The first technique I wanted to get right was to capture the city lights. The kids went on holiday and I was allowed to house-sit their flat. Their flat is on the Oriental Parade in Wellington, with the most amazing view over the city - the perfect place for city lights.
Camera: Olympus e-500 with the 70-300mm lens
I googled and found this information (I am disappointed to say I cannot remember the URL of the site, and can therefore not acknowledge the photographer who shared this on the Internet), but it is excellent:
ISO100 ISO400
- Neon lights filling frame 1/8 sec; f8 1/15 sec; f11
- Brightly lit theatre district with neon lights 1/4 sec; f8 1/8 sec; f11
- Bright street scenes 1/2 sec; f8 1/4 sec; f11
- Floodlit buildings and monuments 2 sec; f5.6 1/2 sec; f5.6
- Distant skyline of offices, streets, etc 4 sec; f2.8 4 sec; f5.6
I set the camera up quite early, on the tripod and took the first test shot at f/8; 2 sec
Second shot at f/4; 1/125
Shot a lovely sunset with f/4.5 and 1/125
And then it became darker and the lights turned on!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4r9qU1P99O79LVGv-mOBQglsNg83cBCuwWj75xmA5vmrkfFuQs87YhydsmSwF_RJS-AllnNFcIRGPeFf1B-t1i2KmoyozJ-oRhoxwSRG22MTQVN3LCVWBYVw22-5J2bo9KW3UbQO6jPT/s640/city+lights1.JPG) |
F/3.6; 4 sec |
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0bxW0Y_eDtdK8O96A1V5xhppSX5mmeiw7mAApPhTWbmRxM1TiKmB7vOAuKyZf1T3R4abWI_aDOJ1yAddfXhptUI_Y4SgyfoscmjnNEU_40MFmsgqksVFQeps6g3nw8J8HXUIVxCFbBNms/s640/city+lights2.JPG) |
f/8; 2 sec |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-2UrV_5EP0zWzLgI_v-PhZubfhCTXuCNUUc1uGeUHOZur-pWMOmXHCW59QAMo14Zy950OFqvB2QhDk2AkPlDV_cOQ7SsR5QC6RPEl3Z-qQuHiPpsOXQDcXg0h4KbnYirYekCDf84g2Y_E/s640/city+lights+3.JPG) |
f/5.6; 4 sec |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgryT5v_IsqgNHF6c5CLrCInAWV0EmCWFBWlKNvKeaEONJtJPVQIhQuFdiPeB2NNP1WwgcXqFV_Sz8X2fyPI0-OnpPZhPO4PIJ-hq8jTatyf10FqEjfexTis5kCrxW-D-mWa9m0ancp3n/s640/city+lights+4.JPG) |
f/5.6; 4 sec |