Night Photography In Newark With Guy And Steve

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Submitted by Gez Robinson on Tue, 11/10/2011 - 20:27

Having spoke to Guy in the week gettimg advice on the Goose fair now i am working in Nottingham he said they were going to Newark Sunday to a Power station for some night photography something of which all though i am no expert.. (wedding photography is my thing and rather busy this year with 42 weddings completed) along with my day job as a service engineer i am quite passionate about photography in the evening and a difference you can make with a photo using long exposures,

The tools for Night photography Tripod essential to stop camera shake on long exposures, Warm clothing, and a torch and if possible a wired or wireless shutter trigger for longer exposures and if affordable a wide angle lens( i use a sigma 10-20mm then you can get more dramatic skies

Having finshed work in Nottingham around 4.30pm i drove to Newark to meet Guy at the deignated place

Whilst in Newark after a short walk around the town we grabbed a few shots by the bridge then we set off to meet with Steve at the car park of Newark Marina near the power station

So off we treked from the car park where we parked through dark fields probably about 1 and half miles away but with my dodgy hip it seemed like 5miles lol to the side of the trent on arrival the first thing i realised i had done is left my wireless remote in the van(what an idiot)so it was the camera timer for me.

Just one thing i would say to get some of the effects below never use your camera in Auto mode

I know this is not a night shot but whilst walking around the grounds of the Castle some girls in the distance caught my eye so grabbed a quick photo

To show how setting different shutter speeds can produce different results although most of you will know this. settings were Manual f/4.5 ISO 200 38mm Focal length 1/10 Second

By setting the shutter speed to 3 Seconds you can see the difference its the same photo as above but a lot brighter.
That also applies when setting the aperture the smaller the aperture number i:e f/4.0 the more light you let in and the brighter the photo and you can also see a difference with the water it gives it an almost ice or mirror effect

This was taken wide angle at 2.5 Seconds at f/3.5
i really like bright quirky night photos so i always use long exposures 30+ seconds at around f/4.5 - f/9 but a lot of people will tell you to shoot at 30 Seconds around f/11 onwards smaller aperture

Again looking for nice reflections in the river and using the weed in the foreground to give the photo some interest settings were Manual 30 Seconds at f/9.0 Focal Length 18.0mm

Arriving at the Power Station the first thing we noticed was a lot of growth around the river now shooting long exposures could cause problems because the greenery would become blurred to try to find a spot where there was little or no movement settings for this were 30 seconds at f/5.7 you will see this is a little darker than the next image so remember larger the aperture the more light you let in and the brighter your image will be

Same settings as above apart from the aperture down to f/4.0 to bring in a little more light

And taking about removing the undergrowth and grassy banks from the picture here is Guy doing it his way shoes and socks off straight into the Trent

Again you can see this one is slightly darket than the previous two setting the shutter speed to 25 Seconds and f/5.7 darkens the photo

After a few River shots i looked round and thought the Farmers field would make a nice image with no light pollution from lots of street lights settings on this one were 30 seconds shutter speed and f/4.0 now i explained earlier about using a wide angle lens for the dramatic skies here is a prime example this was taken at a focal length of 10mm the only problem trying to get this shot is focusing it was pitch black apart from a street light in the distance that i focused on

you can see the difference from the photo above same shot aperture was f/5.7 and it just darkens the picture slightly and changes the sky color it is all about experimenting

Of which i did with this one set the camera to 30 seconds put on a 5 second timer then round around in the filed light painting Guy and Steve must have thought i was mad but then they had a go photography it's all about fun

Time to go so wanted to get one more shot of the power station settings on this one were 30 Seconds at f/4.0

As we were coming back to the marina Steve said the reflections on the boats looked good so it was Camera out and and another long exposure this one was taken at 16.0mm focal length at 30 Second shutter speed at f/5.6

In this one i used the bridge and asked Guy to stay still for at least 30 seconds because if he would have moved he would have just looked ghostly or you would not have seen him at all you can also see the moon is blurry this is because in 30 seconds it was abviously moving with the earths rotation

While the moon was in view i grabbed this last shot of the bridge taken at 30 seconds at f/4.5

Anyway that is that i hope i have been some help to some people regarding night photography i am not too good in putting it in words i am more of a hands on person as Guy will tell you if anyone in the near future wants to go out doing some night photography contact me and i will gladly come along within a reasonable travelling distance as i say i prefer hands on sometime in November i am hoping to go to Liverpool waterfront i am told it is nice down there anyone is welcome to join me by the way i live in rotherham South Yorkshire

Gez Robinson's blog
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Submitted by Ancient Matilda

Date Tue, 11/10/2011 - 20:39

Comment

Night photography is something I've yet to try, looks like you guys had fun. Inspiring blog. Thank you for sharing.

regards

Anne

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Submitted by klovibond

Date Tue, 11/10/2011 - 20:52

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Very interesting Gez, and gives me some idea of what to try on my next night trip...thanks.

