Brown sky at night!

[yelvertoft]

I should perhaps clarify by saying that I've taken traffic light trail pictures on digital cameras, out in the sticks, on different days, and under different conditions admittedly, and suffered terribly with light pollution from small towns several miles over the horizon.

[Leif]

I think it all depends on the length of the exposure. A few seconds should be okay.

[paul0510]

Sean,
quite honestly, I prefer the shot as is!

[SeanKP]

Thanks everyone. What you are saying fits in with what I've been experiencing. The cloudier the weather the browner the sky certainly. And taking the shot at dusk seems to result in a bluer sky as Leif's great shots prove and I have found with my own shots of Parliament.

Paul, I tend to agree with you that the effect can be quite pleasing but it is always nice to have an understanding of these things so as to be able to predict how a shot might turn out and possibly turn that knowledge to your advantage.

Finally, since posting the message I have revisited some of the shots I have taken recently and played with the white balance in ACR with some variable but occasionally pleasing results. I have gotten into the habit of always shooting in RAW anyway due to my underwater photography but I think it probably can be useful in a night shooting scenario too.

[blackmarlin]

Sean if you look at my picture "Light trails" you will notice that the sky is brown, this is caused by the lights of Manchester and Warrington, as this picture was taken in the Cheshire countryside I think it shows just how bad light pollution is beginning to get. Overall the shot of St Pauls is good but the sky spoils it somewhat.

Alan

[carman]

Originally Posted by blackmarlin

Sean if you look at my picture "Light trails" you will notice that the sky is brown, this is caused by the lights of Manchester and Warrington, as this picture was taken in the Cheshire countryside I think it shows just how bad light pollution is beginning to get. Overall the shot of St Pauls is good but the sky spoils it somewhat.

Alan

Light Pollution I'm afraid.