Night photos

rsom

Still very much a beginner, and haven't yet figured out what settings to use on my 400d for taking pics at night.

Have a kit lens, a 17-85mm, and a 50mm 1.8......

Any tips puleeeze?

pete4130

First thing you need is a tripod!
Try to take them at dusk, when there is still some available light in the sky (this doesn't give you a very big window of oppotunity I know!). You'll get more dramatic skies though rather than plain dark/black skies.

- Shoot at a low ISO speed to reduce any noise (you'll be tripod mounted so long exposures shouldn't be a problem with shake).

- Use a remote shutter cable if you have one (reduces amount of shake as your finger isn't pressing the shutter release).

- If your camera has a "mirror lock up" option then use it (it raises the mirror prior to releasing the shutter so you don't get any vibrations from the mirror slapping up).

- Shoot at f8, f11 (sharpest part of your lens and larger depth of field).

- Shoot in RAW

0utpost31

What are you taking pics of?

Stephen

You can try some cool long exposure stuff at night too, such as light trails from cars. I would second the shoot at dusk advice that pete gave too.

It was actually quite dark when the photo below was taken, but because it was a 20 second exposure the sky looks much, much brighter. It was also shot at f/20 because I didn't know any better at the time



That was taken with my old D50 and the 18-55 kit lens and a dirt cheap tripod.

Monasette

All the advice above is very good. Just to add some more :-

1) using an aperture like f11, f16 or even f22 has a couple of happy side effects. It's very hard to focus in near darkness - you might need to switch to manual focus to compose your picture. At f22, you are more likely to get everything you need in focus. Also, light sources (e.g. streetlamps) have a star-like shape in the picture - can look visually pleasing. On the (maybe) downside, your exposure time is extended

2) On my Canon 24-105 lens, I have to turn off the Image Stabiliser when it is on a tripod - otherwise, some blurring can occur.

3) Make sure your battery is fully charged - long exposures are tough on battery power. On cold nights, battery power will quickly diminish

4) bring a torch. and a coat.

Monasette

All the advice above is very good. Just to add some more :-

1) using an aperture like f11, f16 or even f22 has a couple of happy side effects. It's very hard to focus in near darkness - you might need to switch to manual focus to compose your picture. At f22, you are more likely to get everything you need in focus. Also, light sources (e.g. streetlamps) have a star-like shape in the picture - can look visually pleasing. On the (maybe) downside, your exposure time is extended

2) On my Canon 24-105 lens, I have to turn off the Image Stabiliser when it is on a tripod - otherwise, some blurring can occur.

3) Make sure your battery is fully charged - long exposures are tough on battery power. On cold nights, battery power will quickly diminish

4) bring a torch. and a coat.

PopeBuckfastXVI

If you have an eyepiece cap you should probably use it to prevent light leakage through the eyepiece.

Granted this is more important in daytime long exposures, but it's worth doing I think.

superflyninja

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

If you have an eyepiece cap you should probably use it to prevent light leakage through the eyepiece.

Granted this is more important in daytime long exposures, but it's worth doing I think.

light leakage through the eypiece??ive not heard of this

0utpost31

I saw a guy on some website testing wether light leakage actually hinders photo quality or not and he couldn't even make it happen. Basically it's a myth! I'll see if I can find the site.

PopeBuckfastXVI

I thought that's what this was on this picture...



happened on every IR I took that day without the eyepiece cap, and hasn't happened since I've been using the cap. Same camera, lens & filters.

0utpost31

Hmmm....

rsom

Thanks guys, for the advice!

I have a tripod so gonna give it a try again!

DaireQuinlan

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

happened on every IR I took that day without the eyepiece cap, and hasn't happened since I've been using the cap. Same camera, lens & filters.

Hmmm. Which lens were you using ? Some lenses are notorious for having IR hotspots, which result in precisely what you're seeing in that picture, so it could be a coincidence regarding the cap. Although if you've used the same lens since with no ill-effects then it could well be it.

My F4 has a built in eye-piece shutter , conveniently coloured bright orange so you don't forget its down. I'm presuming they wouldn't put these things on pro cameras unless there was a need for them.

CabanSail

The D300 came with an Eye Piece block. I have not used it.

sunny2004

0utpost31 wrote: »

I saw a guy on some website testing wether light leakage actually hinders photo quality or not and he couldn't even make it happen. Basically it's a myth! I'll see if I can find the site.

Its not a myth, its not an issue with night time images.

Almost all professional 35mm film cameras had a eyepiece shield built in for this purpose.. no idea why its gone the way of so many other great ideas, like the IR focus point (red dot) on lenses.

YeahOK

pete4130 wrote: »

First thing you need is a tripod!


- Use a remote shutter cable if you have one (reduces amount of shake as your finger isn't pressing the shutter release).

- Shoot in RAW

You can also use the timer on the camera if you don't have a remote shutter cable, works just as well, but can be annoying waiting a few seconds each time.

Have a nosy around Flickr etc. and pick a few images you like. See what kind of setting were used in he photo properties link and play around a LOT!