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Help Please with Night Photography and Landscapes,I took these on the weekend and it was shot in manual mode,Tripod mount but all shots seem blurry and overexposed?.I could not turn the flash off in manual mode ethier is this normal???.Can somebody please give me some tips as i am completely lost with this.
I would not have been able to post a pic if it werent for stubbsyshelp ...

Stephen... can I suggest that you provide some exif details of the photo so that we can assist. No it is not necessary for the flash to operate in any mode (well maybe fully auto) and this can be adjusted in the menus.

Let's have some more details of the shot and we can go from there... might be a simple case of adjusting aperture or shutter speed or even ISO.

cheers,

Michael.

Hi Micheal could you please tell me where i would find exif data and i will happily supply ,sorry but i am really struggling with the basics here.Cheers Stephen

stephen wrote:Hi Micheal could you please tell me where i would find exif data and i will happily supply ,sorry but i am really struggling with the basics here.Cheers Stephen

Hi Stephen... I'm not sure which software you use for image processing, but most software will display the EXIF data for an image. Look under image properties or something similar. When you upload an image to smugmug as you have, the EXIF data is available by clicking on "more details". Taken from there, the exif for your second image is:

Date Taken: 2006-01-15 20:04:22
Date Modified: 2006-01-18 19:09:17
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D70s
Size: 2256x1500
Bytes: 474627
Aperture: f/8.0
ISO: 320
Focal Length: 40mm (60mm 35mm)
Exposure Time: 3s (3/1)
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure Bias: 0
ColorSpace: unknown

So i can see the aperture and shutter speed and ISO settings that you used which seem OK.
What I can't see from this, is whether you are shooting in RAW mode, or JPEG and if JPEG, which quality...

Your flash should not be firing in manual mode - unless you pop it up intentionally.
Exposure of night scenes is a little tricky to get right... I tend to expose using spot metering and then expose off the brightest part of the scene. You could also use bracketing to take 3 shots with slightly different exposures and then blend them later in Photoshop...

Hope this helps

Stephen,

If you have time/patience, go for longer exposures with higher fs-tops? When I used to take shots of Sydney harbour from my old workplace (35mm SLR) I had no problem taking 3 minute exposures (admittedly it wastes those really nice times when the sky is dark blue) with fstops in the thirties. Really sharp outcomes. Admittedly, I was on a balcony that was nicely sheltered from wind, so even 15minute exposures with tripod were okay...

I shot all photos in raw.I had a uv filter on the front ,I dont know if that makes a difference.I also noticed that my exposure guide in the viewfinder was flashing the whole time as well as iso auto in the lcd screen Thanks Stephen

Anyone????

Well, I don't think these look that blurry and overexposed to be honest. F8 is a good range to be in. But here's what I do if the exposure is looking tricky. Crank the ISO to 1600 and turn NR off. Take the picture. If the exposure is bang on then turn NR on, move ISO to 200, and multiply the shutter speed by 8. If not, then make judgement calls, (multiply by 8 and then back off 30 seconds). Once you find the right shutter and the lighting is the same or similar, you can always use it. If light increases or decreases, feel it out and let it go longer.

It's best to use the histogram when judging exposure, so look at the left and right sides of it. If the information shows falling out the side and not the bottom, you've either under exposed (left side) or over exposed (right side). If you've got information on both sides, only a composite will do. if your flash insists on popping up in manual, then there's something wrong. Are you using the remote? And anything under F5 will be noticeably blurry and soft, and acceptable sharpness usually comes at around 7.1 or 8, depending on your particular kit lens.

Also, I find with night shooting, no pic is acceptable above 200. Noise really gets amplified on anything over200 for some reason I find. Hope that helps.

I do agree with what has been said here. Whenever I can, I take night time photos at ISO100 (I love my Canon ), and at least f7.1. When doing pano's (stitching shots), i will try to get away with the 15-20 range of appertures.

Tristan