THE NIGHT SKY
You may remember my first attempt at night photography a few weeks ago. Even though I wasn’t happy with the results, I posted a shot of the full moon over Huntington Beach, California. Earlier this week while in Long Beach, I made another attempt.
© 2010
While the results are definitely better, there was no moon. I have come to believe the moon was creating some photographic confusion on my previous shoot. I think I’ll come back for another night shoot that would include the moon. Can you imagine a shot like this with a moon in the sky above the city?
There’s nothing quite like a full moon to captivate your thoughts!
Thanks for stopping by. I’ll see you tomorrow!
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Photographyfree4all's Blog 
Nice shot! I want to experiment a bit with night photography… have to start using a tripod. I honestly have never used a tripod to this point! That’s another good challenge to start thinking about for the 365 day photo project.
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Good city shot! I can definitely imagine a moon hanging above the sky.
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Beautiful.
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Nice shot! The moon would definitely be a great addition… of course there is always Photoshop?? lol…
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nice shot!
i’ll be waiting for the one with moon included 😉
that would look awesome!!
i hate night photography simple because i’m bad in it haha
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Great shot, sharp and colorful.
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Night shots are such a great way of seeing a place differently. This one really makes me want to visit!
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Nice shot really, but I think without the moon there is the idea that the only light is there, comes from the hand of the man. I like it
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I noticed your comment on one of my blogging friends’ blogs and decided to stop by. It’s been a pleasure viewing your photos and reading about your approach to learning the craft of photography. I lived in Southern California for many years (now in Canada) and enjoy seeing your take on places I’m familiar with. I’ll be back for another visit later….
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Good shot! The moon really adds another level of complexity as the camera doesn’t know what to expose for! Keep practicing!
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Yes, the Moon can be a tricky element in a night photo; it helps if you set your camera’s metering area to center-weighted; no matter what you do, if you’re trying to capture both the city (which is a bit dim, with a few highlights) and the Moon in the same shot, the latter will be overexposed. Conversely, if you try to properly meter for the Moon itself, you won’t see much of the city – only the brightest light sources; the last time I photographed the Moon, my exposures were at roughly 1/125s @ ISO 100 – much too fast to be of any use in dim lighting.
As for general night shooting, if you can use manual settings on your camera, that would be quite helpful; I have found that for subjects like this photo, overexposing by one or two stops helps to “burn” in the lights a little more, giving the scene a better overall brightness. You’re not much at risk for overexposure, since the scene itself is, on the whole, so very dim. And yes, a tripod is a must for night shooting, unless you’re using high ISO settings (which I happen to hate). Even if you’re using a point-and-shoot camera, I’d suggest getting a robust tripod that can handle at least a DSLR with a long lens – you may not be using one now, but if you ever do decide to get one (or, for that matter, find a medium format film camera you want to use – but I digress), you’ll be glad you got the stronger model; as an added bonus, the more robust the tripod, the better stability it’ll afford you, particularly on windy nights.
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I’m no professional, but I tried shooting the full moon that was above a mountain. Although it was beautiful to look at with they eye, it was almost impossible to figure out a setting to expose the mountain and the moon correctly. I could get great shots of just the moon, and then great shots of hte mountain (where the moon looked like the sun!) I spoke to a photog friend of mine, and explained my problem, and asked how to get it to be equal.. he said.. photoshop it!
PS Great pics, and fun blog!
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Great composition. Try to shoot it a little earlier when you still get the blue sky – it will look a bunch more impressive.
And moons… ah yes, not easy. Well as Scott Kelby wrote in his book for beginners, shoot one photo of the moon and one of the scene and mask the moon in as you’re bound to have problems otherwise.
Keep shooting!
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Thanks for the tip, Martin. I’ll try it.
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I don’t usually reply to posts but I’ sure will in this case. Seriously a big thumbs up for this one!!
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