night photography in cork..!!

serjical_strike

hello, has anyone on here got any experience with night photography in cork city or any city for that matter?

im thinking of heading in to town tonight to get some pics of buildings, empty streets that sort of thing for my portfolio and im wondering does anyone know what its like safety wise around the 3-5am mark..?

Thecageyone

No town is particularly safe at that hour of the morning. No chance you can tag someone along with you? DO you drive? if so, take the car, and photograph beside it. Any dodgies come your way jump in and get moving. You don't want grief, and especially don't want your gear smashed or stolen by thick drunks.

serjical_strike

Thecageyone wrote: »

No town is particularly safe at that hour of the morning. No chance you can tag someone along with you? DO you drive? if so, take the car, and photograph beside it. Any dodgies come your way jump in and get moving. You don't want grief, and especially don't want your gear smashed or stolen by thick drunks.

i would normally ask the brother to tag along with things like this but hes on holiday and i have very low patience for waiting till he gets back!! i do drive so i may give that a go alright!! as you said i really dont want my new camera gettin smashed by some drunk dude, thanks for the advice, much appreciated!!

Ricky91t

I've walked through Cork at this time, with friends and alone( couldn't take any more partying ) and TBH depending on the night it wasn't bad, I think Sundays mornings would be a no-go, Maybe a Tuesday morning would be best.

hbr

serjical_strike wrote: »

hello, has anyone on here got any experience with night photography in cork city or any city for that matter?

I have some:
http://pix.ie/corkpix/album/371362

im thinking of heading in to town tonight to get some pics of buildings, empty streets that sort of thing for my portfolio and im wondering does anyone know what its like safety wise around the 3-5am mark..?

I rarely go into town much after midnight. It seems quiet
enough most nights. Mid week would be best. It would
probably be a good idea to bring someone with you.

cian_s_obrien

Got this one Saturday night- for the 24hr magazine at 12ish up richmond hill/patricks hill area
I know loads of people have done this one but it's still a nice view of the north side

serjical_strike

hbr wrote: »

I have some:
http://pix.ie/corkpix/album/371362



I rarely go into town much after midnight. It seems quiet
enough most nights. Mid week would be best. It would
probably be a good idea to bring someone with you.

just had a look through your pics, think im gonna head in tonight after seeing them and just try and stay close enough to the car

Thecageyone

Having a tripod with you allows for 2 things - Longer exposures, so you get smooth water and starry lights - and, of course, a weapon - if anyone does try it on

I got this one in Navan town at 00:38am, and I was in fact approached by a couple of Drunken Polish lads, but they were just curious and went along their merry way after a quick chat.



Exposure: 30 sec
F-Number: f22
Focal Length: 50 mm

serjical_strike

Thecageyone wrote: »

Having a tripod with you allows for 2 things - Longer exposures, so you get smooth water and starry lights - and, of course, a weapon - if anyone does try it on

I got this one in Navan town at 00:38am, and I was in fact approached by a couple of Drunken Polish lads, but they were just curious and went along their merry way after a quick chat.



Exposure: 30 sec
F-Number: f22
Focal Length: 50 mm

wow that is awesome, the blue lights really make it!! hopefully i get some good ones tonight and ill put em up here!! hopefully i come back with my tripod in working order and not with someones head bent into it

Thecageyone

What caught my eye in this area was the lighting by the water wheel, which i don't think works anymore, it's more ornamental - that old building is not apartments i think, but the scene still has a little character.


[edit] Sorry, that one was actually timed to 30 seconds, I did other longer ones using the remote, which broke not long after ... really must get another one. great tool for night shots/long exposures.

serjical_strike

Thecageyone wrote: »

I used a remote to trigger that one, which stopped working for no reason not long after. really must get another one. You can't beat a wireless remote for the long exposure night shots. Too easy mess them up by moving the cam to release the shutter, especially if it's very cold out [which it shouldn't be this time of year] and you're shaking!

i was thinking of just setting the timer to 2 secs after i have everythin else set up so that i dont shake the camera while releasing the shutter!!

