DSLR Photography Forum

If you've got a tripod, one way of getting stunning pictures is by visiting somewhere at night where there's lots of bright lights (preferably colourful) and snapping away. Even on auto mode, the pictures can be quite rewarding - although it's best to set a longer exposure manually, so that more of the details turn out.

Here's an example of one I did recently over the freeway - this one is made more interesting by the head/tail lights of passing cars leaving a streak. I used a 2 second exposure time.

Nice ST!

hey that looks awesome!!

Delhi By Moonlight

I took this one without a stand. f2.6/2sec

Also

Moving Streaks

Nice, ramboy!

That's really nice,
I have a few, but not as pretty as yours.
I'll put them up once I get dsl back, or I'll just ftp using uni account!
let me find them first

These first two were done without tripod one cold day after uni when there was a full moon and I was waiting for the bus.



This one was done with a tripod with the legs folded together and leaning against the railing.


I wish for a tripod I can carry everywhere with me but extends to a strong, full size tripod. haha

Hey nice pics adam. You must have a steady hand!

I read somewhere of people making a chain-pod - like a chain attached to screw which screws into your tripod socket.

You then stand on the other end of the chain and sort of pull upwards with your camera to put some tension on - this is supposed to keep the camera steady.

Apparently it works as good or even better than a monopod!

A chain-pod! Sounds interesting! Must find one to try out

Ritz by night

Hmm... that's way too big.
Sorry to be a pain ST, how do you reduce the photo width and length?

wow! huge!
could you reduce it before uploading?

Sorry sorry... I'm quite an IT idiot.
Hey ST, can you please delete my previous reply and I'll try to upload a smaller size of the photo.

Hey lemangoholic, you can edit your own post -- it's in the bottom right of each post.

To resize... I'll look into doing that automatically next... but for the time being, you'll need to use paint shop pro or photoshop

Thanks ST...

I have always wanted to do pics like this but The shots always come out to yucky =(
Any tips, I am using a tripod with a shutter of like 5 (iirc)

One thing .. its better to have a darker road .. so that the lines come out clearer ...
i usually use 10+ seconds .. but 5 seconds is ample for close to the road shots ...

then all you do is sit and wait for a car ...

Ok thanks, now I have to convince my parents to tka me to the over pass of the highway =P

With 2 secs (max for Fuji S5000) you need quite a few cars together at once actually, so timing is key. Just try a few (maybe a lot) to get the hang of it...

if you can take a longer shutter speed then the better (provided it's not too bright)

I find it's more interesting if the road has a bend in it, but not mandatory...

yeah ..bendy roads are nice...

aslo ..if you dont mind like looking like an idiot...

the center of the road is good ...
you get a nice divergence of the traffic ...
as long as u dont mind drivers looking at you funny ...

peter Wrote:as long as u dont mind drivers looking at you funny ...

Yeah... and just make sure you mentally prepare yourself too, as some beep their horns. (you wouldn't want to get a fright and drop your camera off the bridge )

yeah ...
and make sure that your flash doesnt pop up and get the drivers..
that might freak them out a bit ..

its actually funny though ... i flashed someone by acciddent once..
you should have seen the look on the guys face.. he even slowed down a bit as well ...

When Peter's shooting on the road, I help look out behind him for cars

I avoid flashing people driving, don't want to cause danger and troubles haha
but the police speed cameras do it all the time!!!
*thinks of setting up a fake speed camera*

yeah... use the focusing flash so it does multiplye flashes