HELP! I'm having trouble with night shots

[gail]

I have the Digital Rebel and I can't get any of my night shots to do right.
What am I doing wrong? I have tried upping the ISO. And have tried the night shot mode. And still all my pictures are coming out blurry. As of tonight I still haven't gotten a photo worth saving.

Is there something I'm doing wrong? I can use my old camera my Canon G3, and take some nice shots but when I tried the same with the Rebel they don't come out good at all. Help! Please. :roll:

[DocFrankenstein]

What are you subjects?
Are you using a tripod?
What are the camera settings?

[Aylwin]

For slow shutter speed night shots you definitely need a sturdy tripod.

Try this:
1) Setup the shot on a tripod
2) Switch to P mode
3) Enable mirror lockup (if you have a hacked Rebel)
4) Use the timer (if you don't have a remote switch)
5) Fire!

[gail]

What are you subjects?
Are you using a tripod?
What are the camera settings?

Subject: my garden pond.
Tripod: Yes with timer set.
Camera settings: night mode, P and M mode @ 0.8 sec F/1.8 ISO-400


Here's an example of what I'm getting.
I know this is really bad sorry. :shock:
http://photos.imageevent.com/gailsgallery/miscthisandthat/websize/garden%20pond.JPG

[gail]

For slow shutter speed night shots you definitely need a sturdy tripod.

Try this:
1) Setup the shot on a tripod
2) Switch to P mode
3) Enable mirror lockup (if you have a hacked Rebel)
4) Use the timer (if you don't have a remote switch)
5) Fire!

Ok I will give that a try tomorrow night. I have played around with it tonight that I have done gotten tired ha. :roll: So guess it's beddy bye time :lol: . But I have a question what is Enable mirror lockup? And what does that do and how to I go about getting the hack?

Best Regards Gail, :P

[Aylwin]

I see over-exposure and blur. Over-exposure should be easy enough to correct in M mode. As for blur, either the camera has trouble focusing (in which case you can switch to MF) or it's cause by camera shake/vibration.

Is your tripod sturdy enough? Also, do you have the hacked firmware on your Rebel? With the hacked firmware you can use mirror lock-up.

[Cadenza]

In addition to keeping it on the tripod, I'd:

* use manual focus
* stop down to f5.6-f8.0
* do custom WB or shoot RAW
* put on lens hood or shade front element
(you may have stray light hitting lens)
* try different exposure modes or some auto-bracketing
* do you have decorative rim lights around the pond?
Turn them off, or reassess how the pond is being lit.

Good luck!

[DocFrankenstein]

I don't know why you'd have this problem...

Make sure you know how to use a histogram
Get the rebel hack, it will enable mirror lockup
Set it to manual and vary A and T so that you get the pic properly exposed
Use the 50mm prime... it's really sharp :?

You're pretty much guaranteed to have a really sharp pic then... :?

[xdjoynerx]

tripod + tv or m mode is the only good way to go...

or shoot in at least 800iso, with the shutter at 1/50 or faster. (if you dont want to bother with a tripod)

[Aylwin]

But I have a question what is Enable mirror lockup? And what does that do and how to I go about getting the hack?
When you shoot a photo with your Rebel the mirror flips up and the shutter opens. The mirror flips up with a bit of force and causes the camera to shake. With mirror lock up (and the timer), the mirror flips up first and then at the end of the timer the shutter opens. By that time, any vibration caused by the mirror should be gone.

The hacked firmware can be downloaded for free. I'm sure someone will be able to share the link. Installing it is very easy. Just copy the file to your CF card, insert it, turn on the camera and follow the onscreen instructions. The procedure is the same as when performing a normal Canon firmware update. I believe you can even download and use the official instructions from Canon.

[gail]

Thanks to all for the help, I appreciate it. Where do I fine the hacked firmware? And Instructions on how to install the firmware?

[ron chappel]

Don't worry about the firmware hack-mirror lockup is nowhere near nessesary!All it does is take that very last little bit of vibration out when taking the pic.
The real problems lie elsewhere.Your camera can do MUCH better than that i'm glad to say :)

I see blur,overexposure and something green hanging in front of the camera that is out of focus.Are all those tiny out of focus lights supposed to be in the shot?

The blur is mostly from camera movement and missfocus :
Use self timer at that shutter speed! This is the most important thing of all.
If you have your finger on the shutter then you will certainly cause alot of movement while the camera is taking the shot.See how the swan has a second (subtle) head and neck ? That is a classic symptom of severe camera movement
The focus point is near the bottom of the image- the stones near the swan are the sharpest part of the pic. Did you mean to focus there?
Focus manually with a huge flashlight if that's what it takes to get it to focus where you want it :)
Also,if you want more in focus (deeper focus) you will have to use a much smaller aperture (larger number such as f11 etc).

