Night time shot of lit building Q?
Discussion
Ok,
Been playing around with my new camera and unfortunately the weather here ihas been rubbish the last few days so no stunning material for xmas pressies yet.
However I did get a chance to take a nice shot of a local landmark last night, McCaighs Tower in Oban. It is an unfinished colloseum type thing at the the top of a big hill and it is lit at nightby a few floodlights.
All my pics looked burnt out if I let the camera (D50) do its thing so I tried manually adjusting the shutter speed to reduce exposure. This helped the main subject (the tower) but made it look like it was stuck in the middle of a black hole.
Anyone any ideas how I can set a D50 up to get a nice shot?
This may be for future reference as it is bucketing down today so I doubt I will get any shots today.
Been playing around with my new camera and unfortunately the weather here ihas been rubbish the last few days so no stunning material for xmas pressies yet.
However I did get a chance to take a nice shot of a local landmark last night, McCaighs Tower in Oban. It is an unfinished colloseum type thing at the the top of a big hill and it is lit at nightby a few floodlights.
All my pics looked burnt out if I let the camera (D50) do its thing so I tried manually adjusting the shutter speed to reduce exposure. This helped the main subject (the tower) but made it look like it was stuck in the middle of a black hole.
Anyone any ideas how I can set a D50 up to get a nice shot?
This may be for future reference as it is bucketing down today so I doubt I will get any shots today.
I know the tower!
... don't know the D50 mind - but I'm pretty sure you can set the exposure so that it is 'centre weighted' or 'spot' metering (on my Nikon the button is on the top of the viewfinder with three settings). This usually overcomes the problem as the camera will ignore the black sky and just expose for the bit you want. It's also the best way to get pics of the moon etc
Good luck
Steve
>> Edited by GetCarter on Thursday 22 December 13:58
... don't know the D50 mind - but I'm pretty sure you can set the exposure so that it is 'centre weighted' or 'spot' metering (on my Nikon the button is on the top of the viewfinder with three settings). This usually overcomes the problem as the camera will ignore the black sky and just expose for the bit you want. It's also the best way to get pics of the moon etc
Good luck
Steve
>> Edited by GetCarter on Thursday 22 December 13:58
Been many a year since I was there but I know it too.
The problem is the difference between the spotlights and the surroundings. Get there at dusk, or just before. Set the camera on manual and do a series of exposures, over and under, every 15 mins or so. As it gets darker, somewhere in that lot, you will have a nicely balanced exposure. (unless you want Shirley to do some blending for you) Look forward to seeing it, good luck
KB_S1 said:
but made it look like it was stuck in the middle of a black hole.
The problem is the difference between the spotlights and the surroundings. Get there at dusk, or just before. Set the camera on manual and do a series of exposures, over and under, every 15 mins or so. As it gets darker, somewhere in that lot, you will have a nicely balanced exposure. (unless you want Shirley to do some blending for you) Look forward to seeing it, good luck
Sure thing, Shirley!
Yup - you're right. Let's re-phrase that to "there are ways to do lots of trickery and while you're on the learning curve, you may want to put this thought to the back of your mind as something you can learn on a rainy day"
E.g. described here
Yup - you're right. Let's re-phrase that to "there are ways to do lots of trickery and while you're on the learning curve, you may want to put this thought to the back of your mind as something you can learn on a rainy day"
E.g. described here
Why thankyou for the help.
At the moment however rain is coming down like it is being chased, I am not taking my new camera out in that!
The blending idea was one I thought of but I am at work and really busy bouncing down album files all day. We have PS but I don't know how to work it and I really wanted a print for xmas pressies. Hopefully tomorrow it will be nicer.
At the moment however rain is coming down like it is being chased, I am not taking my new camera out in that!
The blending idea was one I thought of but I am at work and really busy bouncing down album files all day. We have PS but I don't know how to work it and I really wanted a print for xmas pressies. Hopefully tomorrow it will be nicer.
I've been there, it always rains in Oban, even inside a tent in July !!
The way I'd try to capture the lit building in camera without an excessively dark background is:
1. work out what exposure you will need to prevent the masonry looking burnt out by using the spot meter function on your camera or doing some test exposures (you can do this on a different night if necessary.)
2. wait until the light level in the background dims to slightly less than the value you worked out in step 1
3. set manual exposure with the value you worked out in step 1 and fire away until I got the result I wanted in the review window
The way I'd try to capture the lit building in camera without an excessively dark background is:
1. work out what exposure you will need to prevent the masonry looking burnt out by using the spot meter function on your camera or doing some test exposures (you can do this on a different night if necessary.)
2. wait until the light level in the background dims to slightly less than the value you worked out in step 1
3. set manual exposure with the value you worked out in step 1 and fire away until I got the result I wanted in the review window
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