Night / Light Painting Photography Tips ( Noise reduction)

[liamschulze]

Hello eveyone,

I have been doing some night photography recently and have been finding it a bit dificult to minimise the amount of noise in the night sky and darker areas on the image.

Was wondering if there is any tips to minimise noise eg settings because I am using the lowest iso - 200.

Here is a photo I took the other night, you can notice the red flecks in the sky and other areas.

What could I do to improve this photo.

Cheers.

[liamschulze]

Forgot details.

Camera - Canon 7D ef 15 - 85mm

Photo - 726" f10 iso 200

[Invictus]

I cant see a large enough version to see the red flecks. I would assume they are hot pixels, given it is a 12 minute exposure.
Are you using in camera noise reduction?

Alternatively, you could use the free "startrails (http://www.startrails.de/html/software.html)" software for stacking multiple shorter exposures.

[KeeFy]

You have highlight tone priroty enabled thus lowest iso is 200. It should be 100 and that will give you double the length of exposure and a darker scene. In cases like this you don't need the highlight tone priority enabled. Located under C.FN II : II

Also if you don't shoot in raw, you may want to consider doing so as well. Upload a higher resolution picture so that we can help better :)

[geoffsta]

One method you could try is using a torch.
It takes a bit of practice, and so far I've only tried it on seascapes. But it can be effective.
Start by using ISO 200, f/12. Set shutter speed for "bulb". You'll need a remote timer (around $20.00-$30.00 on fleebay) set for 2 minutes.
Get a good size torch, and paint the area that you want to illuminate with the torch. A dark night (No moon) gives best results.
A wide lens is best for this, as anything above 30mm will give trails in the stars.

Some examples here: http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showthread.php?95102-More-Night-Shots

[Danannette]

The method I was shown recently was having the iso set to 1600, have your aperture wide open and had the shutter opened for 30 seconds.

We shone the torch on what we wanted to focus, focused the camera and then shifted it to manual focus. Then using either a remote or the self timer we took the shot and depending on how bright you torch is you highlight your subject. My torch was very bright so I only need a few seconds but other peoples weren't so bright and had them on for longer.

These were some of the photos:

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b473/danannette/4wd forum trip/file-13.jpg

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b473/danannette/4wd forum trip/file-14.jpg

Cheers,

Dan

[rtivendale]

Thanks for the tips Dan, I will be out there tonight to see if I can capture some shots like yours.

[geoffsta]

Nice to see you back on Beck. Now you have that flash camera, I think you will be able to some really nice night shots. :th3:

[liamschulze]

Thanks for all the tips. Had some great results!!