# Photo Newbie...Night Pics



## Starbuck88 (Nov 12, 2013)

Hi!

OK so we have a Nikon D5100 DSLR. My other half got it as she wanted to be able to take nice clear pictures and arty stuff.

I basically want to use it to take some photos of my new car 

I want to take some Night Time shots to show off the Bi-Xenons with DRLs and LEDs at the back.

Seems on standard settings the light all blurs into one so you can't see the Xenon EYE and DRL Separately and all the LEDs on the back blur into one solid colour.

Do I need the car in a Lit environment? Do I need to adjust settings on the camera?

Any tips are greatly appreciated... 

Thanks

Jamie


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## m1pui (Jul 24, 2009)

You need a tripod ideally, or something to rest the camera on.

It blurs because your shutter speed is slow enough that it records your slight movements when holding the camera.

You can raise the shutter speed by ramping up the ISO (if the camera hasn't already tried to do this to compensate) but that in itself creates issues with noise, not that it'll probably be a problem for what you're doing really. But basically a tripod will be the best solution.


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## Starbuck88 (Nov 12, 2013)

Thanks, 

I'll give it a go, just to ask.....the light is blurred on the screen also...not just when taking the picture.

So Ideally I want to let a smaller amount of light in? I could remove noise later using Photoshop?


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## m1pui (Jul 24, 2009)

What do you mean by blurred on the screen?

Is it out of focus, like this









or is it motion blur (the whole screen is blurring) sort of like this


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## B17BLG (Jun 26, 2012)

leave the ISO as it is, Lesser number the better i.e 100 is better than 400!

Leave your shutter open for longer, 2 maybe 3 seconds and play around with the aperture, the wider it is, the lesser your depth of field will be, I.e you can pinpoint your focus on one thing and anything infront for behind will be blurred but it will let more light in. And the opposite way round for a narrower aperture for everything


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## m1pui (Jul 24, 2009)

asonda said:


> So Ideally I want to let a smaller amount of light in? I could remove noise later using Photoshop?


No, you need [an amount] of light to create a picture, if you let a smaller amount of light in the picture will be darker/under-exposed.

The darker the scene is, the longer the shutter needs to stay open to make the scene visible.

For as long as the shutter is open, it is 'recording' whatever it sees/feels. So if the camera has the shutter open for half a second and you're holding the camera in your hand, every tremor or shake that your body makes in that half second will be visible in the photograph.

You can let more light in by adjusting the aperture and making it bigger. What that does is makes the opening bigger so that the camera can let in a larger amount of light in the same time the shutter is open.

I'm not the best at explaining, but have a read on the exposure triangle and it might be easier to understand

http://digital-photography-school.com/learning-exposure-in-digital-photography


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## Starbuck88 (Nov 12, 2013)

Thanks Guys,

Hang on, I have a picture I took with a Handheld that will explain what I mean...bare with me and I'll get it up here for you...


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## HarryHedgehog (Aug 13, 2013)

As has been said, the camera will pick up on the slightest vibration, so if you have remote trigger for the camera use that, if not line up the shot and use the 2 / 10 second delay function, so the camera will be perfectly still when you take the shot.


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## Starbuck88 (Nov 12, 2013)

OK,

So these were done with different cameras, but I'm going to break out the DSLR and have a stab at the Night pics again but this is what I mean.

So this is with both lights off, you can see the Bi-Xenon Eye and the DRL Line below.










This is with the DRL On but the Xenon Eye off. I don't have a pic with them both on during daylight yet.










This is what I get at night (this was the best picture believe it or not) you see how you can't clearly define the Xenon and the DRL. They Merge into one another with all the light..










I want clear definition between the round Xenon and the Jagged DRL...

I keep getting shots like this:










I've seen pictures of BMWs with their Xenons on and Angel eyes in the Dark and you can clearly define the two...like this:












Is this impossible for me to achieve?

Also how come the light looks Yellow yet in real life it's crystal clear white?


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## m1pui (Jul 24, 2009)

Not at all. Using the DSLR, or any camera which allows you manual controls, you should be able to do a grand job.

- Tripod (Ideally, you might get away without)
- Manual programme mode (M)
- Patience! lol

You are actually right in that you want to allow less light in to give you the definition between the lights though!

This is dependent on the ambient light you're working with, but I'd start with the camera set at aperture (f number) f5.0 and shutter speed of about 250 and adjust from there.

This is a very scrappy example (I should've kept one of the variables the same for both shots) but you should get the idea.


Aperture f6.3 
Shutter Speed 1/10


Aperture f8.0
Shutter Speed 1/250


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## Starbuck88 (Nov 12, 2013)

Thank You!

Will have a bash tonight and see what I can come up with, weather permitting of course 

Will post up what I come up with!


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## Starbuck88 (Nov 12, 2013)

Not been able to get out and do any yet! Perhaps tonight is my chance!!!


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## browner01 (Jul 6, 2012)

if i was going to do it. i would put the camera on a tripod and put the camera on a timer so you dont move it and make the image blurry....

in manual mode
iso:100
aperature pretty high
and then take a few pics on different exposure times until you get a pic of the car (with the lights off) where it is well exposed.

once you know you have the right settings....

take the pic again, but while the timer is counting down, jump in the car.... when the shutter opens just flick your lights on and off. 

this will capture the lights, but they wont be over exposed as they was only on for a second

in the end image your car should be well exposed and the lights wont be blown out.

that make sense? lol


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