Tbird and Bimmer - experiemting in A mode

[97tbird]

playing and trying to learn Aperture priority:


This is my 1st experiment using A mode - i think F was 5.6...
ISO set at 200. felt like the it took about 10-15 sec's to "take" the pic after i hit the shutter button.

what could I have done better ? I think the street lamp is bleeding light onto the Tbird's back.
1st pic focus on BMW, 2nd pic on Tbird
Only lighting source was the street/parking area lamp. It was otherwise almost completely dark.
( I know i must have shaken the camera although I had it on a chair, and the VR 55-200 lens is not great and VR stuff in the dark...)

 

[oggb]

It depends what you're trying to do. I leave my camera in aperture priority because:
- I know X lens shows heavy chromatic aberration until stopped down to X aperture
- X lens vignettes more than I'd like until stopped down to X aperture
- X lens is sharpest at X aperture
- to blur backgrounds
- to create deep depth of field for landscapes

etc.

 

[eljefino]

What's important here is you did a timed exposure. The aperture/shutter speed mix is not responsible for the lighting. Which is, incidentally, "mixed" and slightly interesting with the green light reflecting off the Ford.

The f/5.6 is mostly wide open which means shallow depth-of-focus, meaning only one car was in focus at a time. This is a benefit of the larger glass on fancy DSLRs and you can use the focus to highlight what you want the viewer to pay attention to. It's not necessarily that you used "A" mode; if you used "dummy program" it would have opened the lens all the way because of how dark it is.

If you don't want to shake the camera when it's propped up on whatever, dealextreme has a universal nikon wireless remote for about $4 shipped from Hong Kong.

 

[tom slick]

"A mode" is how I generally shoot. Usually I want control of the depth of field but in a low light situation you may not want motion to blur or an object to be lighted too much.
Using the 10 second timer is a good way to take long exposure photos without shaking the camera.

FYI, your photos are digital, that means data is saved with each photo so you don't have to memorize or guess at your settings later.
Your top photo was taken with settings:
f/5.6
Exposure 20s
ISO 200
Exposure bias -.7 step
Focal length 55mm
contrast normal
Exposure program Aperture Priority
Saturation high saturation
Sharpness hard
White balance auto
Date taken 3/26/2011 at 7:01pm

I got this information from that photo's "properties"

 

[cchase]

Thank you for using the proper term, "Bimmer" instead of those who think a "Beemer" is a car.

Also, excellent shots.

 

[crw]

Hi,

Just a few notes of critique... if you want to really separate the cars, I'd go f/4 or even lower. For example, in the second shot the Bimmer is nearly in focus. A quick glance won't cause the viewer to think about it. Of course, fast lenses (f/2.8, f/2, f/1.4) are not cheap in zoom form, and many folks don't own these lenses.

Also, if you want the image to give a perception of being in the dark, you'd need to knock down that exposure bias, down to probably -2, and then experiment with it. There is nothing wrong with what you have done, if that is how you want it. As it is, the image has a strange lighting effect... which is fine if that's what you want.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: crw
Hi,

Just a few notes of critique... if you want to really separate the cars, I'd go f/4 or even lower.

Agreed. There isn't enough focus separation here.