A Little DIRECTION

[bgoffner]

I am attempting to pull off a shot in downtown San Diego which involves shutter speed. My subject is gonna stand downtown on one of the busier streets in SD during night time.... So low lighting( besides the normal night club/ gas lamp lighting)
The subject will be in the middle of the photo, with cars passing on both sides. So if i wanted the subject to be in focus & the cars giving the blurred affect on both sides of the subject.
I uploaded a similar photo below:

Im using a Nikon D80:
Lighting?
ISO Speed?
Av?
TV?
additional lighting?
suggested lense?
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...0&tx=104&ty=59

[MiniChris]

One of the forum members posted a very similar shot not long ago in the mini comps - won the comp I think...about two weeks ago. You might want to look that one up and PM him for advice.

[Dave Humphries]

One of the forum members posted a very similar shot not long ago in the mini comps - won the comp I think...about two weeks ago. You might want to look that one up and PM him for advice.

Yes, that's what I thought, was it Jeroen?

[rpcrowe]

This is sort of "panning in reverse". In panning a moving image, you use a slow shutter speed and move your camera following your subject resulting in a subject that is reasonably sharp but, a background that is blurred due to the moving camera.

However, in this case, a relatively slow shutter speed was also used, but with with a stationary subject and a background which is moving causing the blur.

Taking this technique up a notch or two, you could cross light the subject with a pair of strobes but, not allow the strobe to light the background. This can work when the subject is too dark to capture with even a slow shutter speed.

In any case, you will need to experiment with the shutter speed to get the results you like the best...

Or you could play around using second curtain sync (also called "slow sync or rear curtain sync) and have a unique result depending on the background. (see: http://www.digital-photography-schoo...low-sync-flash)

[tihsgod]

Set your ISO to lowest, say 100.
Use a tripod or rest the camera on something solid (usually plenty of stuff in a street).
Use a cable release or if not then use the timer.
Focus your subject then switch to manual.
Exposure - Typically night shots I would under-expose a bit because you want it to look like night, but depends on how you are metering, just try a few different exposures because that is quite important.

I would personally use AV because I would just first look at what my narrowest aperture (i.e. highest f number) would give me in terms of shutter speed. I only move to TV when I really know that here is a very specific shutter speed in mind.

Then just play with aperture/shutter to get the exposure time and aperture that you like.

This was shot at 20 seconds... I saw the girl on the bike and just placed my camera on top of a rubbish bin and prayed that she would not move . Of course it only works if there are car lights otherwise at 20 sec you would just see a girl and a street

AV, f16, 20 sec, ISO 50, CW metering


you can do it in daylight but you need a much faster shutter...
AV, f16, 1/2 Sec, ISO 50, CW metering


By the way, it is possible to use flash but I would not go there just yet because it adds a completely new dimension to manage. I would suggest you get the hang of using the existing light first. You will just need to keep shooting for a while and you will catch some that look good!

good luck, neil

[bgoffner]

Thank u... exactly the help i was looking for