How do I improve outdoor photographs at night
Dec 5, 2012 14:59:10 #
Hi Hogs, need some advice. I included three photos below, taken with D7000, Sigma 10 - 20mm wide angle, on tripod with self timer. I took light reading from the sky, then composed and shot on the bottom two, top photo, I metered the bright area. First photo has WB on Auto, next two, I used WB on Tungsten to create really blue sky. These are JPEG shots, (I am still experimenting with RAW) how do I improve the detail of the darker areas, without blowing out the light areas, and do it without using PP (I have PSE 10, just don't know how to use it yet!). Should I just shoot RAW and figure out PSE 10? Are there other camera settings that will help the shot up front? Would appreciate some feedback. Thanks
Close up of house WB on Auto
House with exposure stopped down 1/3
Normal Exposure
Dec 5, 2012 15:01:54 #
Cornman wrote:
Hi Hogs, need some advice. I included three photo... (show quote)
I've often been told to take night shots during the blue hour before it goes totally black this will help with the detail in the shadow area.
Dec 5, 2012 15:42:06 #
Actually, these pic's were taken at about 5:45 pm when I got home from work, if you look near the lower left corner of the house in the two bottom pic's you can see the sun setting behind the house. Thanks, maybe have to try earlier.
Dec 5, 2012 16:40:17 #
You were faced with a situation where the range of values from light to dark is beyond the capability of the sensor to record it. If you expose for the highlights the darks will be blocked out. If you expose for the darks the highlights will be burnt. There are a limited number of ways to do this. 1. shoot earlier, as Emm5 says when the sky is a bit brighter and all is within the range of the sensor. 2. Use a Graduated Neutral Density filter and hold back the bottom of the frame. You may not be happy with that as this will leave the foreground very dark. or 3. take an HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo. That involves taking several exposures, one set to the highlights, one set to the darks and several in steps in between and combine them in Post Processing with a special HDR program.
In addition, your photos are showing some "Keystoning". That occusrs with wide angle lenses that are not set perpendicular to the plane of the subject, in this case the building. It is what makes it look like the house is leaning back. You need to keep your camera plumb and level. That could be a problem if you are shooting from a lower level that the house is. some of this can be corrected in Post Processing.
In addition, your photos are showing some "Keystoning". That occusrs with wide angle lenses that are not set perpendicular to the plane of the subject, in this case the building. It is what makes it look like the house is leaning back. You need to keep your camera plumb and level. That could be a problem if you are shooting from a lower level that the house is. some of this can be corrected in Post Processing.
Dec 5, 2012 17:30:54 #
Dec 5, 2012 21:31:26 #
I am pretty sure your best bet will be to work these over in Elements; both fixing the perspective distortion (keystoning) and the selective exposure.
I would be happy to tutor you privately if you would like. PM me if you are interested.
I also agree with Joe that HDR would be the easiest way to shoot these next time. I can help you with that as well if you like.
I would be happy to tutor you privately if you would like. PM me if you are interested.
I also agree with Joe that HDR would be the easiest way to shoot these next time. I can help you with that as well if you like.
Dec 5, 2012 23:08:06 #
I agree with the HDR suggestion - set the D7000 to bracket at least 5 images and blend them PP - should work fine. This images does not have as wide a range as yours - I bracketed just thre images but it does show how HDR will solve the problem.
three bracketed images blened with photomatrix
Dec 6, 2012 05:57:17 #
Nice photo Colnago. Not overdone with the HDR processing. Just the right amount.
Dec 6, 2012 05:59:01 #
Cornman wrote:
Actually, these pic's were taken at about 5:45 pm when I got home from work, if you look near the lower left corner of the house in the two bottom pic's you can see the sun setting behind the house. Thanks, maybe have to try earlier.
They're called twilight shots. Right now 5:45 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. EST for me is the best time to shoot them here in Florida. You need to try a bunch of different exposures using your exposure compensation shooting at 0, -1, -2, +1, and +2 to find a pleasing combination of house lights, tree lights, sky, and ambient light.
Personally, I shoot all of those exposures and then choose one to put through a pseudo-HDR process (It's tone mapping on one frame instead of combining 3 to 9 frames like regular HDR). You could try combining two or three exposures as a real HDR if you have time to experiment but I didn't.
This example, shot at 6 p.m., also has a very recent sunset lighting part of the sky. I could have waited a few more minutes on this one but I had 5 shots in various locations around the house that I was required to do in that last 15 minutes before complete darkness.
At about 6:00 p.m. last week
Dec 6, 2012 07:31:47 #
Thanks everyone for your input, I really appreciate it, I have some additional learning to do and will try the suggestions!!
Dec 6, 2012 10:37:57 #
Dec 6, 2012 10:51:40 #
No Rath, just a hard working stiff, my wife designed our house, and we built it 14 years ago, but the kids are leaving now, so we may downsize in a few years. Thanks for the response!!
Dec 6, 2012 12:39:39 #
Cornman wrote:
Hi Hogs, need some advice. I included three photo... (show quote)
One setting I've found that will yield better detail is to shoot at f/10. The simple way is tripod and 10-second timer (of course) in shutter priority and let the camera decide on the shutter speed as in below.
f/10, 10-seconds
Dec 6, 2012 13:41:36 #
Dec 7, 2012 02:15:57 #
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