Sometimes we forget a few of the rules that we’ve been depending on. Forgetting to zero out your camera after each shoot. Forgetting to return to correct settings after taking a test long exposure. Then sometimes, we simply don’t realize just how little light there really is. This happened to me on this image. One I was kind of hoping would turn out better. I started by realizing it was dark, and upping my ISO to 200. One stop. Next, I lowered my aperture to f4.0, down from 5.6. Two stops. Then, thinking maybe 5 minutes? Nah, 10 minutes. Three stops, and a long time to gather trails. Not. Even. Close. This shot should have gone for 30 minutes or more if I wanted to get any ambient light to shine through. A lens with f2.8 would have helped a lot too. Bringing that ISO up higher would have been fine if going for the longer exposure as well.
I pushed this image so far in post that its almost a painting now. There is zero detail in the grass and trees. This can never be blown up unless I run it through Corel Painter and print it on canvas. It’s essentially a ruined shot and would be deleted if it wasn’t the only one I took that evening. I used multiple layers trying to push the shadows higher and higher while bringing the noise down farther. Entirely too much work.
New rule. If in doubt, shoot it longer. Then shoot it longer still. Or wait until the moon is out, then 30 seconds is great.
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