My fav night shot... Well so far.

[Iceash]

All new to this, but I love low light shots.



Here's one I took that I love.

Hope you all like :-)

Ash

[FrankMi]

Just out of curiosity Ash, what do you like about this image? And perhaps more importantly, what would you like to improve?

[Iceash]

Just out of curiosity Ash, what do you like about this image? And perhaps more importantly, what would you like to improve?

That's a great question, I love the brightness of the chippie, the strong orange colours of the street lights. I love the way the tail light was also caught.

I don't like so much of the star effect coming off the street light.

I would have liked the shop to have popped from the shot a little more as we'll.

[Shadowman]

That's a great question, I love the brightness of the chippie, the strong orange colours of the street lights. I love the way the tail light was also caught.

I don't like so much of the star effect coming off the street light.

I would have liked the shop to have popped from the shot a little more as we'll.

You can avoid the star effect on your next low light session just open up the aperture, however I think it adds to the scene, far more than the car light streaks.

[TonyW]

I like the low light effect - the nice dim orange light on the bricks. It's a bit hard to tell with an image of this size but I wonder whether the focus could have been better on the bright black and white area. That might have made the shop pop more.

And a technical question on the side. What is the physics behind the star effect from the street light? I have long wondered about this.

[FrankMi]

I don't like so much of the star effect coming off the street light.

I would have liked the shop to have popped from the shot a little more as we'll.

If by 'popped' you mean more colourful (given that it is already fairly bright), then you could take bracketed exposure shots on the tripod at the same time that you capture your primary image. In post processing you could then merge the images and pull out the lower exposure lighting from inside the store window to get more vivid colours.

By the same token, capturing an image with a much wider aperture will cut the star effects. If you still want the rest of the scene the way it is, in post processing, you could then blend in just the street light from the capture done at the wider aperture.

Hope this helps!

[Stagecoach]

Ash,

For me I look at the image and my eyes wander around trying to work out what your intended subject was. If it was the chippy it would have helped if you could have ensured that the shop front was all in focus.

Grahame

[splashy]

To resolve the star effect, buy a variable ND filter, that way you can set the F open and the ND dark (long time shutter) doing so you also might not see taillights and you will not see people passing by.

[Colin Southern]

To resolve the star effect, buy a variable ND filter, that way you can set the F open and the ND dark (long time shutter) doing so you also might not see taillights and you will not see people passing by.

Generally, lights of any sort "cut through" any attenuation (to a greater or lesser degree). Here's a good example;



The streaks on the right are from white headlights and those on the left from red tail lights (which are much much dimmer) - even though this was a pretty attenuated shot (2 minute exposure off memory), they still cut right on through.

[Wavelength]

Ash, very lovely

[Iceash]

Ash, very lovely

Thanks wavelength. Means a lot cheers