40 Minutes in Heaven

[Colin Southern]

Inspirational, Colin. I can't wait to give it a try. No doubt helped by the Jesse Watson story (I know she is now an Aussie but think NZ can claim her as a part Kiwi)
Grant

Thanks Grant,

If the Aussies can try to claim Pavlova and Phar Lap, then perhaps we can claim a piece of Jessica

[wilgk]

Inspirational, Colin. I can't wait to give it a try. No doubt helped by the Jesse Watson story (I know she is now an Aussie but think NZ can claim her as a part Kiwi)
Grant

Of course we can Grant - the precedent was set with Phar Lap I believe

[wilgk]

oops i'm a dooofus - Colin just said that & I missed his post - sorry

[wilgk]

Thanks Kay,

Will you be getting up to Nelson during your visit?

Hi - no sadly, this was a quick trip to check up on the folks - I've left 1/2 the family at home & bought 1/2 with me, so no time for touring far, although we did go to Hanmer for 1 night and after a day of very cold winds, the next morning there was a glorious snow fall with a beautiful spring sunshine.
I will post some pics when I get home & have a sort through although I know they won't do it justice.

[Colin Southern]

Ah - OK. How much longer are you here for? I've been to Hamner Springs a few time - great place, but it's a good 3 to 4 hours drive from Nelson (depending on G-Forces!).

[CNelson]

Nice! Interesting effect from long exposure. However I suspect it was colder than....heaven.

Chuck

[Colin Southern]

Nice! Interesting effect from long exposure. However I suspect it was colder than....heaven.

Chuck

Thanks Chuck ... I thought it was the "other place" that was supposed to be hot?

[Peter Ryan]

You must be running out of shoreline to shoot, Colin. Great shot. I look forward to doing more of this type of photograpghy next year when I get to spend more time along the coast.

Everyone talks about the increased noise factor with long exposures in digital photography. How do you handle it in your shots - they are so clean?

[mastamak]

Colin, I have been thinking about this photo for some time. I get the ISO aperture, etc, but the 40 minutes has got me intrigued. How did you decide that was the appropriate timing. Why 40 minutes? Why not 20 minutes or even 10? Is there a formula or rule of thumb to use or is it more a matter of experience and expertise or, dare I suggest it, a matter of dumb luck I am sure if I was to do it, the result after 40 minutes would be either an over-dark image or completely blown

Grant

[Colin Southern]

You must be running out of shoreline to shoot, Colin. Great shot. I look forward to doing more of this type of photograpghy next year when I get to spend more time along the coast.

Everyone talks about the increased noise factor with long exposures in digital photography. How do you handle it in your shots - they are so clean?

Thanks Peter,

As a rule, noise isn't much of an issue with night shots like this as it's all shadow noise, and the shadows (and thus noise) are all clipped, so it really doesn't show.

[Colin Southern]

Colin, I have been thinking about this photo for some time. I get the ISO aperture, etc, but the 40 minutes has got me intrigued. How did you decide that was the appropriate timing. Why 40 minutes? Why not 20 minutes or even 10? Is there a formula or rule of thumb to use or is it more a matter of experience and expertise or, dare I suggest it, a matter of dumb luck I am sure if I was to do it, the result after 40 minutes would be either an over-dark image or completely blown

Grant

Hi Grant,

In reality it's not just a case of turning up - setting up - and firing off one 40 minute exposure. I was there for an hour or so and took a lot of shorter exposures at wider apertures and higher ISOs- so when it's time for "the big one" it's simply a case of starting from a known good exposure (with the aperture wide open) - and doubling the exposure for each ISO stop I drop down, and each F-Stop I stop down ... plus an experience-based compensation for how I think the exposure needs to be biased from previous results.

So not really "dumb luck", although having said that, plus or minus a stop usually doesn't make a lot of difference, which would have equated to 20 minutes or 80 minutes, which is a pretty big target to miss. For sunsets and sunrises I normally spot-meter the brightest part of the scene with a Sekonic hand-held light meter, and up-shift the exposure by around 2 stops (to shift what the meter thinks is a mid tone to a highlight).