Taking Pictures With Long Exposures

[z740]

hello all, i'm sorry to keep bugging you with ameture questions but this one is of the utmost importance. how does one go about taking a picture with a very long exposure. the max shutter speed on my digital camera is 15 secs and i have a bulb mode on my film. what apeture setting should i set my film to? the biggest one possible? and i know i would nead a tripod, shutter release, etc. oh and is 400 film speed ok? i wanted to take a few pictures like this one. i have a Canon Poewrshot A230 and a Pentax K1000.
[photoid=5737188]
any help as always is much appreciated.

-Chris

[daninho]

Surely you should use the 15s, but with this camera it will be very noisy in my opinion. You should set ISO at the lowest level and of course use a tripod.

For the film camera the same, low ISO film, like 100, and Bulb mode you can use too, but I would only use it if you have a remote shutter control

[B7772ADL]

[photoid=5997606]

That was iso 100, 10mm, 8 second exposure at f3.5.

Camera was "mounted" on a ledge with timer used as i didn't have a remote shutter release with me.

[z740]

the ISO ratings on the Canon is 50, 100, 200, and 400. should i go for the 50 or stay with 100? and i just realiized that my Z740 has a max shutter speed of 8 secs, an apeture range off 2.8 to f8.0, and ISO ratings of 80, 100, 200, and 400.
they are compared side by side here: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/comp..._z740&show=all
my film K1000 has apetures of f2 through f22 i think. what would you recomend?

-Chris

[Greg Wilson]

Just go out and take pictures.
Tonight grab a good looking sheila, bottle of....well pepsi, and go to the river or somewhere similar and practice...............photography...
I am sure you already understand the relationship between ISO, shutter speed and appereture. You will soon get the "feel" of the approximate start settings of a night photo shoot. Write some notes until it becomes easier.




Don't forget to get the girl home on time.......

[z740]

Don't forget to get the girl home on time.......

GF's parents hate me and would never let me do such a thing. anyway i will start and take some pictures at night of somthing...i don't know what. the stars i guess and keep practicing. i have until november before i go to National so i will have plenty of time.

-Chris

[Greg Wilson]

GF's parents hate me...................

not justified I hope.......
If you go to one of the photo hosting sites...fotopic, etc etc (fotopic here).....you can search galleries/photos by camera type......check the EXIF for some start settings for various light.

[Will M]

He never said it had to be your sheila

Seriously though , close the aperture to f/8.0 and ISO 100 , just practice and have fun with light. It's digital so you can afford to screw it up once , a hundred times , or a thousand times , trial and error indeed.

focus on a tree click the shutter then grab your torch and start "painting" the tree with your torch and you'll soon start understanding ISO's and apertures.

[z740]

focus on a tree click the shutter then grab your torch and start "painting" the tree with your torch and you'll soon start understanding ISO's and apertures.

say wha....? you mean a flashlight?

-Chris

[Will M]

no I mean your wand !

Yes of course a 'flashlight' if thats what you call it...it's actually more a torch than a flashlight because it doesn't exactly flash does it ?

Then again I couldn't really torch your house with my torch now could I ?

[z740]

whatever you call it, it's just a case for holding dead batteries.

-Chris

[Will M]

You see thats the differing thing between the two hemispheres , here we use live batteries as opposed to dead ones , perhaps you should try ISO 1600 at f/2.8 for night shots , but make sure you do it in broad daylight , hate to see them underexposed

[z740]

You see thats the differing thing between the two hemispheres , here we use live batteries as opposed to dead ones , perhaps you should try ISO 1600 at f/2.8 for night shots , but make sure you do it in broad daylight , hate to see them underexposed

ok you've lost me again. i got the battery part but the whole night shot, day shot thing was confusing. and i don't get why batteries have to be so dramatic, other things break or stop working, but batteries.....they..DIE! *sniffles* R.I.P. little guys!

-Chris

[z740]

not justified I hope.......

nope they just hate me. not a clue why. back on topic..is 400 film ok for the long exposure pics? if not should i get 100, less, or more?

-Chris

[Mark Ralph]

For some interesting night shot info check this out

http://www.lostamerica.com/technique.html

Be sure to check out the aircraft boneyard images - simply stunning.

I know it's a little off topic but.........worth a look