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I've been playing with the camera every chance I get at night as I'm convinced I should be able to get hand-held night time shots to work if I'm persistent.

Just visited Geelong last Thursday to freeze my but off. On Wed night I popped out of the Hotel to have a walk and a look-see (was just over 0c at the time with a wind chill at around -5c).

This shot was at ISO1600, 1/13sec f4.5 with the kit lens at 18mm



I'm now fairly confident that this sort of shot is worth doing again.

I tried my luck on darker items that I was struggling to see with my own eyes and that was a waste of time but certainly ISO1600 worked better than I expected. The shots came up looking exactly at the light levels I could see with my eyes. I just had to tuck my elbows in to keep the camera steady.

Paul - I really quite like this shot and think you've nailed it. Here's why I like it:

1)Look at it for more than a few seconds and the lines draw you to the mid back of the image...it captures you!

2)You have positioned yourself well to take the shot, it isn't too busy yet it incorporates a lot of different objects into it, i.e the nature element (trees, which dominate most of the shot) and the man made structures- bike rack, seats, cars, light poles, shops, shop lights etc)

3)The footpath lights appeal to me also, they help lead the shot into the distance with the help of the trees and also the different pavers... . I think it's a very different/unique shot!! My hat goes off to you sir...well done, and keep on posting!

I agree with Geoff in every aspect of this well shot pic - congrats

Paul

I very much agree with Geoff on this. One point that I've found is that at 1600 ISO noise can become a real issue. Hard to tell at this size, but it's very much a factor to consider.

I really like this shot, the more you look at it, the more interesting things you see. The way the trees and lights draw you down the centre of the photo is a great effect.

stubbsy wrote:Paul

I very much agree with Geoff on this. One point that I've found is that at 1600 ISO noise can become a real issue. Hard to tell at this size, but it's very much a factor to consider.

When you look at the pavers at real pixel size then noise is quite high. I didn't get to run a noise reduction program on it as I'm just waiting for a new version of PS at the moment. (playing with Elements 2.0 at the moment).

Thanks for the positive comments guys.

This was just across the road. Shot at 1/6sec at f6.3 - somehow got away with handheld.

Paul. That new shot is great. Hand held and freezing cold. Impressive. (Oh and the shot itself is a good one too. I like the colours and the composition)

The leading lines in these are so strong your eyes seem driven to the middle... No VR? You've done a damn site better than I would have, my hands would have been shaking in that weather

I love this first shot , the way it draws you down the centre of the trees.

It could be any street in any city at night..

Good work

MAtt