# Getting great night pictures - how ?



## nudda (Oct 28, 2008)

ive got a Nikon D80 and want to get great looking semi-professional type night pictures but dont know what settings I should be putting the camera on. I know others do it and always wonder how but I cant get a decent picture until I have proper lighting. Does anyone know how ?

Thanks


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## natjag (Dec 14, 2008)

You need a tripod. settings can depend on what your shooting, but I'd normally start at ISO 100, f11 and be expecting about 5 second exposure. If you put in Av mode, the time will be set for you. Exposures of 30 seconds plus would not be unusual, but you will need a good tripod. All this applies to landscape/cityscape pictures.


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## nudda (Oct 28, 2008)

Thanks.
Been experimenting and a low ISO takes ageeeeeees to take a pic at night.
I've seen shots where a small street light exaggerates the whole pictures and makes it look like day time. That's the kind of shot I want.

I've got a tripod so will experiment but the pictures at the moment are coming out very yellowy ... this may be because of the uk street light.


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## Gary-360 (Apr 26, 2008)

Try experimenting with long exposure, wide apertures and change the white balance to tungsten, this should get rid of the yellow 

Oh, and as above....Tripod and remote or timed release.

Gary


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## Coxy914 (Jan 14, 2007)

I've got a D80 and shoot a lot of night exposure pictures. 20"-30" normall using ISO 100 and a large DoF normally.

Not only is a tripod important but so is a shutter release cable. Cheap enough off eBay.

Another pointer is change your image quality setting to RAW if you've not shot night mode before as you can then change the White Balance after.

here's an example of one I took recently

The first is taken with a normal white balance.









and for the 2nd one, I have changed the White Balance setting (WB) to Incandescent. This can be altered to whichever setting suits the lighting you are working with.









Best thing is stick it in Manual mode and play around with the settings.

At first there will be a lot of trial and error, but it won't take long to get there.


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## swiftshine (Apr 17, 2008)

Excellent example there coxy:thumb:

One thing I would reccomend is after taking a couple of pics in apperture priority, check the results and if not quite what you are looking for go into fully manual mode and adjust the exposure a bit at a time. 
In a mode with auto exposure (Like AP) you will get 'daylight' looking shots if the meter is on evaluative as the camera will ty to get an even exposure. If you want more darkness try spot metering on your main subject or as said try manual mode.


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## nudda (Oct 28, 2008)

Thanks guys

Coxy: Thats an awsome example. EXACTLY the type of picture I was looking to take. I kept getting red-ish pictures which I now understand I need to fix the W for.

One thing i dont understand is that the AP , AF AE etc are all very confusing. I have played around quite a lot but dont understand how I am supposed to use these. I think its a matter of playing around more but if anyone can explain these, please do! 

Thanks guys :thumb:


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

nudda said:


> Thanks guys
> 
> Coxy: Thats an awsome example. EXACTLY the type of picture I was looking to take. I kept getting red-ish pictures which I now understand I need to fix the W for.
> 
> ...


AP = *A*perture *P*riority, you set the aperture and the camera sets the speed of the shutter. This is used so that you can control depth of feild

SP = *S*hutter *P*riority, you set the shutter speed and the camera will set the aperture. This is used when you want to capture fast moving objects without blur, or maybe the opposite where you want blur.

M = *M*anual, you set both shutter speed and aperture. Used for greater control and creativity.

AF = *A*uto *F*ocus, The camera and the lens automatically focuses on a subject without your intervention.

MF = *M*anual *F*ocus, allows you to manually focus on any object which may not be the main feature in the viewfinder. The camera may not always focus on the part of the picture that you want.

AE = *A*utomatic *E*xposure, The camera will automatically expose the picture using a variation of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO rating for the available light.

The above is a simplification but should get you started. HTH


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## singlespeed (Sep 12, 2007)

P = Vari Program mode. A halfway house between Manual and Automatic. For any given light levels and preset ISO, the camera gives a range of shutter/aperture settings which can be scrolled through ( fast/wide - slow/small) These selections will all give the same exposure but with differing blurr/DOF. 


In P/A/S modes, you also have 'exposure compensation', to brighten/darken an exposure by a couple of stops, if the cameras settings for the image turn out too dark/light


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## joe_0_1 (Apr 7, 2007)

I have an S5700, which only allows 4 seconds shutter speeds max, will this not get a good picture?

I'm looking to get some in a well lit car park. Thanks 

edit, also, what would the aperature be set to if I went for 'M' mode?


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## Coxy914 (Jan 14, 2007)

joe_0_1 said:


> I have an S5700, which only allows 4 seconds shutter speeds max, will this not get a good picture?
> 
> I'm looking to get some in a well lit car park. Thanks
> 
> edit, also, what would the aperature be set to if I went for 'M' mode?


I think you'll find that it will limit your picture.

Most pics I take at night are minimum 15 seconds.


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## Lloyd71 (Aug 21, 2008)

nudda said:


> One thing i dont understand is that the AP , AF AE etc are all very confusing. I have played around quite a lot but dont understand how I am supposed to use these. I think its a matter of playing around more but if anyone can explain these, please do!
> 
> Thanks guys :thumb:


It should tell you all of this in the manual, wether it's paper or digital.


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## joe_0_1 (Apr 7, 2007)

Coxy914 said:


> I think you'll find that it will limit your picture.
> 
> Most pics I take at night are minimum 15 seconds.


Cheers, I had a play tonight.

4" shutter
Auto WB (Incandescent was too blue)
ISO 64
f3.6



















Any way of improving it? Or is the camera at its limits?

Cheers


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## Coxy914 (Jan 14, 2007)

Can't think of much else as you need to be able to increase your _f_ stop to gain picture clarity which means the need to increase your shutter speed.
Try shoot on ISO 800 with on about f11 and see how that works out. You'll probably end up with a lot of noise though.


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## joe_0_1 (Apr 7, 2007)

Coxy914 said:


> Can't think of much else as you need to be able to increase your _f_ stop to gain picture clarity which means the need to increase your shutter speed.
> Try shoot on ISO 800 with on about f11 and see how that works out. You'll probably end up with a lot of noise though.


Increase the f number then? Would that cope with 4" shutter?

Will give it a try though, thanks.

Tripod is sturdy


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## JasonRS (Aug 8, 2006)

Not sure that on S5700 changing the aperture will make a whole lot of difference if you look at the depth of field it's already getting a f3.6

Make sure you use the timer function to minimise camera wobble from pressing the shutter button, which can happen even on a tripod.

Best thing you can do is get out there, set the shutter to timer, and experiment with different settings of ISO and Aperture, as you're limited by the 4 second shutter.


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