Night shot

[Saldo1981]

I’m wating for a clear night to shoot this same shot, with a tripod of course, and was wondering if anyone had any suggestion on how to get the car lights to streak while not over exposing the city lights. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Click picture for full resolution.

[Encyclopedia Galactica]

Try the photo normally first. You may not have any trouble with the city lights. If necessary, increase the f number and go from there. Assuming you use digital, it should be easy to see whether your photo looks “right.”

[Anonymous]

You could take two of the same shots at night, and recompose them later in photoshop (assuming you’re using digital photography) – one with a long exposure to accommodate the traffic, and one with a short exposure to accommodate the city lights.

Also, using ND filters, you could theoretically shoot during the daytime with long exposure times. ND filters decrease the amount of light coming into the lens, but they also distort the color balance, so beware.

Here is a VERY good article on all kinds of “night” (read: long-exposure) photography: http://www.danheller.com/tech-longexp.html

[Saldo1981]

I got around to taking the above picture at night. I didn’t get the road as centered as I would have liked, but I didn’t like this car that drove by a couple times. So I decided to take what I had and get outta there. I will have to go back when I’m not by myself.

[Author]

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