though - it was only £99!! lol

You can still achieve the affect to a degree with a (comparatively) short exposure time. I took the following pics by putting my digicam on night mode, which uses a exposure time of a fraction a second i'd guess, but it still gives the effect slightly.

http://server6.uploadit.org/files/PeteWilliams-Imgp37432.jpg

http://server6.uploadit.org/files/PeteWilliams-Imgp37412.jpg

They were hand held shots and not very exciting, but it goes to show you can do it a bit with a basic camera.

[CrowHitsJet]

Not too wide an aperture, though. A wide aperture will let too much light in and blow the shot out. I'd try f/5.6.

However! Light trails you can do with a seven second exposure. 5 seconds, even. One car won't look very special. A motorway at night will look good. 5 seconds of cars moving at 70mph :thumbs:

If you've got a shutter priority, make it as long as it can go, wack it on a tripod, and if you don't have a cable release use the inbuilt self-timer (the one for vanity shots ;)) That way you won't shake the camera.

If you've got a cable release and a Bulb (B) shutter mode, lock it down for various times at various apertures and experiment.

For night photography I think f/8 or f/11 for 5/6 minutes is a fairly decent approximation, of course dependent on your film speed and ambient light. Don't bother if it's a full moon. For good night photography, you'll get about 3 days a month in which to shoot. You can make a pitch black scene look like daylight.

[raymondlin]

With the A60, you can use the smallest Aperature (big numbers), LOW ISO, tripod. And then experiment with the seconds, try 10, 15, 20, 35, 45...etc.

If none of them work, use a wider aperture.

http://www.zen27283.zen.co.uk/competition.jpg

[RasTa]

Thats a class pic raymondo, love the sky

[sarny]

raymodn, u shoot on slr or a digi cam?

[Bapapapa]

Sit inside a GATSO.. :nuts:

[Chet]

A bloody big net

[Jimi_Hendrix2001]

great pic raymondlin - thats the effect i am after :D

[emeyedeejay]

Originally posted by big raj
what about on a digital camera (olympus c-750)?.

Big Raj ... I have the same camera and wondered the same thing ...

I know that the C750 has a max shutter speed of 16 seconds in manual mode... should be long enough to get some shots!

EDIT: Oh and I have 2 very handy hints and tips docs about using the C750 - let me know if you want them...

[dancleary1]

EM,

I've just bought a C750, could you send me the link for the C750 hints guide?

cheers
Dan

[Kryten]

Moving...

[GreyJackal]

infinite ******* release

Unfortunate typo :D

[emeyedeejay]

This goes back a bit ... I'll see if I can dig them up this evening when I get home ...

[dancleary1]

cheers :thumbs:

[emeyedeejay]

Actually - found them lurking in my bookmarks here at work :)

http://home.att.net/~galt_57/c750tricks.txt

this is the other I had but the page is gone :(

http://personal.inet.fi/private/bugi/photo/C-750-notes.html

[dancleary1]

thats great, thanks for the help.

[Brozyniak]

took this for the Signs comp. It was about 30secs at F11 if IRRC

http://www.brozyniak.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/images/forum%20competition/signs.jpg

[emeyedeejay]

Took these on Waterloo Bridge in July last year with an Oly C750 as it happens!

both 5s at f8
http://www.junors.dsl.pipex.com/TheDvdForums/light-trails-01.jpg

http://www.junors.dsl.pipex.com/TheDvdForums/light-trails-02.jpg

[t00thless]

if we are posting pics ;)

144 seconds at F9 if i remember rightly :) somewhere down the A3

http://www.jellyhead.net/misc/CRW_3497-01.jpg

[Bubble]

holy jebus! thats freeking awesome toohless!! any chance of a 1280x1024 or higher resolution of it for my desktop?

incredible!

[Jason]

Cant remember what settings i used on this one although it was exposed for way too long. Still like the result though, the others i have dont seem to be as impressive.

http://www.jaypr.dsl.pipex.com/ny13.jpg

Jason

[t00thless]

holy jebus! thats freeking awesome toohless!! any chance of a 1280x1024 or higher resolution of it for my desktop?

incredible!
Glad you like it mate, personally doesn't do anything for me, as it was one of my first try's at it and think it could be better, i got to go out for the second try sometime, but dam job getting in the way.

I will try and dig out the orginal raw for ya when i get home from work :)

[Samiad]

Cant remember what settings i used on this one although it was exposed for way too long. Still like the result though, the others i have dont seem to be as impressive.


Jason

I remember standing at that exact spot with my camera and thinking it was broken. Even with a very small aperture my shutter speed was very fast (around one second at night!). Times Square kicks out SO much light it's surprising.

[tmurphy]

Took this the other night from the 16th floor of the Moat House Hotel in Glasgow - Handheld
http://images.helms-deep.co.uk/_MG_6210_800.jpg

[homerjhandley]

this is something i really want to try, but when it gets dark i either need sleep or drink :D

wheres a good place (ie price/quality) for a tripod for a 350D

[Remains]

If you just want to try it out Homer, then you won't need to spend a lot on a tripod to be honest. I picked mine up for about a tenner off Amazon (a Hama one) and it's been fine for me. I took all of the shots in this post (http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5093741&postcount=3) on it so no problems really as you'll see.

I would like to upgrade to something heftier like a Manfrotto now that I've decided that night shooting and long exposures is 'my thing' but the Hama was a nice piece of kit to play around with whilst I experimented.

[homerjhandley]

cheers.

love the phonebox pic, got an eerie feeling to it of 'last point of communication'.

really must get out with the 350 and use it now.

[adam]

There so purty... You got any Exif info for those Remains, specially the ones on the beach, this is something I've tried before but never to the quality of those

[Remains]

Not too sure to be honest Adam, seem to have lost most of it because I move files around all the time! They will basically have been between 20 to 30 second exposues (maybe less for the Brazil beach ones the electrical lighting was quite bright there) and I just take plenty of different ones on different f stops and iso and cross my fingers that one will work. Still learning!

That full thread (http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=358387) actually has some good links on it that will undoubtedly be more useful than my blatherings here.

As an aside, I tried some 'light-painting' (basically sweeping a torch around with the shutter open, to 'paint' areas you want illuminating a little more in the pitch blackness) in a derelict house last week and got some decent results. Need to get some coloured gels and work more at that.

[Mr Biggles]

These are three I took in Hong Kong back in March. The last was a 15sec exposure aboard a ferry with the camera pointed to the side at the road and hi-rise flats.

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/jpwimages/dvdforums/photos/hk/hk_night_lights_01.jpg

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/jpwimages/dvdforums/photos/hk/hk_night_lights_02.jpg

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/jpwimages/dvdforums/photos/hk/hk_night_lights_03.jpg

[mr procter]

add my light trail shot from a couple of weeks ago
http://www.chrisprocter.plus.com/webAI.jpg

[emeyedeejay]

Mr. Biggles ...

Those are very interesting! Like the wave motion effect on the first one very much