Nightscape

[code]

Few pics from the last few weeks.....








Feel free to post if you have any.

[FinsnFur]

Nice
That 5th one almost looks like a painting of some sort.

[Hawks Feather]

These look good.  I am assuming that the one that Jim likes is a fairly long exposure based on the star flare on the lights in the image.

Jerry

[code]

Thanks guys.

These look good.  I am assuming that the one that Jim likes is a fairly long exposure based on the star flare on the lights in the image.

Jerry

Yep, ISO1600   18mm   f/3.5   30.00 seconds.

[HaMeR]

Thanks guys.

These look good.  I am assuming that the one that Jim likes is a fairly long exposure based on the star flare on the lights in the image.

Jerry

Yep, ISO1600   18mm   f/3.5   30.00 seconds.

THAT ^^^^ is why Diane takes the pictures when we drive around!! 

I really like the 4th one but they are all much nicer than I could take.

[Dave]

Very cool shots, Code.
My camera seems to be photographically challenged.   

[JohnP]

Terrific photos Code, keep them coming.

Hey Jerry, what the heck does all this nonsense mean:  ISO1600   18mm   f/3.5 30.00 seconds.  I put my camera on auto focus and let it figure out what it has to do..............

[Hawks Feather]

Hey Jerry, what the heck does all this nonsense mean:  ISO1600   18mm   f/3.5 30.00 seconds.  I put my camera on auto focus and let it figure out what it has to do..............

John,

I don’t know if that was a ‘real’ question or not, but I will answer it for you.  In part it depends on what type of camera you have.  Some are referred to as ‘point and shoot’ and they are pretty much that â€" the person behind the camera looks through the viewfinder and presses the release.  Some ‘higher end’ point and shoot type cameras and most DSLR (digital single lens reflex) have a variety of settings that allow you to do different things.

To get a proper exposure (good image) you need the proper amount of light striking the camera’s sensor.  This light is affected by the shutter speed, lens opening, and how sensitive you have the ISO set on your digital camera. 

ISO is the same as ASA in negative/slide film.  The higher the number the less light is needed to get an image that you can see.  The question that sometimes comes next is, “Why don’t you just use a high ISO all of the time?”  The answer is that unless you are using a higher level DSLR (think a couple of thousand dollars for the body â€" no lens, just the body) you will start seeing ‘noise’ we used to call it ‘grain’ in the image or print.  I normally set my cameras at 100 ISO, but when I shoot indoor sports I move the ISO to 3,200.  The higher ISO allows me to shoot at a higher shutter speed and stop most action.  If I were shooting at ISO 100 the shutter speed would be much slower and I would have very little but blurred images.  So, his ISO of 1600 was allowing him to get the proper exposure in low light.

MM is the opening in the lens.  In film days, 50mm was considered a ‘normal’ lens with anything below 50 being wide angle and anything above 50 a telephoto.  If you wanted to take a image of five or six people sitting around the kitchen table (and you are in the kitchen with them) you would need a wide angle so that all of them would show in the image.  Likewise, if you are in the kitchen and want to take a close image of one of the pigeons on your fence you would use a telephoto so that you could see the bird in the image.  This picture at 18mm is relative a wide angle lens setting.

f/numbers are the size of the opening in the lens.  The lower the f/number the larger the opening in the lens.  This lets in more light allowing an image to be taken in less light.  Normal f/numbers go from f/1.2 to f/32.  An image shot at f/32 would need to be taken in a very bright setting.  The lower the f/number the less of the image is in focus and the higher the more is in focus.  Portraits are normally shot at a low f/number so that you are looking at the person who is in focus and not what is happening in the background.  Think of higher f/number being used when you want to see everything (in focus) in the image.  This one was shot at f/3.5 which allows in light and also has less in focus.  The key here is that the area of the image was mostly in the same plane so it is not affecting the image.  Had there been a person in the image a few feet in front of the camera you would have not been able to really see anything but blur behind the person.

Shutter speed also allows light to enter the camera and register on the sensor.  The faster the shutter speed the more action is stopped in the image.  A shutter speed of 1000 allows me to stop an athlete in mid stride â€" they are frozen right there.  The slower the shutter speed the more light goes in, but at slow shutter speeds there is more of a chance of moving the camera and not getting a good image.  I try to use a tripod to keep from moving my camera when I get to about 1/30 of a second.  Since his shot was 30 seconds it was a really long time that the shutter stayed open and a tripod or something similar would be needed to keep the camera from moving.  One thing that usually shows up in long exposure images are the starburst pattern coming from lights. 

So, if you are still reading this you no doubt won’t as a question like that again.   

Jerry

[JohnP]

"So, if you are still reading this you no doubt won’t as a question like that again."

Boy have you got that right!

[FinsnFur]

John, I'm trying to pay attention, can you keep it down please

[Hawks Feather]

"So, if you are still reading this you no doubt won’t as a question like that again."

Boy have you got that right!

I love it!   You have me sitting here in from of a computer screen laughing.

Jerry

[code]

Thanks for taking the time to explain Jerry!

[nailbender]

"So, if you are still reading this you no doubt won’t as a question like that again."

Boy have you got that right!

I love it!   You have me sitting here in from of a computer screen laughing.

Dave

[nailbender]

 Nice pics Code.