Night Landscapes

[Dudd]

After a bit of advice. Trying to get a decent picture of my view from work at night. But I'm having issues. Can't get exposure correct and I'm struggling to focus. Any tips? Current efforts;
Too bright

The view from work at night by Nick_Dodd, on Flickr

The view from work at night by Nick_Dodd, on Flickr

The view from work at night by Nick_Dodd, on Flickr

The view from work at night by Nick_Dodd, on Flickr
Kit is Sony Alpha 200 with kit lens.

Would you recommend the biggest DoF or keep the exposure shorter?

Thanks.

[Rob13]

I would set it up at 100 ISO, stick it in Aperture mode and open the aperture to somewhere between F8/F11 and then let the camera work out the exposure. You might need to put it into manual and lift the exposure yourself if the result is too dark.

You could alter the levels in PS to bring more light into the shot, but be careful with dark exposures as it tends to introduce noise into the photograph.

It might be worth cropping out the foreground there to see what its like with just the village in shot.

[mxspyder]

Agreed with above, but if you have the foreground in the shot on the aperture setting the exposure times might be effected by the brightness of the foreground. I don't know if you can set spot metering on your camera to avoid light readings being taken from the snow.

Alternatively walk forwards to take the foreground out of the equation.

[Dudd]

Cheers guys.

The top shot was with the camera on Auto. Far too bright I think.

Good idea about spot metering, try to take it from the town, not the foreground. Walking forward won't help as the hill carries on down!