DSLR Photography Forum

Usually in the day, to get correct exposure, I'd find something in the frame that is midtone, and meter for that and everything is good;
but at night time, in the dark (not total darkness), I'm not sure exactly which part to take the metering from; I tried taking a photograph of a clock with a light above it by metering the light and having that +2 as that was the whitest brightest thing in the picture, but it all still came out very underexposed. Any tips? I'll post the pic and experiment more.

Looking at the pictures now;
Some didn't turn out as bad as the LCD preview;
And I forgot which is which

I wanted to be able to see the building and not have the clock/light overexposed

I'd think it's a limitation of digicam dynamic range.

Using a tripod, try two exposures: one for the light and one for the clock, and then blend them.

Hi Adam,

I think without using multiple exposures and blending them, the second shot is about as good as you're going to get. As for picking the exposure time you'll need, one thing I've found is that it can be pretty much hit and miss. With practice, you'll learn what is a 1/2 second shot, a 1 second shot or whatever, but that's where digi cams come into their own - take multiple shots and check the LCD.

Cheers,


Brad