EOS 90D Nighttime train photography tips

[Twiddler]

Hi

I'm planning on shooting a slow moving train going over a 19th century viaduct at night. I want to capture the profile of the viaduct and the train carriage lights. The train will be going slow having just left the station. I've an eos90d and efs 18-135 lens - still haven't got a bigger lens - waiting for Black Friday!  Please advise on camera settings.

Thanks 

Twiddler64

[jrhoffman75]

Can you post an Internet image that portrays the general scene you eill be shooting. I Googled Great Viaduct but didn’t get a hit by that name. 

[Twiddler]

Hi 

If you Google Denby Dale viaduct you'll find some photos - there's a friends society for the old viaduct 

Hope that helps

Bed time here in the UK 

See tomorrow 

Twiddler

[Twiddler]

 Good morning Here's the viaduct in all it's glory.  I think it will make a great night photograph 

Twiddler

[jrhoffman75]

Thanks.

If that is going to be the approximate size of the viaduct in your photo the carriage windows will be a very small percentage of the image area. The image would be similar to a nightscape where you would be capturing stars.

As such you would have a very large brightness range in the photo. You might try taking advantage of the ISO invariance property of your 90D. Take the image at 400 ISO so as not to blow out the carriage lights and then boost the shadows a few stops to brighten up the general scene (do not use exposure adjustment, you just want to boost the shadows).

What is ISO Invariance? Find out if your Camera is ISO-less (capturetheatlas.com)

[Twiddler]

Hi John 

I'll probably be in different location for my photos- but I do have this option. I really appreciate your help with this and it's great to develop my photographic skills. 

I'll check out the ISO link.

I can get there in 20 minutes- so plenty of time to experiment. Plus i intend to get a better lens soon. 

Best wishes 

Mark

[stevet1]

Twiddler,

A relatively good handholding technique for an APS-C camera, is to use a shutter speed twice what your focal length is. You said that you are using an 18-135 lens, so the slowest shutter speed you'd be looking for if you are handholding the shot would be around 1/270 at the longest 135mm focal length. 

1/270th might be good enough to freeze the train, if it's moving slow enough. 1/250th is the kind of speed you'd use to freeze a person walking.

Shooting moving objects in low light is one of the more difficult photographic endeavors, I think. You have to balance out freezing your subject, while at the same time, allowing time enough to let the light properly expose your shot. That's where bumping your ISO up a notch might help.

At the least, you might want to use a tripod for your shot.

Steve Thomas

[kvbarkley]

This is one of those shots that may be impossible without a double exposure. I suggest you use a long exposure for the viaduct and a short now for the train and combine them in Photoshop.

I have book from a famous train photographer and he would use huge strobes at night. 

In any case, I think you will have to experiment and plan carefully.

[Waddizzle]

I agree with kvbarkley. It would be very difficult to freeze the motion of the train and properly expose the entire scene at the same time.  
This was an 8 second exposure at f/2.8 using ISO 100.  I believe. The bridge is well over a mile away. 

 

[Waddizzle]

Here’s another example using a similar exposure. I reduced the bit depth so that the full 40MP resolution would post in the forum.  This is another panoramic image. 

Shot with a 6D and a Rokinon 85mm T/3.1

[John_SD · Accepted solution]

Pick up a copy of "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. Read, study, practice and learn. Good luck.