Thank you! Amazing.

The LENR may kick in at 8sec and map that pixel out for you. Check your owners manual, as there is a cutoff to what is considered Long Exposure vs. not.

Edit: I just checked the manual for you pg 167:

LENR on: Photographs taken at shutter speeds slower than 8 s
are processed to reduce noise.

So just keep the exposure above 8s and everything is dandy :-)

It may very well be dead pixels or due to higher ISOs. I just did a little analysis of which images had them and which didn't. Oddly, everything with an exposure UNDER 8.0s had them while everything OVER 8.0s didn't. Seems counterintuitive to me. I would think that a longer exposure would lead to MORE noise artifacts (or would be more likely to show dead pixels), not less.
For the record ISO was 400 and aperture was f/7.1.

My D90 does the same thing. I find it becomes more prevalent the higher the ISO I shoot. Lightroom 4 seems to remove them for me at time of import.

TaoTeJared said:
Dead/stuck pixel probably. Every sensor has them. I think the D90 has the dust mapping feature, if you use that it will usually catch them.

That looks VERY much like a dead pixel to me.

Do as Ms.Moto says.

Have a nice day and don't stress over it.

Not sure how hard I'll pursue it. As Moto said, it's pretty easy to edit out. For the record, he was inspired by this:
http://www.thecoolist.com/light-painting-by-pablo-picasso/
Never underestimate what will inspire a 17 y/o.

Dead/stuck pixel probably. Every sensor has them. I think the D90 has the dust mapping feature, if you use that it will usually catch them.

I saw the red dot as I was attempting to clean my monitor...LOL

I mess up all the time in my photos and just use the spot removal tool in Lightroom. It is too much to try and figure out what it is. But, I suppose cleaning the sensor might help. If it is a pixel related issue then it will not go away. And, you may find it in other photos of a uniform background.

Let us know what it is...

Oh, kinda neat image idea...

That's what I thought as well. However, the shutter was only open for 6.7s, and others where the shutter was open for up to 9s didn't display this. The D90 does have LENR and it was on.
Also, I found it interesting that the noise artifacts showed up in the same place each time they did show up.

How long is the shutter open? Does the D90 have LENR? I don't think so, but if so use it. Otherwise you can snap a dark frame with the lens cap on for the same amount of time and subtract it from the photo.

What you are seeing is noise generated by the long exposure. They deal with this all the time in astrophotography.

As part of my son's photography class, he wanted to try "painting with light," similar to the shots that Picasso did. So we created a slightly "ghetto" set up: Placed the camera on the tripod, triggered by a remote. While he held the shutter open, I painted using the lights. When I was done he triggered a Nissin flash remotely by hand then closed the shutter. Crude, but interesting.

However, upon closer examination, I noticed a number of red and green pinpoint spots on SOME of the images. While you can see one red one just above my left wrist here, you may have to view at original size to see more of them. It's definitely sensor related, as when they do appear they appear in the same locations. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason (or pattern in the EXIF data) as to why they appear, at least not that I can tell. I don't see anything like this during "normal" use of the camera. I even took a few 20s star exposures the other night and noticed nothing.
So what do you all think? Dirty sensor? Damaged sensor? Limitations of the D90 sensor? A light reflection/refraction issue related to the use and positioning of the flash?

Pride also heals with time. And mine took a beating that day.

@ proudgeek good catch with the 70-200...must have remembered what we were told early on..."Skin heals, cameras don't"

renardrichie said:

Turns out i got tons of good pic. Everytime the whale breached i pretty much felt like i'm the happiest kid in the world. This is the online album http://renardrichie.viewbook.com/album/whalewatchboston2012

These are fantastic. Where did you go out of? The Cape?

I was once the victim of my own excitement. Last summer my wife and I were hiking in Colorado in the Maroon Creek Wilderness. We'd been out for about five hours, and it had been raining on and off and the trail had gotten pretty slick. My wife was pretty anxious to be done and I had been lingering in the woods shooting groves of aspen trees using my 17-35.
When I caught up to her in a clearing, there were a handful of people gathered and speaking in hushed tones. They were all pointing at a juvenile moose who was grazing in the Maroon Lake, about 500 yards down the trail. I cursed myself for having the wrong lens, switched to my 70-200 as quickly as possible, and started to make my way toward the moose. Then I noticed a trail that would serve as a pretty good shortcut. Less defined and much steeper, but I could get to the moose in less than a minute. Just as I started to take the detour, my wife hissed at me, "Slow down and be careful." Her warning came just a moment too late. Three hurried steps down the trail and my feet went completely out from under me. My wife later said I went horizontal in the air before landing squarely on my back. By some miracle, I had the instinct to cradle the camera in my stomach and it suffered no damage. Dazed by not deterred, I made my way down to the moose (slower this time) and managed to get a few good shots before a park ranger warned me off.

