Long Exposure Traffic

the_syco · 21-01-2012 11:26pm #1

On the way back from the Boards.ie Motor Meetup, I got a puncture, fixed it, jumped into the car to find that my battery had died. Whilst I was waiting for someone to come to jumpstart my car, I took a few long exposure shots. These three are my best, IIMO.

Into the traffic, on the top of my car:

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(didn't really look as nice if I cropped my car boot out, so I left it in)

I took a few shots away from the traffic, but they looked a bit blurred (car would shake as cars went by), so I put the camera on the road in front of my car, and got these:

Cars:

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Trucks:

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MiskyBoyy · 21-01-2012 11:35pm

The trucks one looks really cool in my opinion!
What shutter speed did you use?

the_syco · 21-01-2012 11:50pm

DaLad wrote: »

The trucks one looks really cool in my opinion!
What shutter speed did you use?

30 seconds for the above three.

CabanSail · 22-01-2012 2:03am

Seems to be fairly noisy. What ISO did you use?

Just had a peek at the Exif. Seems a lot of noise for ISO200.

Effects · 22-01-2012 2:30am

Don't you often get noise on long exposures regardless of the iso?

Tallon · 22-01-2012 3:25am

Jerry, buy a damn tripod

Very nice shots

Eirebear · 22-01-2012 3:28am

Effects wrote: »

Don't you often get noise on long exposures regardless of the iso?

Yep, noise can be caused by Long Exposures, especially on cropped sensors.

Gumbo · 22-01-2012 11:32am

Like the trucks one myself :cool:

Maybe the 30 second exposure caused all the noise, would like to see a similar shot with maybe 5 seconds exposure give or take and dont press the shutter button until you see the car/truck coming.

would that help with the noise?

Necronomicon · 22-01-2012 2:58pm

I really like the last shot, great point of view. You should be able to achieve similar results using slightly shorter exposures, maybe around 15-20 seconds, which might reduce the noise. Try turning on mirror lock up too.

It's a fun shot to do though, I have a couple in this set here if you want to see my own attempts.

the_syco · 22-01-2012 3:30pm

Tallon wrote: »

Jerry, buy a damn tripod

Very nice shots

I have a tripod, but as I wasn't planning on breaking down on a motorway in the middle of nowhere and take long exposure shots, thus I didn't think to bring it :pac:

=-=

I did a few other shots, but the focus was off, and thus they weren't as clear. I turned off the auto-focus on the lens, and then manually focussed on cars in the distance, and left it at that.

I did 30 second shots as there wasn't much traffic on the road, and thus 30 seconds would get two or three cars. Also so I could but my hands back into my pocket

Necronomicon wrote: »

Try turning on mirror lock up too.

I'll look into it. Nice shots, btw.

Here's an 8 second shot which was out of focus:

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And a 25 second shot at f/25:

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The lines on the road being blurred were mainly caused by the car shaking when a car went fairly fast by.

If I do more of this sort of shots again, but I'll probably use a remote trigger to press the button the next time.

This was probably one of the most unplanned shots I've done :P

dave66 · 23-01-2012 11:52am

When I tried my hand at light trails I was surprised that the exposure didn't have to be very long, this one was 10 seconds at f22, it was early in the evening before all the light had gone from the sky, so that might have helped:

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the_syco · 23-01-2012 6:21pm

dave66 wrote: »

When I tried my hand at light trails I was surprised that the exposure didn't have to be very long, this one was 10 seconds at f22, it was early in the evening before all the light had gone from the sky, so that might have helped

That's pretty good. I'll have a go at my local motorway shortly, before the days get too long.

sebphoto · 24-01-2012 9:57am

Way too dark in my opinion.
Try with gray filter + iso 50 or 100.:)

OldGoat · 24-01-2012 11:55am

Try the long exposure noise reduction setting in the custom function settings (Canon).
If you are going to have the shutter open for 30 seconds then drop your ISO to 100 (or 50 if you have it). It's seems a bit redundant to set it any higher for light trails.

