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I'm taking shots at night in ambient light, and I'm experimenting with ways of getting sharp images. Currently I'm using ISO 800, and have started being more methodical about using a tripod to eliminate motion blur.

Having said which, I'm still not happy with the soft shots I keep getting. I realise it's a tough environment in which to get sharp images, and I don't expect miracles, but I was wondering if anyone had any hints on how to improve my chances of sharp shots at night.

These are my attempts so far (some sharpened to one level in Adobe CS2):

Fortigun, your last shot of the security door is quite interesting, I like it. I personally think a tripod and low iso work best for sharpness with static items at night.

Also, be careful around 1sec - 1/30 or so. Mirror/shutter shake affects photos most around this speed - especially if the tripod is a bit flimsy. For static subjects you will generally be better off using low ISO, long shutter (several seconds/minutes) - unless it's windy.

Glen wrote:Fortigun, your last shot of the security door is quite interesting, I like it. I personally think a tripod and low iso work best for sharpness with static items at night.

Thanks, I worked hard at that one. It took about 15 shots, and I was working with a tripod. I will take your advice and switch to a lower ISO rating. It will be interesting to see what happens tonight.

xorl wrote:Also, be careful around 1sec - 1/30 or so. Mirror/shutter shake affects photos most around this speed - especially if the tripod is a bit flimsy. For static subjects you will generally be better off using low ISO, long shutter (several seconds/minutes) - unless it's windy.

This is also good advice. I will try using the tripod and remote, together with a much longer exposure time (perhaps a few seconds).

Thanks for the help guys.

Remember that you're shooting reflections. At least within these images that you have posted.

In shooting reflections, the reflecting surface is going to be contributiong quite a lot to the character of the image, and that will include a loss of sharpness because these surfaces are simply not optical surfaces.

What you've got here is about as good as I think you might expect, given the challenging conditions under which you're shooting.

What lens are you using? From my experience high iso will not blur a photo. I would do a search on this forum for night photography as there have been many excellent pics posted

gstark wrote:Remember that you're shooting reflections. At least within these images that you have posted.

In shooting reflections, the reflecting surface is going to be contributiong quite a lot to the character of the image, and that will include a loss of sharpness because these surfaces are simply not optical surfaces.

What you've got here is about as good as I think you might expect, given the challenging conditions under which you're shooting.

Yes, I have considered that. The surfaces in question are far from ideal - most of them covered in a layer of the ubiquitous Taipei air pollution. I have felt like giving them a wipe with a sponge, but I thought I would try to see what I get with natural surfaces first. I would also have to be careful about being seen interfering with other people's scooters and apartment doors.

sirhc55 wrote:What lens are you using? From my experience high iso will not blur a photo. I would do a search on this forum for night photography as there have been many excellent pics posted

Thanks, it's the kit lens on a 350D, certainly nothing special.

I would try manual focus

sirhc55 wrote:I would try manual focus

Good grief, how? I can't see what's what in that light. I can hardly read the back of my camera unless I'm standing under a lamp.

what f stop are you taking these at..... try f 8 to f11 with ISO 100
and adjust the shutter to get correct exposure
take a spot light or torch with you to illuminate the focus area so the camera can focus
then you can use the timer (2 secs) to give you time to turn off the light before the camera takes the shot.... easy

firsty wrote:what f stop are you taking these at..... try f 8 to f11 with ISO 100
and adjust the shutter to get correct exposure
take a spot light or torch with you to illuminate the focus area so the camera can focus
then you can use the timer (2 secs) to give you time to turn off the light before the camera takes the shot.... easy

Thanks, I was wondering if I could use a torch to help in some way. I'll see what I can do tonight.

if your tripod has a hook on the bottom of the centre column as a lot of decent ones do, hang something heavy on it, then get a remote or use the time delay.
once u reach a certain point sharpness just goes out the windows as the light hitting one pixel beelds out and effects the ones surrounding it.
a friends dad owns an observatory over here and hes a keen photographer, new sony cough cough choke, long exposures are what they do, and they have a whole bunch of terms for fixing it. have a google for dark frame subtraction, bias frame correction, and flat field division. although from a quick read it all seems to hard, but for serious astronomers its how thay get sharp night shots.

actually the more i read the more i want to stick needles in my eyes. i now have useless information knocking my wifes birthday out of my brain and shes not gunna be happy when i show her a sharp night shot instead of giving her some diamond ear-rings.

I've been thinking of taking a couple of laser pointers in a special holder to set them off together and assist with manual focus in very dark spots.

For shots of reflections I think you've gotten as good a result as can be had!