For those of you that know how to do these light trails I could use some advice. I found out, first and foremost, we have fencing over all the expressways or else bushes. We couldn't find a clear shot. So, this will have to do. I would like to learn to do moving light. So I read a little before we went. Shoot in RAW - check. Shoot on BULB - check. Vary your settings - check, but that didn't help much. So, I'd love some advice on this as I have a shot I'd really like to take using tail lights but am getting nowhere in the vicinity. I will say that shooting RAW let me make this darker.
I hope after first of the year I have time to try some new things! Good for you... looks like you are getting advice from folks smarter and more experienced than me!
HA! @365inthelifeofjcvogt great advice, wait for more traffic!! I am so bad at light trails, Cathy. . .they are always wiggly and have little tails. But I think it has a lot to do with my impatience about getting set up correctly. I found ONE place downtown that may make a good place to work on this. . .someday!
Shooting in RAW is definitely good, and will allow you to adjust the white balance in post without causing issues - I tend to find that street lights are usually really warm, and the photo looks much better when you cool it off so the street lights aren't so warm.
I'll echo what those above have said: Close that aperture way down and keep the ISO as low as it goes, letting you take longer exposures. On a really busy road you can sometimes get away with cool looking shots at 3-5 seconds, but in general you'll want to have a solid 10-30 seconds.
Also, headlights are really bright, so you want to keep your exposure settings really low and compensate with a really long shutter speed. That will keep the background well lit without the headlights being super blown out.
Really though, the best thing to do is spend a while out there adjusting all your settings all over the place and learning what each change does to the outcome.
This is great... I wanted to do one of these over a bridge on the A1 near me but George thought the streetlights would glare the shot out, and it was out of our way so we came home (and shot the blue lagoon instead!) I don't have all your settings but think I may go back and try after all...
This is one type of shot that I haven't done yet. Good for you, I think it's great! Do you have any roads that have a strong curve in them, with a sidewalk that's close by and safe? It doesn't have to be a highway, any two-way street with more than one lane in each direction will do. they don't usually have fencing.
I'll echo what those above have said: Close that aperture way down and keep the ISO as low as it goes, letting you take longer exposures. On a really busy road you can sometimes get away with cool looking shots at 3-5 seconds, but in general you'll want to have a solid 10-30 seconds.
Also, headlights are really bright, so you want to keep your exposure settings really low and compensate with a really long shutter speed. That will keep the background well lit without the headlights being super blown out.
Really though, the best thing to do is spend a while out there adjusting all your settings all over the place and learning what each change does to the outcome.