Shooting Cars in the dark?

[gunthermoose]

Can anyone give me some tips as I need to shoot cars around 530am outside
and even with my 580Ex and am having severe lighting issues..

I Usually am using 1600-3200 ISO with the 580EX and my 50mm 1.8..
usually on P setting

I don't need high quality photos but would like to get better shots than I am getting now...

[g_robins]

Shoot in manual, both flash and camera then look at the histograme. Use 400 iso and try something like 160th sec at f5.6, and then adjust as need be

[John Thawley]

Sounds to me like you're trying to change the shoot. Are you looking for daylight photos but can only shoot at this time?

If it's dark... it's dark. I think many photographers make the mistake of trying to light up the scene reaching for a "correct" exposure and lose sight of the story. It's a nighttime shot. Shoot it that way.

You should be able to shoot at ISO 400 with a 1.8 lens all night long. Drop the shutter speed. If these are race cars... pan them slow. For your head ons use a mono-pod. There's just no reason on earth to shoot at ISO1600-3200.

I shoot 12 and 24 hour events and rarely fire a flash. Personally, I don't like the drastic change it makes to the scene. If I wanted a daylight shot, I'd come back during the day. :)

Surely if you can see the cars, there's enough ambient light to work with. Drop the shutter... don't raise the ISO.

JT

[gunthermoose]

"you looking for daylight photos but can only shoot at this time?"
Correct O Mundo...

These cars are parked so there is no speed issue just trying to get them to
look like almost day light...



Here's a sample from this AM...

[Zilly]

like john said shoot amiant if you can how ever if there is no where near enough light i do use a bit of flash work

hope this helps
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h152/zilly_photos/RQ5P1238.jpg

# Camera model: Canon EOS-1D Mark II N
# Date/Time: 2006:09:12 20:31:57
# Resolution: 800 x 533
# Flash used: yes
# Focal length: 20.0mm (35mm equivalent: 25mm)
# CCD width: 28.73mm
# Exposure time: 0.300 s (1/3)
# Aperture: f/22.0
# ISO equiv.: 500
# Whitebalance: Manual
# Metering Mode: matrix
# Exposure: Manual
# Exposure Mode: Auto bracketing

[blam]

if these cars are parked and not moving, get a tripod out and drop the shutter....

you can use Av mode to get the DOF you want and use a 30+ second shutter if needed...

you don't even need a flash

I believe the EXIF is attached
http://members.shaw.ca/blamo/MZ3/3leg27.jpg

Also, the 50mm 1.8 is pretty long for car shots on a crop body....you have to get pretty far back to fit the entire vehicle in.

edit: the picture I posted has plenty of light, especially from the building (as you can see it's blown out since I exposed to the car) but you get the idea.

[BIGTUFFGUY]

get a flashlight and paint the car

[Blue S2]

HAHAHA, "paint it" during a long exposure? What a funny thought! I want to try that now! I usually just use a tripod and long exposure! Hmm...i bet you can do some interesting things with light in that fashion...

[Jim G]

Go for a tripod and a long exposure.

[blam]

HAHAHA, "paint it" during a long exposure? What a funny thought! I want to try that now! I usually just use a tripod and long exposure! Hmm...i bet you can do some interesting things with light in that fashion...

after I read his post I really want to try it as well....

[BIGTUFFGUY]

heres a quick example.

http://www.bigtuffguy.com/internetpics/paintcar.jpg

[Blue S2]

Thats not as cool as using a laser pointer and lighting up the side with a tag or something! HAHA. Or a green LED!

[gdrMatt]

Go for a tripod and a long exposure.

exactly.. go buy a tripod and forget the flash.

[Burrellimages]

What is the intended purpose for needing them at that time? I shoot vehicles all the time either before the sun comes up or after it is gone. I've even done some around midnight. I always use a tripod and cable release. I stick with ISO 100 and use F11 on AV mode. I generally shoot about 1 to 2 stops over to get the best results though.

About midnight..........
http://burrellimages.com/IMG_9394.jpg

This one was about 8:45 PM and the sun was gone. You can even see the taillight trail from the road at the top of the photo.......

http://www.burrellimages.com/Black_55_117.jpg