cawanua

Bekkie, thanks for the tip on finding so much stuff on auto focus in the menu. I need to research this more but now I know where to go. Cawanua

cawanua

Sorry, Coco, but I don't do abbreviations so identify VR, please. Seems that if I am using a tripod the VR should not be on. I certainly want to know more about this.
Thanks,
Cawanua

cawanua

PNagy, I hear all the time how good CS5 is but alas it is too expensive for me right now. I'm a retired public school teacher and spend every dime on photography. Thankfully, I have a supportive husband.
Cawanua

cawanua

BillyBob, you are so kind to send this link. I intend to look into your suggestion this evening. Thanks so much for the tip.
Cawanua

billybob40

I think theres a link for Photoshop CS6 bate on this forum yesterday. You can down load for free. Its in a zip file took me an hour to down load. You can get CS5 free for 30 days at Adobe.com, the best place to learn is Adobe.com/TV. I have CS5 and elements 10, I use elements more then CS5. But if your go to buy wait till CS6 or Elements 11 hit the market, and go with the best. You know as a teacher you learn by doing. Good luck and love your work.

cawanua

I use elements 10 myself. I have always used the elements products and don't know what I'm missing. Probably a good thing. Your suggestions are sound and I will watch for a deal.

picturedude Loc: Yosemite natl. park, Ca.

The noise happens every election year. Oh whoops, I was thinking about something non photograhy related.

cawanua

Ah, maybe that's why there were dark clouds and thick mist. Perhaps the hot air rising from the capital and coming into contact with the cooler air above. Seems right to me.

Minceymomof9

Wow! this view is much better than the one you posted about the blur. When you look at the composition from this perspective, the lights are not as problematic to me. But, in saying that, I think (remember I'm no pro, yet, lol), the capital becomes more of a secondary subject rather than the main subject. Nothing wrong with that either. Dang it, I wish I'd had the opportunity to night shoot.

Minceymomof9

You played with WB huh? Looks good.

cawanua

I love night shots and the contribution the lights make. I have to work on my camera settings.
I have gotten so much good informtion from this site just by posting those two pictures. I am grateful to all for the time they took to give advice.

cawanua

Uhhh, well, uhh, maybe just a little. I shoot in raw and use that application all the time.

mooseeyes Loc: Sonora, California

Have a couple of concerns/questions here. Upon checking the EXIF info contained in your posted image, I see some interesting things. Before telling you what I think, let me say up front that I don't know all that much about your Nikon camera, nor your Sigma lens; however, with over 50 years of photography, I can certainly deduce a number of facts here.

First, you say in your post that you had your camera set to Aperture Priority. With the kind of shot your were taking, I should think that you would have aperture set for maximum depth of field opening for your lens, which I believe to be f/22. The embedded EXIF info indicates otherwise. It shows the exposure mode to be "auto", with the f-stop used being f/9.5. It also indicates that white balance was set to "auto".

Exposure Bias shows: EV-2.0
Shutter speed was indeed: 1/8 sec.
Your zoom lens was set at: 70mm (equivalent 35mm equilant of 105mm due to less than full sized sensor)
ISO was 400

With all this said, let me suggest how I might have approached taking this shot of the Capital Dome at night (primary subject), using your tripod. First, I would set the camera to AV priority using f/22. Because of the subject, plus the high contrast nature of the entire image. . .I would set your camera meter to "spot". Look at the Capital Dome, and identify the following three areas of the Dome. The darkest part of the Dome, the brightest part of the Dome, and that part of the Dome that seems to be the mid range between the dark and light. With your ISO set, AV at f/22, spot meter each of the three areas of the Dome, making note of the indicated shutter speeds. Depending on the indicated shutter speeds and the delta factor (differences between them), decide on a middle ground shutter speed and make note of it. Whatever the shutter speeds turns out to be, and the spread between the three metered areas, should give you an idea how to bracket the shot.

Set the camera to manual, set the lens to f/22, leave the ISO alone, set the shutter speed as suggested above. Then set the camera to bracket this exposure setting to include either plus and minus 1/2 stop, or 1/3 or 2/3 or 1.

This should give to you the perfect image, the max depth of field, hence the best focus. Now about the focus.

I basic rule that I have always followed with regard to depth of field is that from the point of "actual" focus, 1/3 in front and 2/3 distance will appear to be in focus (the full depth of field). In other words, the full depth of field at f/22 is going to be a much great distance than the same image shot at f/9.5. As a side note, everything within the depth of field range is not in perfect focus as with the actual point of focus, but all things being equal. . .all within the distance of the depth of field will "appear" to be in focus, and those areas out of the depth of field range will appear to be out of focus. The larger the depth of field, the sharper your image will appear. I would also use manual focus for your actual point of focus on the Dome. Focus on that part of the Dome closest to you, where you can find a strong sharp edge. . .play with the manual focus on that point until it looks the best to your eye. Compose, and use a remote or timer (mirror up if possible).

With a shot like this, I might also change the ISO from 400 to 800, and then meter and calculate as above indicated to see how my shutter speeds might change? A consideration if there is wind, or if not wind. . .then you might want to change ISO to 200 to play with auto tail lights/traffic lights?

As a final comment, I think your image of the Capital Dome is in fact plum wonderful. You just need to accept the fact that your are smarter than your camera. Stop letting the camera do the thinking, based on predetermined math values created in a factory in Japan. The don't see what you see, nor can they understand and feel your vision. Keep at it, you are doing fine. . .the operative word here is and always should be "you"!

brokeweb Loc: Philadelphia

I like the noise! I think it adds to your very nice shot. I think you should leave it in.

I think the noise is because your shot's lighting is extremely difficult for your camera's sensor to interpret. there are a lot of similar shades (fog) that their differences are too subtle for your camera to differentiate. Did you shoot this photo in RAW or Jpeg? Next time try overexposing the shot one stop, then bring your exposure down in post editing. This may help you reduce the noise. I hope you are shooting in RAW.

I really like your photo as is.

RixPix Loc: Miami, Florida

I think the composition is excellent. As far as the noise is concerned I reduced it a little and changed the colors of the street lamps and sky. Oh and got rid of the flag pole. This with the fog suggests red white and blue