Thecageyone

yeah, sorry, I did time that one, though i did others using the remote. Like this one:



15 seconds @ f/22. hardest part was staying dead still while people in cars going by were staring out at me like I was a freak! - I never care, it's all about the picture.

With myself in the picture You can see i didn't hide the remote very well, but it was just a tester i ended up liking after all.

Using very narrow apertures allows nice long exposures, don't be afraid to try 10 seconds+ depending on how bright the scene is.

maybebabie

I love your one of Cork city. I'm a Cork girl born n bred.

serjical_strike

Thecageyone wrote: »

yeah, sorry, I did time that one, though i did others using the remote. Like this one:

15 seconds @ f/22. hardest part was staying dead still while people in cars going by were staring out at me like I was a freak! - I never care, it's all about the picture.

With myself in the picture You can see i didn't hide the remote very well, but it was just a tester i ended up liking after all.

Using very narrow apertures allows nice long exposures, don't be afraid to try 10 seconds+ depending on how bright the scene is.

tonight is gonna be a very experimental one for me, i havent done any night photography before so it should be fun finding stuff out!!

Thecageyone

Also be aware that these longer exposure will eat through your batteries very fast! So if you have spares and/or a battery grip - put them to use. And check the camera to make sure the card is in and empty before you go

best of luck, looking forward to seeing your results. Stay safe!

serjical_strike

Thecageyone wrote: »

Also be aware that these longer exposure will eat through your batteries very fast! So if you have spares and/or a battery grip - put them to use. And check the camera to make sure the card is in and empty before you go

best of luck, looking forward to seeing your results. Stay safe!

cheers for the advice!! talk another time hopefully if i make it lol

serjical_strike

well after last nights adventure in town i got a few pics and set up a flickr page this morning so if you fancy a look at the pics here the link..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52434912@N03/

hbr

serjical_strike wrote: »

well after last nights adventure in town i got a few pics and set up a flickr page this morning so if you fancy a look at the pics here the link..

Glad to see you are still with us.
2010:07:27 04:01:09 You have got more energy than I have!
Some nice piccies. I like the Oliver Plunkett St one and some
of the Grand Parade photos. If you shot to raw files, you might
try experimenting with the WB settings to try and compensate
for the yellow glow of the street lights.

Thecageyone

Great stuff Nice to know you survived it! looks like it was dead quiet bar that one trail of a car/bike? in one of the street shots.

Only one thing, the Maylor street one could probably do with a little under-exposing, and one of the river shots is too dark. other than that, good stuff, I see you used some 20-30 second exposures fun isn't it?

serjical_strike

hbr wrote: »

Glad to see you are still with us.
2010:07:27 04:01:09 You have got more energy than I have!
Some nice piccies. I like the Oliver Plunkett St one and some
of the Grand Parade photos. If you shot to raw files, you might
try experimenting with the WB settings to try and compensate
for the yellow glow of the street lights.

i did shoot raw but couldnt upload raw to flickr but last night was experimental for me so next time ill know a bit more hopefully!!

serjical_strike

Thecageyone wrote: »

Great stuff Nice to know you survived it! looks like it was dead quiet bar that one trail of a car/bike? in one of the street shots.

Only one thing, the Maylor street one could probably do with a little under-exposing, and one of the river shots is too dark. other than that, good stuff, I see you used some 20-30 second exposures fun isn't it?

it was very quiet out last night which i loved but the maylor street one was slighly rushed cause i could hear shouting voices from a distance lol! the 20-30 exposure ones were very cool to take tho

Bacchus

serjical_strike wrote: »

i did shoot raw but couldnt upload raw to flickr but last night was experimental for me so next time ill know a bit more hopefully!!

You need something like Photoshop Lightroom or Camera Raw to process the RAW files and export them as jpeg (or whatever format you like).

I like the photos (especially the Plunket St one with the pink lights) but I agree with HBR and think if you played around with the white balance a bit you'd get some nice results. Personally, I think they are too warm (e.g. Maylor st.)

Thecageyone

In lightroom you could use recover to pull back some of the light, and then select Yellows and oranges and tone them down just a wee bit. A very tiny boost of blacks then and I think it would have more depth and solidity about it.