noob help - christmas lights

crowej

i just bought a Canon Eos 400d and i have been fiddling around with it with mixed success.


i want to take a photo of the Christmas lights on Grafton street can you guys suggest how i should set up the camera to take the best photo.

Thanks

TelePaul

crowej wrote: »

i just bought a Canon Eos 400d and i have been fiddling around with it with mixed success.


i want to take a photo of the Christmas lights on Grafton street can you guys suggest how i should set up the camera to take the best photo.

Thanks

Got a tripod?

jlang

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-to-photograph-christmas-lights.html

http://www.funtechtalk.com/digital-photo-help-for-christmas-holiday-lights/

crowej

yes i have a tripod

Oriel

Set up tripod. Set aperture to f/22. ISO 100.

TelePaul

Oriel wrote: »

Set up tripod. Set aperture to f/22. ISO 100.

Can you elaborate on this please?

DotOrg

TelePaul wrote: »

Can you elaborate on this please?

what's confusing about that. if you aren't sure about what the aperture is, i suggest reading the manual or one of the millions of online basic camera tutorials


iso 100: low sensitivity, low noise/grain = high quality image
f22: narrow aperture - max depth of field = everything in pretty sharp focus

then let the camera work out the shutter speed.

or as it's a digital camera, take several pictures, changing the settings each time till you get something you like the look of

you could shoot without a tripod and get lots of movement and blur, could be artistic, could be ****e

you could shoot on a tripod, get a touristy snapshot

you need to ask yourself, what you're trying to capture, in what style, for what pupose, then you've answered your own original question

Ricky91t

Might be easier to set it to the no flash function and put it on a tripod this would need no setting up what so ever and should produce good results:D

AnCatDubh

DotOrg wrote: »

what's confusing about that. if you aren't sure about what the aperture is, i suggest reading the manual or one of the millions of online basic camera tutorials

I think Paul may have meant if it were possible for Steven to elaborate for the OP as they had indicated they were coming from newbie perspective on it.

Excellent clarification though DotOrg - nice one.

OP - can i also suggest once you've followed oriel advice - use the opportunity to bump up the ISO (perhaps one step at a time), and try out different camera modes. It seems like an ideal opportunity to learn about how your new camera reacts shooting that kind of scene - see how much noise will creep in to the images the further up the ISO settings you use. Also as DotOrg says some settings will produce blur which can either be brilliant or brutal ;o) - Others will be quite workable.

Good luck with it.

TelePaul

DotOrg wrote: »

what's confusing about that. if you aren't sure about what the aperture is, i suggest reading the manual or one of the millions of online basic camera tutorials


iso 100: low sensitivity, low noise/grain = high quality image
f22: narrow aperture - max depth of field = everything in pretty sharp focus

then let the camera work out the shutter speed.

or as it's a digital camera, take several pictures, changing the settings each time till you get something you like the look of

you could shoot without a tripod and get lots of movement and blur, could be artistic, could be ****e

you could shoot on a tripod, get a touristy snapshot

you need to ask yourself, what you're trying to capture, in what style, for what pupose, then you've answered your own original question

Yeah, thanks for that Eugene Smith. Oh, btw, what's a lens?

RCNPhotos

I'd do it all on manual. Get used to using manual rather then aperture priority etc etc. Set it up like oriel said, f/22 and ISO 100 and try different shutter speeds, see how they look. You'l probably end up with quite a long one.

Fajitas!

AnCatDubh wrote: »

OP - can i also suggest once you've followed oriel advice - use the opportunity to bump up the ISO (perhaps one step at a time), and try out different camera modes. It seems like an ideal opportunity to learn about how your new camera reacts shooting that kind of scene - see how much noise will creep in to the images the further up the ISO settings you use. Also as DotOrg says some settings will produce blur which can either be brilliant or brutal ;o) - Others will be quite workable.

Yep, exactly. Also agreeing with Oriel and DotOrg.

No need to be cheeky telepaul :rolleyes:

TelePaul

Fajitas! wrote: »

Yep, exactly. Also agreeing with Oriel and DotOrg.

No need to be cheeky telepaul :rolleyes:

I blame Oriel, his cynicism is contagious.

DotOrg

crowej wrote: »

ian you guys suggest how i should set up the camera to take the best photo.

there is no such thing as the 'best photo'

two people can take wildly different shots and both would be considered best by different people

there is no best.

digital cameras are perfect for experimenting. learn the basics of what aperture, shutter speed and iso are and you can create whatever you want.

sheesh

1. I would Try for the shortest exposure possible to get a sharp image

2. get a tripod slightly slower shutter speed showing the christmas lights clearly while showing the passing people as blurrly

3. close up of a light on aperture priority so that the light is in sharp focus and the back ground is blurry.