Night shots

jasoncfd33

Hello All,

I am looking to see if anyone has had any experience shooting a city scape at night with the T3i? I have the tripod and remote shutter control, but my question is what is the best way to focus? I am going to try and take some photos at night of the city skyline. I am using an 18-55mm lens and a 70-300mm lens.

Any help would be great.

I had tried this on 9/11 this year, photographing the memorial, but my background was blurry.

Here are some of my sample shots:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/h3egc8p41lo72km/Jm9de_Mbo5

You will see some were in focus and some were not.

PBked

Those fantastic nightscapes you see in magazines...many of them are set-up in daylight. That way focus, depth of field, angle of view etc. can all be set up. The only thing that remains to adjust is the exposure once it gets dark. This time of year, the difference between daylight and night is about half an hour, so you don't have long to wait.
Another way is to choose a vantage point you can easily return to at any time during the day. Note down the aperture and focal length and then return at any time during the night, find your vantage point, adjust your exposure and shoot away. Of course, you can always try snapping away in the dark with the chance of getting a good shot, but I have always found that a little forward planning produces the best and most consistent shots in these situations.
By the way, I quite like your third picture, especially the star highlights on the street lamps.
Best regards, PBked