Amateur Photography - Multi-Second Exposure Shots

 

One Can Take Really Good Night-Time Pictures With Exposure Photography

30 Second/ISO-200 Night-Time Exposure Shot Without Flash

Recently, I went to a Salvation Army retreat up in North Texas to Camp Hoblitzelle, about 40 minutes outside of Dallas. I was excited as I knew that this would be the perfect place to practice my photography skills and try camera experiments. Also, Lake Hoblitzelle has always been one of my best natural subjects for photography. It was even better that it was a clear Thursday-night sky that was begging to be photographed. I always wanted to try night-time exposure shots. It would be possible to take really good scenic pictures at night.

How a exposure shot works is that the camera takes a  picture using a shutter speed lasting several seconds. The shutter speed is the speed that the picture is taken at. For example, a shutter speed of 1/30 meant that a still frame was taken at 1/30th of a second. On  a high-speed shutter (1/800,1/1200,1/1600,1/2000), the pictures are taken at even a faster speed, allowing for some impressive still shots. Their are trade-offs though. The faster the shutter speed is set, the less light that the lens has to absorb the surrounding light. As a result, it's not possible to use fast shutter speeds at night for this reason. Because it's dark outside, the main source of light is provided by either nature (moon and stars), or city lights. The ISO setting is used to compensate for this.

The ISO setting determines the amount of color grains to use to brighten a shot. Typically, ISO-80 and ISO-100 have the fewest color grains and artifacts. For outdoor, daytime shots, it makes sense to use a low ISO setting since the photo is either getting a lot of direct sunlight or plenty of ambient light. For indoor, daytime shots, one would want to use a higher ISO setting, like ISO-200, because most indoor places don't have a source for direct sunlight, and what light is provided is mainly ambient in nature. One could use higher ISO settings, however, I've gotten poor picture result for anything higher than ISO-200. I don't recommend their use unless one has to for a particular reason.

For night-time, one could get always with using ISO-200 and get really good results. However, if one wants to take a really good picture of the night sky, then one needs to set the shutter speed to a really long time (4-30 seconds). This is referred to as a exposure shot. On the Kodak PIXPRO AZ252, 30 seconds is the longest time allowed for a exposure shot.  All this time is needed because the camera needs to absorb all the light that it can. It's nighttime, so the only light out there is provided by city lights and the moon and stars. Their is no direct sunlight and it's much darker. The camera needs extra time to absorb the light around it.

Their are trade-offs when using long exposure shots. A still surface or a tripod is needed. If the camera is moved during the exposure shots, then the picture will become distorted. I will dare anyone to try to hold a camera still for several seconds. The slightest movement is enough to ruin the picture. That includes the breath leaving and entering the lungs! Once this problem is solved with a solid surface or tripod, then one can start taking the most awesome night-time pictures ever!

30 Second Exposure Shot/ISO-80

30 Second Exposure Shot/ISO-200

In the photos above, the ISO setting of 200 created a brighter, more detailed picture than ISO-80. However, as one also notes, their are more grains and artifacts in the ISO-200 picture compared to ISO-80. The stars are moon are blurred one has to take the Earth's rotation into account. Both the moon and the stars did change locations slightly in the 30 seconds that the picture was taken for. In both pictures, light was provided by the moon, the stars, their light reflecting off of the atmosphere, along with the lights of the patio, lake fountain, and the moonlight on the lake. 

30 Second Exposure Shot/ISO-80

30 Second Exposure Shot/ISO-200

How it actually appeared outside. 1/4 second shutter speed using ISO-200.

The above pictures can highlight why one should use a lower ISO setting. ISO-80 worked well with the first 30 second exposure shot because their was plenty of light provided by the twilight sky, along with the artificial lighting. ISO-200 for the same time provided a image, that in my opinion, is way to bright. The last photo was taken to illustrate how things actually appeared outside when these pictures were taken. I felt that the last picture was important because one could get the wrong impression that it was very bright outside when it actually wasn't.

Because the exposure shots were done over a 30 second period, any moving objecting is going to leave a trail. Their was a plane flying as these pictures were taken, which as a result, left a recognizable light trail. On any photo, a streak of light could be mistaken for a comet. Long, still shots could come in handy during a meteor shower where long exposure shots of the sky can capture the streaks of lights from the burning rocks. 

I hoped that you enjoyed getting a quick 101 on ISO settings, shutter speeds, and exposure shots. This article is meant to instruct how to take really good scenic, night-time pictures. It can be done with the right camera settings. Enjoy, and have a good weekend.