Bulb Photography Tutorial

[reaktor55]

3200 isn't 32x faster, more like 5x. Double the ISO, and you get one stop more sensitivity. 50-100-200-400-800-1600-3200-6­400-12800-25600-51200-102400-2­04800. the last one is only 12x brighter than the first, not 4096x. lol. nice vid anw

[dsecroetkt]

How do you control the noise in your photos, because they look very nice?

[zeroexcfg]

I really like the bit of math at the end!

keep it up

[guitargluv]

I have a Canon T3 Rebel EOS and I've done an exposure of 27 minutes and i always get the image to turn out really white even when the ISO setting is on 100-200.

Any advice will be helpful!

God bless,

Sam Glover

[QQQQcon]

@guitargluv your overexposing the image , the exposure needs to be shorter, probably a lot shorter.

[zergravity]

@guitargluv Make sure that your aperture is at the highest it can go. (e.g. f22 of f36) Then take the pic, but it will take a long time. Check out my photography on my page!

[guitargluv]

Go to amazon.com for really cheap remote shutters!

[pkbreeze08]

@guitargluv I got mine for about £4, in the region of $7-8.

If you don't want to spend any money at all and you have a Canon DSLR Magic Lantern has it built it, along with an Intervalometer, best part is it is free. One thing i would say is to read up and watch alot of tuts for installing it, as it can damage the camera, but done right it is a fantastic tool to have.

[ethancfbz]

Your math is off regarding metering at ISO 3200 and then shooting at ISO 100. Rather than dividing, you should be calculating stops. 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200. 6 stops. That way, you can calculate your shutter speed accordingly. Multiplying your shutter speed won't work.

[royaisfrustrated]

ARIZONA REPRESENT!

[dokgold]

Hi Conor, does long exposure wont destroy the sensor? what aperture do you usually use on startrails?

[QQQQcon]

@dokgold you would want the sensor to get really hot, but I have done 30 to an hour exposures with no problem, although those are best done when it is cold outside to keep noise down.

[labigboy256]

do you shoot in raw or jpeg

[photographyalancraig]

@labigboy256 you should always shoot in Raw. :)

[negathief]

does the d3100 work well for night sky photography?

[crkhky]

@negathief No it does not

[PhotoShopChannel]

@negathief mine dose

[masternonoy1]

you the best

[masternonoy1]

what is the good lens for bulb photography?

[AussieSoccerBoy94]

very good video, thanks alot

[Alexvent666666]

nice tip for calculating the shutter speed

[BuffoonCinema]

The irony here is that this pubescent pyro needs to be lit with something much brighter than a campfire while giving instructions on how to take long exposure photos in the dark.

[michedeba]

What aperture should you use for longer exposures?

thanks

[LEXPIX]

Very cool man. Gotta love opening up the shutter.

[Zedorwin]

thank you :)

nice tutorial really wish i could see the result :(

set the focus to infinity instade if using a flashlight to focus

[outdoorsman567]

Hey Conor....I recently got my d7k and have been experimenting with long exposure. I did a test last night at about 4 minutes, iso 100, d-lighting off, LENR off, and lens cap on....there were TONS of hot pixels visible at 100% crop. I noticed LENR works well, but taking 40min for a 20min picture doesn't seem practical, especially if I want to take seamless star trails over a few hours. Is this normal? I tried to link to an example, but it wouldn't let me. Thanks!

[QQQQcon]

@outdoorsman567 seems a bit excessive to see so much noise after only four min. but it is not unusual to see noise after 4 min.

[atyl1972]

@outdoorsman567 have you updated the firmware as this was a problem that nikon noticed that they fixed during the latest firmware

[outdoorsman567]

@atyl1972 Thanks, I did do the firmware update, and it took any trace of hot pixels from photos and videos (except in long exposure as I noted). I have been told this is just the nature of long exposure shots with a digital camera...when using long exposure noise reduction, the specks/pixels are gone.

[prodigynumber1]

@outdoorsman567

You should update your firmware, they solved that issue with the D7000 in the most recent update

[D3mQN]

Nice, thankz for the info ! XD

[MsPic32]

I need help:

I bought a Nikon D3100 and tried to do the nightscape photo, but it didn't work and the screen kept saying the subject is too dark and i can't seem to press the button to take the pic because I'm unable to focus.  (i'm quite new for this SLR thing)

Thanks

[ArrakisDunedt]

@MsPic32

Use Manual focus (turn of Auto-Focus). Use manual mode not P nor A mode and buy a nice remote (either a wireless or a normal one aka cable one). In M mode rotate de dial past 30 secs "30 and you get a --. That means you are in bulb mode so you can set the time as you wish!

Cheers!

[JetJockey87]

When taking long exposure star trail shots for the best effect make sure you find the North star (Northern hemisphere) or the Southern Cross (Southern Hemisphere) to focus on. If you don't the star trails will be off center and be oblong shaped instead of revolving around a central point...

