as above really, been having real difficulty with getting any decent night shots regardless of light or apparently camera quality

tripod, long exposure and no flash. and of course, photoshop

cheers, (Preparing to be laughed at for stupidity) but what is long exposure?

photoshop is not necessary, but will allow you to brush up mistakes.

nothing wrong with a flash either. the thing is you have to use one that has a decent power. the little ones that come on cameras are no good.

you want to select the correct apature and shutter speed. the apature refers to how much light the lense let into it within the length of time which the photo is being taken (shutter speed) the apature is the number that has an 'f' infront of it. the smaller the number the more light gets let in. if you take the lense of your camera and look inside (from the rear) when you turn the apature ring, you can see the lense opening and closing.

its important to get a right balance between shutter speed and apature.

tripod is vital because of the long shutter speeds. if you are taking a photo at 1/2 a second, you cannot keep your hand still enough and the picture will blur.

hope it helps abit. look it up on google or youtube it

exposure is literally how long the film is exposed to the light. so shutter speed and exposure are the same thing

In the olden days, when using a film the light enteringa camera from its lense would impose itself (somehow) on the paper. Obviously if the film was exposed to the light for too long it would become over-exposed and too bright and eventually the image would become just plain white.

So the exposure time was restricted by the shutter which opens and closes just faster than the human eyelid can (iirc) and therefore prevents the image from becoming overexposed. But on a lot of cameras the user can adjust the exposure time ( how quickly the the shutter opens and closes ) to suit their environment. Having a longer exposure means more light will be able to impose itself on to the film making the image appear brighter. But that is also why a tripod is necassery, because the longer the film is exposed, the more time you have to shiver, shake, wobble or even sneeze and make the image blurry.

When potographs were first becoming popular people wanting a portrait would be forced to sit in front of the came for hours at a time because the reaction was so slow

I assume the principal is the same with digital cameras but i expect the process is a lot more complicated

well as usual people on here never cease to amaze me with their wealth of random knowledge, thanks for all the help so far people

i've just started playing with my new camera, if you have a instruction book wit your camera its well worth having flick though to get an idea of whats what. i've never used a camera for more than pointing and shooting, but now i'm getting the idea of what every thing does now.

i had a play earlier in the dark and this was the best i could do, but i'm still very much a beginner.

i had to play about with the shutter sped to get it light enough, and i had to rest it on some thing to stop the blurriness of it. its not great compared to a lot i've seen, but i'm proud of it

It's ok, you can still tell they are both really smart examples of bmw's

Edited 7 January, 200818 yr by Tubthumper

modest mouse- you have to remember that you cant recreate 'light' by letting more light into the camera.

you need to have a good source of lighting.

You can get interesting effects by running around your car with a small torch though

vive long exposures!

I assume the principal is the same with digital cameras but i expect the process is a lot more complicated

Aye, same concept, the light just imprints onto the sensor (which is, in effect, a digital film).

snipesglx, what camera do you use? i may be able to shed some light on your troubles. I know little about 35mm film but i have a fair knowledge of digital photography.

keeep on snappin!

it's not about being good with a camera, it's about developing your own style!

soon shall you become at one camera with the!

if there is no light soruce at all your gonna struggle to get a good picture with out it being stupidly noisey.

lighting paiting is a good one never use it for cars but for lighting rooms in comelet darkness its a good one.

you also have to take into account the ISO (or ASA- same thing) higher the number i.e 400 will give you better quality but less light. 200 or 100 is more suitable if your taking pics at a local meet for example

you also have to take into account the ISO (or ASA- same thing) higher the number i.e 400 will give you better quality but less light. 200 or 100 is more suitable if your taking pics at a local meet for example

i'm not cussing upon you, but i thought that the lower the number i.e. ISO100 means its less light sensitive and less noisey and grainy whereas the higher the ISO i.e. ISO1600 means a higher light sensitivity but more noise and grain?

if you're iso is higher, you wont need such a long exposure or large aperture (because the sensor or film is more sensitive to the light entering the shutter) but your photo isnt quite as crisp as it would be with ISO 100.

i'd say clear and crisp photos are of a higher quality than that of grainy/noisey ones. i suppose it depends on the look you're after!

modest mouse- you have to remember that you cant recreate 'light' by letting more light into the camera.

you need to have a good source of lighting.

man i just took a few tips from the instruction manual and then kept messing with it while taking pics to see what worked the best, long exposer made every thing more clearer.

heres one with a smaller exposer time...

once i get my car back on the road i'll go and get some proper practice with it, till then i'm restricted to what i can try out.