ComputerForum.com ComputerForum.com  

Go Back   Computer Forum > Digital Imaging > Digital Cameras, Webcams and Scanners

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 06-15-2009, 07:29 PM   #1 (permalink)
Diamond Member
 
Bootup05's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: South East England
Age: 18
Posts: 2,652
Default Long exposure how to?

Okay so theres a storm outside.

Thunder lightening etc, I try to take a shot under bulb mode, where the lighting under live view looks just right.

after any amount of time all I get is a totally white over exposed image

How do I fix this?

Many thanks!
__________________
Intel Q6700 @ 3.66GHz
Gigabyte UD3P P45
6GB DDR2 800MHz
Asus 4890 @ 950/4500
750GB Samsung Spinpoint - 320GB WD Caviar - 160GB Seagate USB
Belinea 26" Wide LCD
SoundBlaster Live 24bit USB - Acoustic Energy Aego M
Thermaltate Ultimate Extreme Back in Push Pull
Tagan 600W 48A Quad Rail
Win 7 x64 RC
Bootup05 is online now   Reply With Quote


Old 06-15-2009, 09:48 PM   #2 (permalink)
Ben
VIP Member
 
Ben's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Decatur, Georgia
Posts: 3,360
Default

The short answer:
You have to set your aperture up as high as it can go. For my cam, that's f22 at 18mm focal length. Make sure your ISO is all the way down as well.

A different answer:
First off...You're shooting in day time. It's not easy to get a rightly-exposed shot in broad daylight(Especially in bulb mode when most of the time people hold the shutter open for more than 30 seconds). I've found even at F22 with the shutter open for 10 to 15 seconds its still way over exposed.

So what I suggest doing is again, setting your aperture as high as it can go, then only exposing the shutter for 5 seconds at a time. If it's underexposed after only 5 seconds(or even less), increase the amount of seconds you're exposing the shutter until you get the desired amount light in your picture. After getting that desired amount, continue your shooting after each X[amount of] second[s] exposure. Don't waste any time between shutters.

And remember to put the ISO down as low as it can go--As well as any Active D-lighting...etc.

Let me know how it goes.
__________________
Winner of Photo Tournaments: Architecture, Reflection, Hope/Joy, Macro Shot, Movement, Music, On The Road, Me, Myself and I, Landscapes/Scenery, and Anything You Want

Mobo: [Intel D945GNT]
CPU: [Intel Pentium D 2.8GHz]
RAM: [Corsair 1GB DDR2]
GPU: [XFX Geforce 8500GT]
HDD: [Maxtor 100GB - Western Digital 250GB]
PSU: [Rosewill 450w]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Calibretto View Post
Well maybe you should win a photo tourney and then you can have whatever topic you want :D kthxbye
Epic burn ^^^
Ben is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2009, 10:06 PM   #3 (permalink)
Silver Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Florida
Posts: 215
Default

You can use neutral density filters to help shed some stops worth of light as well.
Glliw is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2009, 10:39 PM   #4 (permalink)
Diamond Member
 
Bootup05's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: South East England
Age: 18
Posts: 2,652
Default

Thanks ben

ISO was on set to it's lowest (64) And Apeture at its highest, F8

I'll have to try doing what you say, short bursts of long exposure, trouble is I think the image gets overexposed after only a few seconds, like 2 maybe 3, is this due to the low apeture?

The scene I was shooting was pretty bright tbh, we don't really get black clouds in the UK

I'll do some experimenting tonight see what I can come up with, night time now so the problem shouldn't exist.

Tomorrow I'll give it a go, problem is my camera takes ages to process the shots.

After taking say a 40s shot, my camera then takes another 40s to process the image, counting down the seconds on screen, do all camera's do this or just mine being slow? (this was at 10MP in raw, also does it in jpeg)
__________________
Intel Q6700 @ 3.66GHz
Gigabyte UD3P P45
6GB DDR2 800MHz
Asus 4890 @ 950/4500
750GB Samsung Spinpoint - 320GB WD Caviar - 160GB Seagate USB
Belinea 26" Wide LCD
SoundBlaster Live 24bit USB - Acoustic Energy Aego M
Thermaltate Ultimate Extreme Back in Push Pull
Tagan 600W 48A Quad Rail
Win 7 x64 RC
Bootup05 is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2009, 10:50 PM   #5 (permalink)
Silver Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Florida
Posts: 215
Default

Yea, its alot of data for it to process. Not every camera will take that long. Depends on the camera's processor. What camera do you have? Also, the speed of your memory card matters.
Glliw is offline   Reply With Quote


Old 07-09-2009, 03:55 PM   #6 (permalink)
Bronze Member
 
y2keable's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Northumberland, England
Age: 24
Posts: 53
Default some advice...

If your camera takes so long to process a long exposure then it will hold you back when trying to take lightning photos. The camera needs to have its shutter open for as long as possible so as not to miss any lightning strikes. Its mostly down to the processor in your DSLR and how fast it can preform. Also, in daylight, even if you stop the lens right down and use an ISO 100 or lower, you're still probbably looking at a shutter speed of less than 1 second. If you're serious in taking lightning photos, you'll be better off with an ND filter (you can buy them up to 24 stops!!!) to darken your shot and force the camera to keep the shutter open for longer.

As for exposure, if you insist on using manual then note the light meter in your viewfinder and make sure to shoot in RAW as the exposure can "pushed" and "pulled" later. OR, use aperature priority

For stormy skies, you may want to invest in some ND grad filters. These allow you to expose the sky to the same brightness as the land, giving an evenly exposed shot. I use Cokin filters, here's an example of a shot i took with 2 Cokin filters, a 121 and 121L



A tri-pod, low ISO, high f-stop and some patients (if thats how you spell it) is all you need to think about. KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid)

Good luck
Jayson
y2keable is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-09-2009, 06:01 PM   #7 (permalink)
Diamond Member
 
Twist86's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Missouri
Age: 23
Posts: 2,321
Default

Dang Jayson that is one nice view. I could see myself taking the scenic route with my 4 wheeler or Dirt Bike.
__________________

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 400x8- 3.2ghz / XFX GTX 260 868mb 192 Core
2x2GB G-skill PC6400 DDR2 800 / Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 (rev. 1.0) / TX750w Corsair PSU
Antec 900 Case / 1680x1050 ASUS VW224U 22'
Logitech S-220 Speakers / Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Twist86 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
How Long to Format a 500GB HD---via USB 2.0 theboy Computer Memory and Hard Drives 13 03-09-2009 07:47 AM
long boot up ilya124 Desktop Computers 8 01-18-2009 03:20 AM
How long do you stay in PC and using it? -Fatos. Off Topic Chat 40 03-23-2008 08:02 AM
Laptop & Long Plane Ride SAAER45 General Computer Chat 17 02-17-2007 03:06 AM
have you paid taxes on long distance 2003-present? (US) computermaineack Off Topic Chat 0 12-13-2006 12:16 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 01:19 PM.


Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
SEO by vBSEO 3.3.0 ©2009, Crawlability, Inc.