[LXUndertakerLX]

Canon 7D, owns all :)

[Hs196]

The d300s and the d7000 are almost at the same price.. Which one do you think have a better image quality? Im thinking to get one of those as an upgrade from a d3000

[QQQQcon]

@Hs196 d7000 has better image quality

[Hs196]

@QQQQcon thank you, one last question. Which camera focus faster in low light condition?

[QQQQcon]

@Hs196 d7000

[Hs196]

@QQQQcon Thanks a lot 

[protouche]

Thank u so much for sharing ur ideas :)

[uniquejain91]

there are many reviews which says d3100 is a starter camera and u may soon need to upgrade as it is not as feature rich so should i go for d90 as i will not be able to upgrade for atleast 3-4 years..... or should wait for d90 successor.

[QQQQcon]

@uniquejain91 the d90 already has a successor, the nikon d7000, if you want to keep the camera for many years then I would go for the d7000, it is the best dx camera you can get right now.

[kulotzification]

@QQQQcon d300s ,,what do youthink?

[uniquejain91]

great video.... i have a question wich one shud i buy d3100 or d90 as d90 is two years old and may be replaced soon.... plz help.....

[QQQQcon]

@uniquejain91 d3100 is a better starter camera and has better image quality

[0BoxHead0]

I live in Australia, Victoria, Melbourne. Ruffly how long do you think I could leave my exposure on for?

[07817457749]

thanks mate! brilliant video.

[paorob86]

Hi dude, i like VERY MUCH your work, I want to ask u something, What do u think about the Nikon D 5000 ?

[QQQQcon]

@paorob86 the new d3100 is better

[919664]

@QQQQcon no it isn't it doesn't have the infra red thing and. Go for the D5000 boy

[QQQQcon]

@919664 that is ridiculous, the d3100 has image quality that destroys the d5000, has video, has a much better autofocus system, much better iso range and more. dont kid yourself.

[4FRONTFilms]

@QQQQcon d5000 has video too, image quality=same, real photographers manual focus, iso is good on d5000...3100 is a step down from d5000 and its not all about mega pixels.., dont kid yourself

[QQQQcon]

@4FRONTFilms oh ok, you keep telling yourself that. I am not going to argue with people who have no idea what they are talking about.

[SUZUKITRUNGLE]

@QQQQcon D700 kills both :D

[11ptbrown]

@QQQQcon you all are arguing about what? which NIKON is better?... i got an idea... get a CANON and learn the definition of "better"

[pornopenguintwice]

@QQQQcon

@4FRONTFilms is right its not all about pixels, the sensor is the vital component, your actually the who does not have a clue, so go and do a photography course and come back to me when you actually know what your talking about kiiiiiiiid. dont kid yourself kid

[Varguitas10]

Me Again...

You know if the Lumix FZ100 Have Bulb?

[QQQQcon]

@Varguitas10 i think it does not sure

[sign0in0to0you0tube]

hi there! when you say `up north where it`s colder`, how much `cold` do you have in mind for a, say, 5-or-so-hour exposure? without overheating the sensor, of course... and are those (extremely) long exposures in any way damaging the camera? thanks! :-)

[QQQQcon]

@sign0in0to0you0tube to be safe probably close to freezing temp. i dont think it will damage the camera.

[SurfCracker]

nice tut !

Thanks

[VannyPack88]

Your tutorial is very helpful. I really like that you talked about being in different cities/outside of the city.

Thanks!

Vanessa M.

[TosseneMike]

Great tutorial ! Really helpful tips !

[jama01]

Is not a good idea to use bulb for a long time on DSLR, becouse it overheats the camera sensor. This overheating produce a purple glow on the background and risks to spoil the sensor. Don't use Bulb with a DSLR approximately for more than one minute.

[alienkiter]

hey, nice Tutorial.... can you please tell me how i can focus on the stars?? or do i just focus an object in front and but the cam on F 7 for example and if i only want the front object sharpend i use an F 22 !? greetings Timon

[QQQQcon]

@alienkiter to focus on the star just use manual focus and focus to infinity. Everything will be in focus if you use f/22

[alienkiter]

@QQQQcon awsome - Thank you =) - now i have to wait for an none cloudy day - and it should be sommer....

[writeDVD]

This is a very effective tutorial video. Nice work.

[looftastic]

i am confused, alot of photographers refer to 'noise' what is that?

[oscarman2]

@looftastic at high iso you get a graininess in the image, the graininess is what is called noise

[kelstrophic]

so what exactly is bulb? and i dont have an external flash just the one that it comes with...the video isnt loading for me so thats why im asking theese questions

[QQQQcon]

@kelstrophic It is an exposure setting that allows you to open the shutter as long as you want.

