Once again, it was dark when Harry and I got out. This time I had the D810, but I was not particularly happy with the results when I saw them onscreen. So I went back out after dinner with a tripod for better stability. (Can't do that with Harry tugging on the leash!) #2 is a bush in front of my house so you can see what I was working with. For #1, I moved in closer to eliminate cars, houses, and streetlights. While I did not move the camera, I did move the 35-80mm zoom back and forth for the duration of the exposure. The end result required more than a little bit of work in Photoshop as it was underexposed rather dramatically. Time to break out the handheld meter. At ISO 64, 30 seconds was clearly not long enough. Also, it appears that the autofocus was not keying on what I saw. Next time I'll remember to check the focus with the flashlight that was in my pocket.
Hi Andrew. I don't think you are helping yourself by working so late..... if using such a long exposure you have to allow time for the image to 'imprint' on the sensor if you want to see even the essence of detail.
I would suggest you shoot earlier in the evening and experiment (take many shots) zooming at somewhere around a 1/20sec range. Otherwise crank up the ISO to get a more appropriate speed, or if intent on shooting at 30 secs start zooming after 15 seconds - again experimentation/multiple shots would be needed.
ICM is difficult enough to predict at the best of times, so take many shots - you may be happily surprised!
This is the same shot, except that this was shot tonight with a 20mm lens and no zooming. The lighting was the same (i.e. there was no light.) This time I used a flashlight to check focus, ISO 64, and the self-timer to eliminate any blurring issues. The weather is supposed to be lousy tomorrow, so I won't get to attempt the zoom effect until at least Friday.
(P.S. Nice to see another one of mine as the header.)