Night Photography

[John Hinton]

Sample Three. Thanks for any replies.



<table width="100%" cellspacing="0" id="Inbox"]
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="30%" style="font-size: 120%;"]Camera:</td>
<td style="font-size: 120%;"]Canon EOS 30D</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="30%" style="font-size: 120%;"]Exposure:</td>
<td style="font-size: 120%;"]0.05 sec (1/20)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="30%" style="font-size: 120%;"]Aperture:</td>
<td style="font-size: 120%;"]f/7.1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="30%" style="font-size: 120%;"]Focal Length:</td>
<td style="font-size: 120%;"]35 mm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>ISO Speed:</td>
<td>800</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

[John Hinton]

And finally, for anyone wishing to further examine my blundering around in the dark:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/john_hinton/


EXIF data is available for all photographs posted.


Thanks everyone,


John

[mattsartin]

for starters, open the aperture on that lens all the way up, your shots were @ f/7.1, with that lens f/4 is 1 2/3 stops faster. if you want to stop action and be able to shoot wide angle at a fair, i would say your best bet for lenses would be 24mm f/1.4 L or the 35mm f/1.4 L

[John Hinton]

Thanks, Matt. You are right about opening the aperature; not checking and rechecking my settings is a failing I need to concentrate on more. I agree with getting glass with a faster aperature.


Thanks for your suggestions.


John

[John Hinton]

sigh...aperture. I can spell. I can.

[Fast Glass]

Next time try Manual control, you dont' have too worry about exposure as much. As long as your shooting the same subject you will have the same exposure, it makes it a lot easier to post-processe the pictures with the exposure consistant.

[Fast Glass]

As long as your notreallyshooting them, you know bang, bang!!! LOL LOL LOL

[mattsartin]

sigh...aperture. I can spell. I can.

i believe you []

[Alan]

What constitutes a "proper" exposure when taking night shots? The histogram? Eye-balling it? I saw one guy describe the method as follows: keep lengthening the shutter speed til it "looks right" in the viewfinder.


When shooting in daylight, I can look at the histogram, and know if I'm over/under exposing. But, with these type of shots (especially with ones with less light in the scene), I often take multiple shots, then choose the one that looks closely to the way I remember it. And, that's usually after I look at the images post processing.


Night photography is a challenge.

[Chuck Lee]

sigh...aperture. I can spell. I can

John,


"Aperature" is by far my most miss-spelled word on the forums.


I was at a fair recently........Sept 29th.....I too likethe lights: This is my third year shooting this fair...


Here's one that blows my mind....look at the settings: The candy striped post on the far left is a ride called Extreme. You can see legs hanging from the suspended benches. It was moving pretty fast.





Canon EOS 5D, wt EF <span class="nowrap"]50 f1.4, <span class="nowrap"]f/2.8, <span class="nowrap"]1/250, <span class="nowrap"]ISO 400, <span class="nowrap"]No FlashShows what fast prime glass can do.


I've got an obsession with shooting concession stands:





Canon EOS 5D, wt EF <span class="nowrap"]50 f1.4, <span class="nowrap"]f/2.8 @ <span class="nowrap"]50 mm, <span class="nowrap"]1/200, <span class="nowrap"]ISO 800, <span class="nowrap"]No Flash





Canon EOS 5D, wt EF <span class="nowrap"]50 f1.4, <span class="nowrap"]f/2.8 @ <span class="nowrap"]50 mm, <span class="nowrap"]1/320, <span class="nowrap"]ISO 800, <span class="nowrap"]No Flash