Bring a headlamp or flashlight.
Kenneth Waller
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/kennethwaller
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stan Halpin" <s...@stans-photography.info>
Subject: Re: Seeking Night Shooting Advice
On Apr 19, 2013, at 12:44 PM, Charles Robinson wrote:
On Apr 19, 2013, at 11:11 , eactiv...@aol.com wrote:
Never really done that much night shooting.
I am, again, think it's been 5 years, taking a photo class that ends in
a
little show (mat & frame & hang pics & invite family & friends). You
pick a
theme to shoot around. I am, again, choosing an environmental one.
There is an oil refinery nearby that is lit up like a fairy castle at
night. They don't like you taking pictures (if they see you on or near
their
property), but there is a spot across the freeway where I think I could
get a
good night shot.
Only don't know how to begin. High ISO? Long exposure? Never done HDR,
would that be better? (Definitely plan on using the old tripod, and I
do have
a remote.) I can try different approaches and shoot it again on return
trips.
1. Tripod
2. 2-second release (also ideally with a remote release) so that the
mirror is flipped up and everything has settled down a bit before the
shutter opens.
3. Shoot RAW - most of the speckles and noise (hot pixels) you get from
overheating the sensor are automatically removed by the Adobe Raw
converter when you import into (whatever you use) and it'll save you a
ton of time "cleaning up".
4. Shoot as low an ISO as you are patient enough to use. That will come
back to you in sharpness. If you like, you can start with a high ISO to
figure out approximately the exposure range you want to use, and then
crank down the ISO (and crank up the exposure time to match).
5. Along with low ISO, stop down to f5.6/8/11 to help with your
depth-of-field. Especially when it's pitch dark out (I don't know how
well-lit your subject is) it can be tricky to get the focus spot-on.
6. Don't be afraid to start with an automatically-calculated exposure.
You can then dial the exposure-compensation up or down "to taste".
-Charles
7. Turn off any "instant-review" on the LCD on the back of the camera.
Manually check the first few images while you are getting set up, but
don't trust the jpeg on the LCD - instead look at the RGB histograms for
exposure feedback. The LCD JPEG will lie about the lighting and will just
help keep your night vision from developing.
stan
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