How can I reduce noise and avoid an unnaturally bright sky in night cityscape photos?
Asked 9/14/2015
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I’m shooting night landscapes/architecture scenes such as a lit bridge or cityscape, and I’m trying to improve image quality in post-processing. My main issues are visible noise and the sky turning an unnatural dark blue or showing a light gradient during longer exposures.
I’ve read about techniques such as HDR, exposure fusion, image stacking, and median blending. For this kind of night shot, is stacking/median blending the best way to reduce noise, or is a single longer exposure at lower ISO usually better?
Also, is there any practical maximum shutter time for scenes that already contain bright lights? I want to keep the sky looking natural while preserving detail in the illuminated parts of the scene.
For reference, one of my attempts was shot at ISO 1600, and I suspect that high ISO contributed a lot of the noise.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
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Try about ISO 200 @ f/8 for 30 seconds and work from there. That's three stops slower ISO and 4 stops (and change) slower aperture, so that is seven stops slower than what you used. Since some of your highlights appear to be slightly blown, lengthen the shutter speed by only six stops from 1/2 to 30 seconds for your starting point. If you haven't already, learn to use the histogram to judge exposure, rather than how bright it looks on your LCD screen.
Because the two towers of the bridge are at rather dissimilar distances, you need to use a narrower aperture to increase depth of field. This will allow both to be in better focus.
To reduce the noise use a lower ISO and a longer shutter speed. This will necessitate a very stable tripod and a way of remotely triggering the shutter. A wired cable release usually works better for longer exposures than an infrared remote that often limits use of available camera features. The wired remote usually allows you to set the camera the same and use all of the features available using the built-in shutter button. Try to shoot when the wind is not very string, as that can cause camera movement on even the best tripods.
The main reason the color of the sky is off is due to the type of lights illuminating the bridge. They appear to be very narrow spectrum sodium vapor lights. Trying to correct for them so the bridge is the right color will make the sky very blue, rather than black. Using a color temperature/white balance that is correct for the sky will make the bridge very orange or even yellow. Leaving the shadows/sky darker will help. You can do this with light curves in post processing, but creating separate layers for each area and correcting each for exposure and white balance independently should yield better results for an advanced editor.
Here's a scene I shot a couple of years ago: Due to many of the lights cycling on and off every few seconds as well as the water flowing very rapidly out of the discharge chutes under the power house I used very high ISO and wide aperture in order to allow shorter shutter speeds. It was also very windy that evening. All of the shots I tried at lower ISO, narrower apertures, and very long shutter speeds fell victim to camera movement caused by the wind. The first image below is an HDR image that combined two shots exposed 3 stops apart. ISO 5000, f/2.8, for 1/30 and 1/4 seconds respectively. Global adjustments only in processing. I raised exposure 0.17 stops in post, as well as reduced contrast, pulled down the highlights and raised the shadows rather aggressively. Notice the more modern lights over the lock on the other side of the river than show up a more neutral white color. I probably should have backed off the color saturation a bit more in the HDR module as well. At least in my case, I don't think HDR really helped much in this scenario.
The same scene from a single long exposure. ISO 160, f/8, 8 seconds. Notice the trees in the lower foreground that were being tossed to and fro by the breeze, as well as the blurry water discharging from under the power house. I adjusted the color temperature cooler at 2700ºK and also used less color saturation. Notice the brighter lights over the lock across the river have a very blue tint to them, but the orange sodium lights are a lighter shade of yellow rather than a deep orange. I raised exposure 0.17 stops in post, as well as reduced contrast, pulled down the highlights and raised the shadows rather aggressively. The increased depth of field by using f/8, rather than f/2.8, makes the entire scene (other than the wind tossed trees) look better.
As far as HDR versus stacking images all exposed at the same E.V.: HDR processing can lead to increasing the perceived noise along with the increased edge detail. Stacking tends to neutralize shot noise, which is more influential in long exposures. It doesn't affect read noise, more the concern in shorter exposures, much either way.
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
10y ago
0
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For this kind of night cityscape, start with better capture settings before relying on post-processing. The main fix for noise is lower ISO plus a longer exposure on a solid tripod, using a remote release if possible. A good starting point from the answers is around ISO 200, f/8, and about 30 seconds, then adjust by checking the histogram rather than the LCD.
There isn’t a universal “max shutter speed” for lit night scenes. The right exposure depends on the brightness of the lights and the look you want. If the sky gets too bright or blue, reduce exposure or darken that area separately in post.
Stacking multiple exposures can reduce noise further, especially if you discard frames with movement or transient events. HDR/exposure fusion is mainly for extending dynamic range, so it’s less relevant unless your highlights and shadows can’t both be captured well in one exposure.
Also, avoid shooting the lens wide open if sharpness suffers; stopping down a bit can improve image quality and depth of field.
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