Night Shooting Tips Needed

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Barry Johnston on May 27, 2009 at 3:47pm

Hello Michael,
I'm not quite sure if I should state the obvious here, as I am not sure of your level in photography. I apologise in advance if you know some of these already.... by the way, what 'decks' are we talking about ?

1. Use a sturdy tripod, with timer or shutter release.
2. 100 ISO or lowest available.
3. 'Auto White Balance' doesn't always work accurately in low light situations, so use manual, and experiment until you get the look that you would like - lower K = cooler, upper K = warmer.... on a scale of 0-10,000Kelvin.
4. Not quite sure what aperture to suggest until I know what these 'decks' are exactly.... but would probably shoot with a medium aperture, perhaps f/11
5. Manual shutter speed - you will probably have to experiment with different settings, at f/11 try a 10 second exposure, however, this could be challenging if there are people moving around....
6. Manual focus.....

Can't think of anything else right now.... but your WB will probably be the most important factor here. I like to get things right 'in-camera' before adjusting in RAW conversion....saves a lot of time...

Hope this helps....

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sean on May 27, 2009 at 6:17pm

Get some weights for your tripod to avoid any shake.
Make sure your batteries are charged. A friend of mine who has a d100 went shooting at night and as the battery started to get towards the end of its charge it added tons of noise to the image.
Bring a light with you to help you focus...sometimes it is too dark to get a good sharp focus.
If you own a remote trigger use it. If you don't use your timer.
If your lens has Vibration Reduction turn it off...in long exposures it will try to adjust and give you blur.

That is all my brain is giving me right now.

• ▶ Reply