This is my first attempt at nigh time photography.  A few weeks ago there was a fire on the Whetstones near Huachuca City in AZ, so I thought I would try my luck.  I still need to keep fine tuning everything.

Do you have the camera data? It's not embedded in the picture.



ETA: Nevermind, I found your flickr page and pulled the original.



Just based on the clarity, I assume you had a tripod or something to set it on? If not, you're really going to want something for my coming suggestion.



I'm not very good at critiquing composition and stuff like that but in general I like both photos. I really like the stars in the second photo, but I think the first might have looked better offset a third of the frame either left or right.



Now for the technical, where I have a little experience with night photos.



Second photo: ISO 800, f/3.5, 4.0 sec



Turn you ISO down and turn you f-stop up. For night photos in town I usually like around ISO 100-200 and f/9-11. I haven't really done it in the country (ultra dark), but you get the idea. You'll get a much sharper picture (and reduce the extreme noise). Shutter speed will probably end up in the 20-30 sec range, but if you have a tripod it will look fine. If the exposure is still too low at 30 sec, just adjust one of the other two to get it where you want it. With the longer shutter speed it will really bring out the stars in the picture, leading to a really nice effect with the glowing fire.



First photo: ISO 800, f/5.6, 2.0 sec



Basically the same as the second photo. Turn ISO down and f-stop up. The key here is eliminating the noise. Plus the longer shutter speed will give a really neat effect on the progressing fire.





These are just my opinions and someone with more experience will probably give you better info. Like I said, I've never shot in the country or done any fire photos so I'm not certain what a long shutter speed does to the fire.

Thank you for the info.  Yes I was using a tri-pod and a simple remote that I picked up.  Still new to photography and that was the first attempt for anythng at night, kind of spur of the moment.  But again thanks for the info I am always looking for help or input.