Snowie · 30-01-2012 9:38am

dave66 wrote: »

When I tried my hand at light trails I was surprised that the exposure didn't have to be very long, this one was 10 seconds at f22, it was early in the evening before all the light had gone from the sky, so that might have helped:

The problem with that is while its a great shot i would say middle the appiture out to say f 11 and drop it 5 seconds an play around there not being smart or anything but the longer you leave the exposer, the more jagged the light lines will look. The less time the sharper the light lines will look ultimately creating a better shot (just my 2 cents)

But i love the gradients in booth yours and The Syco's shots.

dinneenp · 31-01-2012 5:54pm

Here's a few of mine, with wall or car instead of tripod (only ever tried long exposure less than 1/2 dozen times)

Taken at Claregalway traffic lights, 10 second exposure, f 16

Galway Nighttime Long Exposure by Photoblog.ie (Patrick Dinneen), on Flickr

f10, 13 seconds

Night driving by Photoblog.ie (Patrick Dinneen), on Flickr

from my car window, more abstract but I like it

f8, .5 seconds

flying by by Photoblog.ie (Patrick Dinneen), on Flickr

brooksamanda89 · 01-02-2012 12:39pm

All these are just awesome… I’m spell-bound!

zootshooter · 02-02-2012 5:01am

nice thread, some really cool shots on display, thought I'd stick up one of my own favourite long exposures of traffic.

.Longshanks. · 02-02-2012 12:26pm

Those aren't light trails....THIS is a light trail

:D;)

Taken in Laois one cold cold February night in 2009, 5 weeks after I got my first DLSR. Stcstc printed it for me and I still love it.

the_tractor · 02-02-2012 12:50pm

The Big Broadway Balls Belfast.

Lorry/Bus lights are what you want. :-)

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cena · 02-02-2012 12:50pm

I really like them photos guys. The truck on is the best as is the one the other user posted. They would look good hanging up on a wall in a house

DK32 · 02-02-2012 8:55pm

Inner city night;

Last shot of the night;

.Longshanks. · 02-02-2012 10:20pm

Anybody remember the POTW of a plane taking off lightrail? It was shot from a Spanish beach?

OldGoat · 02-02-2012 10:43pm

Was just thinking of that image. Might try to recreate it this weekend.

dinneenp · 03-02-2012 11:47am

Night driving, above image not showing:

Night driving by Photoblog.ie (Patrick Dinneen), on Flickr

steve_ · 04-02-2012 6:22pm

Im curious as to how you work out the length of time you should expose for. Is a trial and error thing? Are people just using their light meters and adjusting accordingly or is there something else?

pegasus1 · 04-02-2012 6:51pm

steve_ wrote: »

Im curious as to how you work out the length of time you should expose for. Is a trial and error thing? Are people just using their light meters and adjusting accordingly or is there something else?

I just did iso at 100, F11 and 20 sec. Exposure..

Motorway at dusk by niall.hirsch, on Flickr

Iso100, F11 and 30 sec Exposure..

Motorway at dusk 2 by niall.hirsch, on Flickr

steve_ · 04-02-2012 6:59pm

Interesting. So generally would you always use low ISO settings? Im assuming your apeture choice is much the same as they would be in other photos depending on whether you want everything in focus or not. As for the light meter readings, is that any use to you when doing long exposures? Do you use any specific metering mode when taking long exposures?

pegasus1 · 04-02-2012 7:12pm

steve_ wrote: »

Interesting. So generally would you always use low ISO settings? Im assuming your apeture choice is much the same as they would be in other photos depending on whether you want everything in focus or not. As for the light meter readings, is that any use to you when doing long exposures? Do you use any specific metering mode when taking long exposures?

The lower the iso the better, and you're correct on the aperture.
With the camera's light/exposure meter, you still need to meter it correctly on manual exposure..;)

steve_ · 04-02-2012 7:17pm

ok so based off the pictures above. You set up the shot, stop down to f-11 and set your ISO to 100. You light meter will obviously be showing your greatly underexposed so do you just adjust the exposure time until your light meter shows that your correctly exposed? I guess you can just use your light meters reading as a starting point and adjust your exposure time accordingly.

pegasus1 · 04-02-2012 7:25pm

You can do it in aperture priority mode with iso100 and F11 and get your shutter speed from that as a start...don't forget you need to use a tripod...

Long Exposure Traffic

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