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Submitted by Steve Ransome

Date Tue, 11/10/2011 - 20:57

Comment

Nice work Gez,

It's great to see you guys getting together as well. You have some superb night shots here. Considering too, that you left your remote behind, these are superb.

Nice work Gez, an interesting photoblog with some good tips in there. Nice to see the same shot with different settings too.

Thanks, really interesting.

—

Steve

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Submitted by JustG

Date Tue, 11/10/2011 - 21:08

Comment

A nice selection of shots there Gez.

It was great meeting you and was certainly alot of fun. Your playing with the torch has inspired me to want to try a few things when I have the time.

Great blog buddy.

—

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Submitted by micklemass

Date Tue, 11/10/2011 - 21:16

Comment

A very intresting Night Blog I think if that was me i would have probaly fallen in the Water Thanks for compiling and sharing Gez

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Submitted by Vivien L

Date Tue, 11/10/2011 - 21:22

Comment

Brilliant Gez, and thanks for all the info. It's really good to see how folk use different settings and why. I do like the results from the long exposure settings.

Looks like you had a great time; thanks for sharing these excellent images and putting the blog together for us to read.

Viv

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Submitted by Rosie

Date Tue, 11/10/2011 - 21:24

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Ohhh i know what im going to be trying out!!! Fantastic blog with stacks of information thats easy to follow. Thanks for that.

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Submitted by Jim Miller

Date Tue, 11/10/2011 - 21:25

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Grand blog Gez....its the sort of thing we all learn from.

Well Done

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Jim

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Submitted by the one and only DAZ

Date Tue, 11/10/2011 - 21:38

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Very productive evening out guys! Also really informative for those who have little knowledge of night shooting.

Great stuff!!!

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Submitted by Steve Thomas

Date Wed, 12/10/2011 - 00:36

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Strewth!! That's dedication, wading in the Trent at night with ya tripod!! Holy Moly. Great pics though...

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Submitted by Ghee

Date Wed, 12/10/2011 - 00:42

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Really interesting blog. Thought you used the words and photos really well together and it looks like you guys had a good time. Thanks so much for sharing.

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Submitted by eastj

Date Wed, 12/10/2011 - 10:10

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Hi Gez, As someone who is still trying to find her way around her HS20, this is a very interesting and useful blog. It was also good to look at.

Thank you. Jean

http://www.myfinepix.fr/blog/119926/337260

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Submitted by John Marsden

Date Wed, 12/10/2011 - 11:21

Comment

Great night shots, especially the power station ones. Wading into a river at night, that's taking things seriously. I liked the moment of madness with the light painting.

It is remarkable how quick the moon 'moves' across the sky. I spent only 10 minutes taking some moon shots and realised at the end that I was pointing in completely different direction to when I started.

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Submitted by rinklyron

Date Wed, 12/10/2011 - 14:08

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Well done Gez,some great pictures with a lot of easy to follow tips.Might have a go myself soon.

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Submitted by J. Butterfly

Date Wed, 12/10/2011 - 15:20

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What a great blog some fab pics. I'm no expert so didn't really understand all the technical stuff but thanks for sharing x

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Jenny x

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Submitted by Glynis D

Date Wed, 12/10/2011 - 17:24

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brilliant blog Gez - I don't really understand all the settings so its something I am going to have to try once it stops raining!! I haven't been to liverpool at night but have been assured its great! have fun xxx

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Submitted by Christine Davies

Date Wed, 12/10/2011 - 18:26

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Thanks Gez. The only night shots I have taken have been on Auto. But I will try some of the settings that you used and see what I can do. Thanks again for posting this blog it encourages us to try and do similar things. Wading in the river is a No No for me, I end up falling in when I'm on the bank.

Regards Christine

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Christine