Night Time Cityscape Shots of Calgary

[RONDAL]

Weather is finally getting half decent in the evenings temperature wise so I decided to head out after rolling my fenders and take night shots of the car with flashes....however its not THAT warm, and with the cool breeze I couldn't be bothered to try setting everything up in the cold. So I decided to turn my car shoot location that was going to be the background into the subject and take some long exposure shots.

It's my first time playing around with 10+ second exposures. Needless to say I'm tripod mounted but its still a challenge to control camera shake with the wind. Aside from remote trigger any tips? It was gusty on the ridge where I was shooting from.

Comments and Criticism are welcome, it was my first try so I'm looking for some pointers to improve.

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: Night Time Cityscape Shots of Calgary

I think the pics look great!!!!

[Al]

Re: Night Time Cityscape Shots of Calgary

Looks awesome!

[stefan]

Re: Night Time Cityscape Shots of Calgary

yeah, not bad at all!

[R_Ethug]

Re: Night Time Cityscape Shots of Calgary

Daaaayyyyyymmmmmmmmmmm

[Kona Bear]

Re: Night Time Cityscape Shots of Calgary

Looks awesome.

[vee_dubbin]

Re: Night Time Cityscape Shots of Calgary

Very cool pics.......what camera are you using?

[VanDamage]

Re: Night Time Cityscape Shots of Calgary

Sweet shots!

[RONDAL]

Re: Night Time Cityscape Shots of Calgary

Very cool pics.......what camera are you using?

Nikon D90, set on shutter priority which I played around with to get the desired shutter length that would light everything properly. Worked out to around 10 seconds for the wide shot, 20 for the close up. ISO on Low1 which is like 100.
I used two lenses, the wide shots were taken using a Sigma 10-20mm at like 12mm length or there abouts, each shot was slightly different.
The close up of the bridge was taken with a Nikon 55-200mm VR lens at 55mm. Camera was on a manfrotto tripod and ballhead.

[snipa_mini85]

Re: Night Time Cityscape Shots of Calgary

How are you liking the Sigma 10-20? I'm thinking of picking up a wide angle but not certain whether to keep it Canon or to go with another brand.

[MusicalGenius]

Re: Night Time Cityscape Shots of Calgary

That's a fantastic location, I've gone there many a time.

My advice for the wind might be a ballast of some sort, virtually all Manfrotto tripods have the ability to accept a sort of hammock style sling between the legs. You could pick one up and store additional weight between the legs to stabilize the tripod.

Aside from that look into making sure the legs are spread wider to give you a lower centre of gravity.

[RONDAL]

Re: Night Time Cityscape Shots of Calgary

How are you liking the Sigma 10-20? I'm thinking of picking up a wide angle but not certain whether to keep it Canon or to go with another brand.

its a fantastic lens, i rock it for pretty much anything. so versatile. if i have to take one lens with me its that one, especially for car shoots.

the nikon/canon equivalents are like $1000+, why pay that when you can get the same quality basically for 1/2 the price. Sure on the science end of it the nikon/canon glass is better, but in overall image quality that you or I will notice its fine. Lets face it, there is a lot of other things wrong with our photos than the glass.

[RONDAL]

Re: Night Time Cityscape Shots of Calgary

That's a fantastic location, I've gone there many a time.

My advice for the wind might be a ballast of some sort, virtually all Manfrotto tripods have the ability to accept a sort of hammock style sling between the legs. You could pick one up and store additional weight between the legs to stabilize the tripod.

Aside from that look into making sure the legs are spread wider to give you a lower centre of gravity.

im thinking next time im just gonna hang my camera backpack from the base of the centre post. it will help add mass and hangs low so it will lower the centre of gravity

[MusicalGenius]

Re: Night Time Cityscape Shots of Calgary

Wicked idea, they turned out really well though. I remember some long exposure shots I took a while back of a foggy night, I set my tripod up on the street corner and the fog seemed to almost move. I was pretty happy except they were all just slightly out of focus.

[RONDAL]

Re: Night Time Cityscape Shots of Calgary

i HATE out of focus shots. there is nothing you can do to fix them.....sucks nuts