Night flying

[Russ43Phantom]

I find that, per FAA guidelines, you can fly just before sunset and get really good images. Keep the exposures right to get the best dynamic range you can get and then, on post-processing, darken your image to your own taste to create the effect of night flying. This approach gets a lot of details across your historgram and avoids shots that are primarily black with some "blooming" near lights.

 

[Higherperspectivect]

How did the long exposure go?

So I got to go out last night and give it a try... it was a very light rain with a heavy overcast though so pic didn't come out great but I got the concept down... waiting for a clear night now. I couldn't get the iso low enough to not make the city lights overly bright. I had iso 100 and ss at 5 for this shot. I did darken it allot in post though.

My one question would be do you use any filter on your lens at night with these shots?

Before editing

After

 

[Higherperspectivect]

This is ISO 100 and SS 8

 

[makuch73]

This is ISO 100 and SS 8

No didn’t use any filter at night. I have ND filters I use through out the day. But not at night.

 

[Higherperspectivect]

So is that about of light in the sky from the city normal? Then fixed I post? I understand why its happening just wasn't sure if I'm missing something

 

[Russ43Phantom]

This is an example when flying in the "blue hour" would give a much more interesting image. You wouldn't get the blooming lights combined with stark black. Then in post-processing, you could darken to suit the image you want but you can selectively preserve more details to make a much more interesting picture.

 

[Higherperspectivect]

This is an example when flying in the "blue hour" would give a much more interesting image. You wouldn't get the blooming lights combined with stark black. Then in post-processing, you could darken to suit the image you want but you can selectively preserve more details to make a much more interesting picture.

Ahh ok I see what you mean... I'm shop fascinated by how much knowledge and setup there is in photography. I'm enjoying this overload.

 

[P4PCommander]

Anyone ever try to fly at night? How’s the camera in low light?

95% of our flying is done at night! buy a set of Lume Cubes They will turn Darkness into daylight and the Camera will take great pictures at night.

 

[CyberPilot10]

Some night flight pics and a late sunset!

 

[Higherperspectivect]

 

[Higherperspectivect]

That's Virginia, Georgia and Connecticut sunsets.

 

[Higherperspectivect]

Got this one last night. Haven't edited or anything yet. But i love how the street lights make the highway look like its on fire!

All my other shots came out to blurry. SS 8 was just alittle to high last night. I wish you could preview the pics in litchi like you can in go...

 

[makuch73]

Got this one last night. Haven't edited or anything yet. But i love how the street lights make the highway look like its on fire!

All my other shots came out to blurry. SS 8 was just alittle to high last night. I wish you could preview the pics in litchi like you can in go...

Very nice. You are getting the hang of it.
What city is this?

 

[Higherperspectivect]

Very nice. You are getting the hang of it.
What city is this?

In the middle to the right is Middletown, CT. To the left is highway 691 going thru Meriden and all the way at the top of the pic is Hartford, CT

 

[Higherperspectivect]

I'm going to edit it alittle and see what i can get from it. Tonight I'm gonna do it using DJIGO. I'm up near Mohegan Sun casino right now so should come out cool.

 

[Higherperspectivect]

Thank you for all your advice makuch73!!! I appreciate it allot

 

[makuch73]

Thank you for all your advice makuch73!!! I appreciate it allot

Just trying to help.

 

[DigitalSkyPilot]

View attachment 89141 View attachment 89140 Fly at night quite a bit myself. And I must say that the camera is a little better than just OK for what it does especially at night. Sensor is much better in low light than the P4 or the Mavic! If you learn to keep your ISO almost all the way down you'll get really good low noise results. Plus try not shoot wide open at F 2.8 too. Try F 4 or smaller. It will keep highlites from blurring and blowing out fuzzy!

Your photo's are some of the best I have ever seen. Good job. Thanks for sharing.

 

[DigitalSkyPilot]

One of my biggest concerns is to not see the drone at night.

I use 1500 lumes on each side with strobes. You can see your drone where ever it is. They are controlled by blue tooth from my phone and I fly using my tablet. The lume's were a little pricey but well worth it.

 

[KevMo Photog]

Your photo's are some of the best I have ever seen. Good job. Thanks for sharing.

Thx so much Digital Sky Pilot! These birds are almost like a tripod in the sky. Love to use the P4P sensor at night!