[Adammythbusterspl]

I've been using the same technique for over a year now in my time lapse videos, yeah rubber band is a great thing. :D

[kzrick188]

I think you should try putting your camera in the interval timer or continuous shooting with the rubber band for shorter exposures.. say 30 seconds at f/5.6 iso100 and then use a program (google "startrails" and click the first link) to put everything together, without having the noise problem, and have longer trails.

[Brenniman65]

Great video tutorials. Any way of improving audio though?

[in2horses247]

Will it hurt the shutter or mirror to hold the shutter open that long? Normally it's only open for fractions of a second. Also, won't it shake the camera a bit when you take the eraser off?

[QQQQcon]

@in2horses247 no it will not hurt the shutter. And if you exposure is long enough you wont have to worry about camera shake, but you should be careful when removing the eraser. I suggest just getting a wireless remote.

[citizenofvirginity]

@in2horses247 a wireless remote is pretty cheap. You can find 'em in Amazon for less than 20 bucks.

[vinnydeciutiis]

I did 30 sec and got some good stuff

[nikoaazzer]

4:47 is awesome OWOW is very nice!!!!! :) xD

[oconnaugh]

You're a sharp young man. Kinda like a video version of Ken Rockwells site. Im learning! Thank you.

[WeHaveGoneGlobal]

Great ids man..where you been? I want to see more from the D3!!!

[vinnydeciutiis]

I watched this video got all pumped up went out set up the cam I put it in M mode bulb and did a 45 minute exp I got I white photo so the I did 30 sec shoots did like 80 photos there came out better then the white one I got stars but there not really trails there dots when I put it togather in startrails any tips on what im doing rong

[QQQQcon]

@vinnydeciutiis you need to do at least a 15 min exposure to get star trails. you need to use low iso, 100. and you need to use a small f/stop around f/8- f/11.

[citizenofvirginity]

@vinnydeciutiis And you wanna use A mode instead of M, because A is aperture priority, it allows you to control the f number. :]

[saaaaataychicken]

@citizenofvirginity A mode doesn't let you control shutter speed...M lets you control aperture and shutter speed...

[citizenofvirginity]

@saaaaataychicken I know that indeed. I said "A" allows you to control the f-number.

[saaaaataychicken]

@citizenofvirginity uh...yes.....but you need to be in M mode so you can control the shutter speed AND the aperture......because this whole tutorial is about having a LONG EXPOSURE which has everything to do with controlling shutter speed.........................­.............................a­nd not much to do with having the aperture as a priority....

[MrDigger1969]

great tutorials Conor keep up the good work pal, by the way you must have some Irish blood in you with a name like Quinlan.

[Moocow8]

very helpful, this was awesome thanks!

[iarshad78]

Very nice tutorial, helped a lot :)

thanks for uploading

[philboy521]

a little confused...so you basically had the camera pointed up towards a cactus in pitch dark with only the moon, stars, and the fire providing the light? what did the end result look like or did i miss that. thanks

[QQQQcon]

@philboy521 yes that is what I did. the picture is on the video thumbnail.

[drtef]

hey nice work mate what is your email id..??

[SLRist]

Rather than using a very small aperture (over f11) wouldn't you be better off using an ND filter to cut down the incoming light? I'm thinking you'll get diffraction blur otherwise.

[QQQQcon]

you could do that, but most lenses are sharpest around f/8-f/11 anyway.

[PhotoCrimeX]

Nice vid! It's too bad camera companies simply enable their cameras to take 31+ second exposures in camera without buying a remote.

There is a program you can download called StarTrails that compiles a bunch of images of 30 second exposures into one big picture. Maybe that will fix the sensor heating up a little?

I've also hear that in cold conditions the lens can fog up and blur your photo all up lol

[PhotoCrimeX]

disable*

[maxrife]

Con, the eraser trick is absolute genius. I never thought of that. Brilliant!

[erikRairden]

LOL at buying a $4k camera and skimp out on a $15 remote. ;) jp

[QQQQcon]

I have one, I just wanted to deonstrate how I used the rubber band, but it was to dark in the video anyway.

[zeroexcfg]

great

[nerxboy]

eraser? lol? just get the cheapest remote shutter release... which is probably like 15$..

[ThePhotogem]

when i do low light photography i use a flash on the first picture to get the compostion correct

[QQQQcon]

thats a good idea

[k2kona]

@ThePhotogem agreed

[S0nnyRed]

Good Video :)

Keep it up

[fritobanditoes]

sick stuff connor

[Vilif1er]

Thanks for the information, I have been meaning to learn how to take night shots. This has been a great help to me, thanks again

[eLLriDe420]

20 mins? jesus

[QQQQcon]

they can last much longer than that, some people take a single image for hours.

[vlad555556]

you can even do 120 min exposure