First attempt at night photos C&C please

[KDN]

Went out for a little bit tonight and caught a couple of decent night shots let me know what you think. Thanks!

The first one I like but don't like and I don't know why?

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h308/kdncarroll/IMG_8426copyrightKadianRoman4_21_07.jpg

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h308/kdncarroll/IMG_8423copyrightKadianRoman4_21_07.jpg

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h308/kdncarroll/IMG_8436copyrightKadianRoman4_21_07.jpg

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h308/kdncarroll/IMG_8441copyrightKadianRoman4_21_07.jpg

[JerseyMutt]

Not bad at all Kadian! I really love the church shots with the moon above. My only concern (and this differs depending on who you talk to) is there is a little too much grain for my liking in the first two photos. That's just me though. I think you're well on your way with the night photos though. :thumb

Any info on cam settings used?

[Orgnoi1]

I think you did a great job... so the question of the day is... on #1 how many hot pixels did you have to fix? 83 seconds is a long exposure and I know on my 1D I would be fixing around 25 at that exposure time...

[zacker]

looks great... good job.

[GraphyFotoz]

#1 and #3 are great!!!

#1 is killer!!!

Be nice play with #3 in Photoshop to get rid of the house in the BG and some of the wires!
Just a thought.....not beating up your shot.

[TomNanos]

Very nice Kadian! I'm out the door to my in-laws, but I'll post some specific thoughts later today or tonight.

[KDN]

Thanks everyone! The first two I think I fixed the exposure in RAW, I didn't realize that I upped it too much till you said something, but I can easily fix that, especially the second one it looks really obvious to me know...:Hammer
Ross- what you see is what you get, apparently no hot pixels... but I could be terribly wrong LOL.
Graphy- I would love to, but my photoshop skills aren't that good, I'm lucky it's as isolated looking as it is because it sits right on Rt. 6. The only thing that drives me nuts is that it's on a hill so of course it's not level, oh well nothing I can do about it. ;)

[nvr2low]

i say damn good job for a first time. i still have a hard time with night shots

[KDN]

Okay Ross I lied, after further evaluation I counted 5-6, guess I'm not as cool as I thought huh? LOL

[Orgnoi1]

LOL its ok... 5-6 is good... and has nothing to do with your photography... the longer a sensor is active the more digital noise is introduced... and it shows the red/blue/green hot or stuck pixels...

[KDN]

Well you tempted me into some research and I just realised I could take the picture with the lens cap on to help take the hot pixels out, can't wait to go out and try it again.
On a side note... suddenly my husband really wants to learn photography so that's gonna be fun! He already has a plan for Tug Hill for some long night shots, perfect place for them too, man do I want to get up there!

[nvr2low]

Well you tempted me into some research and I just realised I could take the picture with the lens cap on to help take the hot pixels out, can't wait to go out and try it again.
On a side note... suddenly my husband really wants to learn photography so that's gonna be fun! He already has a plan for Tug Hill for some long night shots, perfect place for them too, man do I want to get up there!

you going to take star shots on tug hill? i never thought about doing that, may have to take a drive up there and give it a try since its not all that far away.

[KDN]

you're lucky it's a 5 hour drive for us, if funding permits we'll be going up there the end of May for my husbands birthday. I can't wait!I didn't see the post on camera settings, I'm on my phone right now but when I get home later I'll post them up for you.

[TomNanos]

Well you tempted me into some research and I just realised I could take the picture with the lens cap on to help take the hot pixels out, can't wait to go out and try it again.
Try turning on long exposure noise reduction. It's available in the custom functions via the menu. What that will do is take a dark frame of the same exposure length as your original shot, then subtract the two, eliminating any hot pixels. So if you take a 3 minute shot, it'll actually take a total of 6 minutes to complete (3 for the shot, and 3 for the dark frame). This function does very well with removing hot pixels - I've never cloned one out from my night shots (and I've taken quite a few). Longest one I took was 229 seconds long (nearly 4 minutes). I know Ross was having a problem with his 1D hanging on longer shots with dark frame reduction on, but I've never had that problem.

-Tom

[KDN]

Thanks Tom, I'll give it a try!

[ATVinBarbie]

I think you did an awesome job. My night shots suck.. badly I might say :blush

[ShelleyNLP]

VERY good for 1st attempt at night shots!!