Weird night fog over town in Washington State

I literally took this picture about ten minutes ago. There is a really thin fog over the city below (well cities really: Sumner, WA - Tacoma, WA - Puyallup, WA - Auburn, WA) so the lights are still shining through, but its giving it a myserious and interesting look because of all the different colors that seem to come through. I did not edit this photo, I only resized it. This is exactly what it looks like outside right now.



Shutter Speed: 30 seconds
Aperture: F/9
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO Speed: 800



Shutter Speed: 30 seconds
Aperture: F/9
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO Speed: 800

Unfortunately I had to increase the ISO speed some because the longest shutter time my camera can do is 30 seconds. Normally I like to take shots at ISO 100, but in the dark sometimes it just can't happen so I have to compensate some. I took many other similiar shots as well, I might post some more if anybody wants to see.

Wow, kinda like aurora borealis.

wow, that is pretty amazing! Good pictures there BWM!

That was exactly the first thought I had. Nice shots Bigweb!

Wow, ISO800 and it's still this dark after 30 seconds?

Which camera did you get? 10D? 20D? Doesn't it have a remote shutter cable that will allow exposures longer than 30 seconds?

Does that body have any in-camera noise reduction for long exposures? Have you done anything in Photoshop or other applications (Noise Ninja, NeatImage, etc) to reduce the noise level of the higher ISO?

Yes, there was not much light to work with, so even after 30 seconds on ISO 800 it was this dark.

Canon EOS 20D is what I used, and I believe it has in-camera noise reduction of some sorts, but I am sure you could look up reviews on the camera to be sure. I did not edit the photos above, other than resizing it down.

I have no idea if it has a remote shutter cable to allow exposures longer than 30 seconds, if it does I would love to know more, as I might be interested in obtaining that.

I'm not sure about the Canons, but with the Nikons, they have a setting beyond 30 seconds called "Bulb" (you can reach this in manual mode)...

Basically, in this setting, you use either a screw-in mechanical shutter release cable, or a digital remote (like Nikon's MC-20 - or the D70's infra-red shutter release) which allows long (LONG) exposures. The MC-20 remore allows up to 99 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds unattended.

I'm sure Canon has some way of doing this.

You should do a little post-processing to help increase the contrast a bit. If you're shooting RAW, you'll easily be able to pull a lot of detail out of those shadows. Also possibly increase the saturation a tad to really make those colours pop.

Great shots Bigweb

Yes after 30 seconds it does say bulb, so it sounds like I may be able to use a screw in mechanical shutter release cable or a digital remote. I will look into that thanks!

As far as editing the pictures, I was happy with the above results so I did not do anything to them. That is exactly what it looked like outside last night.

wow, amazing shots BWM! I'd like to see more if you have them.

Wow! Very nice.

I agree with Axe; a little more contrast via the curves box would really bring out those colours.

I just wanted to give an update on my photo. I submitted it to one of the major news channels of the Seattle area here and they made a story out of my picture! Here is the link:

http://www.komotv.com/stories/40658.htm

Also labrego I will try to put a few of the other shots that I took on here soon.

Thanks BW

EDIT: Oh, and of course you're an astute photographer! *lol with a lot of luck too