City Landscape...

[jedimaster]

Ok so here is a shot I took last night. I really liked how the sunset light the building up like they were on fire, and I was able to catch the CN tower right when the red strobe lights were on... Now my problem is I don't like the picture. Too grainy and the building lights are over exposed...

 

Can anyone suggest to me some tips on how I can sharpen up this type of picture? I am using a Canon T2i with a 55x250mmIS lense. No filters. I do have a shade on.

 

Now my first thought was to lengthen the shutter time and decrease the ISO. But when I did that I lost some of the color. The image was sharper though and less grainy.

 

Where should I start with ISO, Shutter speed and anythign else and what should I adjust from there? Any tips are welcome. The idea of this shot is to be able to capture the color. I have about 5 minutes to take this picture as the sun sets, before the buildings lose the color.

 

Its taken from my balcony.

 

[Twocoda]

what is the EXIF for the photo....you might want to lower your aperture a stop ...there is a trade off when you do this .....the luminance of the lights/reflections on the buildings will be more tolerable but you will lose the tree tops in the dark areas...you can compensate with your +/- balance to a degree or you can bracket the shot and achieve your desires in post production...if you lower your ISO it will take away the grainy look but that can also be corrected in post production as well

here is your shot lowered 1.5 stops and no luminance correction...if you had of shot it with the lower f stop you would be able to increase your exp time to pick up the darker areas without blowing out the lights and sun bouncing off the buildings...its a fine line between aperture and shutter speed

 

its still a cool shot though ....reminds me more of 35mm film as its shot now which is a desired "look" in some circles

 

Hope it helps

[jedimaster]

I was trying to keep the sun bouncing off the buildings as it was kind of a cool scene with the deep red sunset reflecting.

 

F5.6

Exposure 1/8

ISO 3200

Bias 0

Max Ap 5

Focal length 250mm

 

Was shot from about 14 km's away from the CN Tower

[Christopheraaron]

Your ISO is wayyyy to high for that light (go down between 100-200) , try going as wide as you can to include more of the buildings. Lowering the f-stop will help make the shot more dramatic.

[Twocoda]

iso 3200 is for long exposures in the dark....or light painting .....max on a shot like that with that available light is 400 but Richmond Fisher isnt wrong either...the higher the ISO the more noise you will get in your photos....its going to be another beautiful evening ...should be able to snap the image again....try iso 200 and 400 at the same settings then take a stop down and do both again...i think you should find what your after out of those 4 photos

post your shots and show the difference to us...then maybe someone down the road can learn from your images if you put the EXIF under each one...there is no right or wrong way... a camera is just a tool ...what you do with it is what makes it cool...

 

Cheers

 

edit to add...shoot in RAW and you can fix anything....well almost

Edited May 11, 2012 by Twocoda

[BillM]

You need a tripod if you don't already have one..

 

Set the ISO as low as possible and let the shutter do the work. I also like using the 2 second timer to get rid of any camera shake when pressing the button.

 

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

[Christopheraaron]

No need for a tripod, lean the camera against a wall or railing to keep it still. However if you thing that you want to do this often it will pay to have a tripod.

[BillM]

No need for a tripod, lean the camera against a wall or railing to keep it still. However if you thing that you want to do this often it will pay to have a tripod.

 

Yeah, lean it on a railing when your 14-15 stories up, lol!

 

A tripod not only keeps your camera still, it keeps it safe

 

I've got a cheap one from Henrys and it does the job really well.

Edited May 13, 2012 by BillM

[Christopheraaron]

Yeah, lean it on a railing when your 14-15 stories up, lol!

 

A tripod not only keeps your camera still, it keeps it safe

 

I've got a cheap one from Henrys and it does the job really well.

 

i'm guessing you have weak hands then!

[kickingfrog]

i'm guessing you have weak hands then!

 

I know you've never met Bill.

 

A tripod is always better for these types of photos. Not always practical, but always better.

[jedimaster]

It was alot darker that what the image appears. The higher iso will lean to that, but it'll still be a bit before the sun starts to disapear. The buildings only show up like that for about 5 or 10 mnutes right before it goes dark.... Yes I have a tripod and will set it up and see what I can do. I didn' play around too much with the settings I just left it on landscape and had time for only a few snaps. Hopefully I'll be able to get some testing done tonight.

[BillM]

i'm guessing you have weak hands then!

 

Nah, I just don't like dangling 3-4k on a railing

[Twocoda]

Nah, I just don't like dangling 3-4k on a railing

 

also a serious consideration when you buy a tripod..do you really want to mount that kind of coin on a cheap tripod..food for thought

[BillM]

also a serious consideration when you buy a tripod..do you really want to mount that kind of coin on a cheap tripod..food for thought

 

The $50 tripod at Henrys is perfectly fine for what I do with it

[jedimaster]

Well 3 nights with clear skies and the buildings didn't reflect. maybe it was a freak allignment.

[kickingfrog]

The angle of the sun, relative to the buildings, changes every day.

[Twocoda]

i didnt have a camera with me at sunset last night but i think its the biggest sun i have ever seen in my life...it was HUGE ....is it common to have a super sun after a super moon ....i really wish i had a camera with me ...