What? You know this guy? LOL.

Beso said:
This guy's histrionics far exceed any videographer skills he may have. It only makes me wonder how he is under other circumstances. ;)

Rhymes with thorny.

A steam train pulling in to Victoria.........yes that's a nice sight, the smoke filling the canopy above, or the sight and sounds of a Lancaster bomber or Spitfire flying overhead, but a diesel??? Don't get that one. I suppose it all comes down to your heritage, I'm enthusiastic about ours, that guy was about his. Each to his own.

Wataru said:
You people just don't get trains, do you... Trains are amazing. If that guy was faking it, it's only funny because it reflects the way train freaks actually feel.

Oh, don't get me wrong- I'm a lurking rail fan. I grew up watching Thomas the Tank Engine and I was always a big fan of the subway system in NYC. I like trains, but I can't spot the exact model engine. I'm better with subway cars though- I like the Redbirds and R46s.

I like most forms of transportation, but above all, I like cars more than trains. Probably the only form of transportation I don't like is the zamboni.

Photographing that fox up above made me feel like Moose Peterson for a good 5 minutes. I certainly didn't have the gear for it, but boy did I feel like I was somewhere in Alaska.

And the fact that the fox showed up at my dorm window certainly made things exciting for me.

bjrichus said:
.... real talent and ability as well as craft skills like Henri Cartier-Bresson or Ansel Adams....

My entire life (for the past 35 years, anyway) has been documented on Ansel Adams desk calendars...

Nah ... It's a video thing. :-)

Only video centric people seem to get that excited over a noisy, dirty, smelly, machine like a diesel powered train. Guess it comes from growing up with Hollywood producers as your heroes rather than someone with real talent and ability as well as craft skills like Henri Cartier-Bresson or Ansel Adams.

Now I will quietly go away and wait for the barrage coming my way from Hollywood, train and video people ;-)

No. I don't really mean it guys, but these two do seem to go way over the top...

You people just don't get trains, do you... Trains are amazing. If that guy was faking it, it's only funny because it reflects the way train freaks actually feel.

I think I was almost as excited when I saw a red fox right outside my dorm window, right when there was fresh snow outside, except I don't usually vocalize my thoughts.

Come on, it can't get any more eye catching- a red fox on a white background.

But because I had been excited about the first snow, I also already took photos of the snow through my window and as a result my I threw my compact camera onto my bed.

By the time I had noticed the fox, it had already left and I was still looking for my camera in the folds of my sheets.

Lesson learned- buy the biggest camera you can afford so that next time it's not hidden by your sheets.

The next time I saw a fox it wasn't as photogenic but it didn't mean I didn't try to get a photo op.

I noticed it from afar, but I didn't think it was a fox, I thought it was a big red cat.

And then I noticed the tail and I gave chase.

That was the only good photo I got that day, I didn't nearly have enough reach. Ideally I should have been in shutter priority too, but I shoot so often in aperture priority I don't usually touch the mode dial. Most of the things I shoot usually don't move.

But I got to say, foxes are some of the prettiest animals when they move. They don't really walk, they do a semi hop that's very cool looking. It's somewhat like a squirrel but they're no where near as annoying as the behavior of squirrels. Much smarter too.

Hahaha! That video is AWESOME! The fact that I know something about the trains and guys that are THAT into them makes it even better.

I think the video was supposed to be making fun of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhYXNwvcl6A

However, there are train guys who are that crazy. I have seen some of these people in real life since I have gone with my friend to take pictures of some old steam trains. My friend is a total train nerd, but he is more of the introverted kind who is afraid to tell people he is into trains for fear of the weird looks he will get. He frowns upon the people who actually act like the guy in the video in real life as they would tarnish the reputation of people like him who are trying to act normal and still be into trains.

I don't think anyone on here gets that into their normal photos... that's more of the reaction you would get if someone on here stumbled upon an unreleased Nikon body out in the wild.

Yes, I went on a whale watch couple of weeks ago and it was my first seeing this spectacular creatures in the wild.

I love my d800 i shot with 24-70mm (i know i should have shot it with longer lens but i was also testing the crop ability of d800).

Turns out i got tons of good pic. Everytime the whale breached i pretty much felt like i'm the happiest kid in the world. This is the online album http://renardrichie.viewbook.com/album/whalewatchboston2012