I took some night pics with my Canon AE-1 I set the shutter speed for 30 seconds and the lens on the lowest aper setting. IM not sure but the pics the road is deserted with very very light brake and headlights streaks. IM not sure if there was not enough traffic or? I used Kodak 400 speed film which I had left over. Should I try it with 800 instead and find a real busy roadway.

 

Nope try setting the shutter speed to a lower time. Try about 13 seconds at F-11 or so and I generally use 400 for my shooting. Its all kind of a trial and error process really. I would like to see the shots of the roadway you got though because I like the empty road type shots.

I have seen people do 30 minute exposures in daylight downtown and there are no people in the shots because of the length of time it is exposed for

 

I would love to show you the pics but my roadfly account links always time out or something after a few hours. I will try to shoot again this week. I just got into this stuff. Out of 70 some odd pics so far I maybe have 10-15 that are really nice.

 

just wondering, what kind of settings are needed for 30 mins exposures during the day?

 

Filters...lots of filters.

Usually they will stack about 3 or 4 polarizing filters (possibly more) on top of the lens then dump down the aperature on top of that and open up the shutter.

I have never tried it myself but have seen some really cool results from those that have pulled it off.

 

ah i see. i didnt think about filters.

 

is it possible to do with a digital camera? even the nice 5.0 sony i have in the office doesn't allow you to up the exposure over maybe 3 seconds ??

 

never know until you try

I do it with my digi all the time and all it takes is a little trial and error. Like I said all it wastes is a little time and some virtual film you can erase i fyou don't like the results.

 

but you were talking about exposure level of 13 seconds, thats not possible with any digital camera i've ever used. including a really nice 5.0megapixel sony i have in the office.

 

I fyou have manual settings then most digis allow for up to 13 seconds and DSLRs can be as high as 15 minutes. I will check out the specs of the camera you are talking about and see what its limits are if you would be so kind as to post a model number for me.