City Night Photography Settings (Page 2): Dear Gene: In your first example on NYC skyline night shooting, you type a 13 sec. exposure but 1.3 in the second image. Was that correct or a...

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

Dear Gene:

In your first example on NYC skyline night shooting, you type a 13 sec. exposure but 1.3 in the second image. Was that correct or a typo.???

Beautiful images BTW.......love your work.

JIMBO

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

This is the way I do it, others will tell you what they do.
I start with ISO 200, aperture at f8 and shutter speed 2 secs. I look at the histogram but I also look at the image in the back monitor. I vary the exposure up or down as I see necessary.

Hamltnblue Loc: Springfield PA

Thanks for the Links Jerry.
Good Stuff.

I wonder if people tend to do the cityscapes alone or typically with someone.

Jim

par4fore Loc: Bay Shore N.Y.

Hamltnblue wrote:

Hello
I am practicing for my first city night shot. Here are the coordinates for google maps:
39.947228, -75.187457
It's the first time I'll be using long exposures outside of practicing at home.
The camera is a Nikon Z6 with 24-70 F4 Lens.
What would be good starter settings?
Any other suggestions would be appreciated as well.
Thanks,
Jim

For night time shots:
Tripod
Exposure delay mode
Aperture Priority
f8 - f11
ISO 100
Exposure Compensation to keep the highlights in check
Found this point of view from your coordinates

(Download)

pappleg

Hamltnblue wrote:

Hello
I am practicing for my first city night shot. Here are the coordinates for google maps:
39.947228, -75.187457
It's the first time I'll be using long exposures outside of practicing at home.
The camera is a Nikon Z6 with 24-70 F4 Lens.
What would be good starter settings?
Any other suggestions would be appreciated as well.
Thanks,
Jim

Hi Jim, Following the lead of exposure guru Bryan Peterson night cityscapes are well served by metering "the dusky blue sky" by which he means the cloudless sky about an hour or so after full sunset when there is still a hint of blue in the darkened sky. Do not include any light sources. I followed his advice with the attached Baltimore skyline and it served me well. The moon was added as a layer in Photoshop after the fact. Used a Z7 and same lens as yours on 24mm. Try it.

Pat

(Download)

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Any of you guys worried about safety when doing those skyline shots?

EdJ0307 Loc: out west someplace

The nice thing about digital cameras is you can see the results of your efforts immediately and adjust accordingly and reshoot. Back in 1961 it wasn't so easy to get a decent exposure. You didn't know how your guessing worked out until you got the slides or film back from the developer. Of course, there was no EXIF information back then and I don't remember what settings were used - if was 50 years ago, after all.

San Franciso Ferry Building
San Franciso Ferry Building...

(Download)

San Francisco Chinatown
San Francisco Chinatown...

(Download)

Hamltnblue Loc: Springfield PA

SteveR wrote:

Any of you guys worried about safety when doing those skyline shots?

Was hinting the same thing a few posts ago.
I usually have a "friend" tucked in my belt but always avoid a situation to start with.

RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

Hamltnblue wrote:

Thanks for the Links Jerry.
Good Stuff.

I wonder if people tend to do the cityscapes alone or typically with someone.

Jim

Keep safety in mind.
Having like minded people around is good, and you may learn something, not to mention bouncing ideas off each other.
If the person you are with is not a photographer then you may have problems, like "how long is this going to take?".

pappleg

Hi Folks, All of Baltimore is not "The Wire" as seen on HBO. While there are places in town where I would not take my camera and tripod Federal Hill from where I took my pic is not one of them.

Pat

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-574646-1.html
--Bob

Hamltnblue wrote:

Hello
I am practicing for my first city night shot. Here are the coordinates for google maps:
39.947228, -75.187457
It's the first time I'll be using long exposures outside of practicing at home.
The camera is a Nikon Z6 with 24-70 F4 Lens.
What would be good starter settings?
Any other suggestions would be appreciated as well.
Thanks,
Jim

CaptainPhoto

I don't see where anyone mentioned post processing. Even if you don't get the perfect image "in camera" assuming you are shooting RAW - you can do a lot in PP. Even if your a bit underexposed you can really come up with a great image. Just don't overexpose.
Have fun.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Hamltnblue wrote:

Hello
I am practicing for my first city night shot. Here are the coordinates for google maps:
39.947228, -75.187457
It's the first time I'll be using long exposures outside of practicing at home.
The camera is a Nikon Z6 with 24-70 F4 Lens.
What would be good starter settings?
Any other suggestions would be appreciated as well.
Thanks,
Jim

I think I would make a few test shots and check each, so you can "inch" yourself closer, 'til you got the one you want! DOF will be a dictating factor in your exposure!

GiGiMac103 Loc: Garden State

Hamltnblue wrote:

Thanks for the Links Jerry.
Good Stuff.

I wonder if people tend to do the cityscapes alone or typically with someone.

Jim

I have no technical advice to offer, but as a Philly native I can say that South St is a great spot but I've seen some awesome shots of Philly from the Adventure Aquarium / Battleship NJ.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Hamltnblue wrote:

Hello
I am practicing for my first city night shot. Here are the coordinates for google maps:
39.947228, -75.187457
It's the first time I'll be using long exposures outside of practicing at home.
The camera is a Nikon Z6 with 24-70 F4 Lens.
What would be good starter settings?
Any other suggestions would be appreciated as well.
Thanks,
Jim

Put an 18% photographic gray card where the principal subject will be. Meter it. Choose shutter speed for motion blur or action stopping or a compromise. Choose aperture for shallow or deep depth of field. Choose ISO to allow the speed/aperture combo you chose.

Life is full of little tradeoffs. So you'll probably compromise SOMETHING.

White balance is important. Do a custom white balance off of the gray card held at the place your most important subject will be. Yes, you can adjust raw images in post-production to get a good exposure and good color, but it helps a lot to get CLOSE in the camera! With JPEGs, you should NAIL exposure and white balance in the camera.

IT'S DIGITAL. Experimentation and bracketing don't cost anything but time. So make a lot of exposures and adjust until you see what you like. You don't really have to take notes, either. You can read the file metadata to see what worked and what didn't.