What are are all those tiny lights?Were you shooting through something?
It looks like a double exposure :shock:

[ron chappel]

edit* double post

[neil_r]

I am not sure about the advice you are getting about high ISO and open apature, I go the opposite way this shot was taken at manual with ISO 100 f 11 and an exposure of 21 seconds. Very sturdy tripod. It works for me?

http://www.neil-rice.com/gallery/photo/large/newcastle_28_7_04_0065a.jpg


N

[gail]

Ok where do I start ha. Neil, WOW... that is an awesome picture very lovely. excellent job you did on that one I love it. I'm going to write down all this info you have all giving me and try it out tonight and see what comes out the best for me.

And Ron, thanks for your help I appreciate it very much. I did use the trigger to snap this shot as you thought. Guess if I would have use the timer it would have came out better. I need to get remote for my rebel. But I will try as you all suggested to put on tripod and use the timer to take this shot. See what I get that way. And the tiny lights that yours seeing are around my pond. Should I have turned them off?

Think I will try that tonight turn all the lights off and try a shot and one with them on see what I get. I have lights around and in the pond.
Ok well thanks every one for the help I sure need it and appreciate it. :roll: I will see what I come up with tonight and will post a few.

Best Regards Gail,

[Andy_T]

And the tiny lights that yours seeing are around my pond. Should I have turned them off?


They are obviously too bright and burn out the shot.

If you want to have them in the picture, you might only turn them on for a very short time (1 second) during your exposure and see how it works out.

Maybe you could also try to use a lower ISO (100) and a flash at the second shutter curtain.

Best regards,
Andy

[roanjohn]

Gail.............If you have a tripod, might as well use the best ISO (100). And stop it down to around f8........or f11.

How about if you use TV mode, 5 seconds, ISO 100. Set your Rebel on the 10 sec timer to avoid mirror slap blur.

I want to see what you come up with.

Post it here please.

:-)

Ro1

[toddb]

Nice shot Neil! I have a feeling though there was at least some post prossessing work and probably an L lens??? Sharp detail with no noticable noize....I like it. I wish the 10D had more noize reduction. When I read stuff online about doing this types of shots they always say there flipping to noize reduction mode....must be a pro camera thing.

[gail]

This is the new photo I took tonight. It's a little better than the before one above.
I'm getting there it's just going to take some time LOL.
I did resize the Image for web. Nothing else done.
So what you think is this a start? I know the light's are still burn out.
But the swan in better focus.

http://photos.imageevent.com/gailsgallery/miscthisandthat/websize/IMG_6756%20copy.jpg



And here's the EXIF Info....
File Name
IMG_6756 copy.jpg
Camera Model Name
Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL
Shooting Date/Time
7/30/2004 11:42:33 AM
Tv( Shutter Speed )
0.6
Av( Aperture Value )
4.0
Exposure Compensation
0
ISO Speed
400
Image Size
3072x2048
Flash
Off
File Size
180KB

[xdjoynerx]

just keep playing with it... youll get it right.

when you save for web, do

jpeg, very high, quality:80, progressive

[gail]

just keep playing with it... youll get it right.

when you save for web, do

jpeg, very high, quality:80, progressive

Thanks... :D

[gail]

Here's another that I took. And I will give it a try again one night and just play around with it as xdjoynerx...sugested. till I get it right. Thanks everyone for your help. You all have help much if it hadn't been for you I would still be in the dark as of what setting to use.

And I will give it a try as Ro1 suggested TV mode, 5 seconds, ISO 100. set time to 10 sec. Thanks :)

Best Regards Gail, :D


http://photos.imageevent.com/gailsgallery/miscthisandthat/websize/IMG_6749%20copy.jpg

[ron chappel]

Yep,we all need to experiment with such situations :P
And that picture is not all that easy-abit of trial and error is needed at least.

[toddb]

I'd still stop the apature down more like Neil said to like F8 or F11 (since you are on a tripod, "AV") which would improve some sharpness and DOF...but then you would have to go longer exposure and I wonder what that bright light you have would do.

Also, you time says almost noon....is your camera time 12 hours off?

[mdude85]

I tend to agree with neil.... I like using a high ISO if I am doing low-light handheld action shots, but doing tripod landscapes, for instance, there is no need to have such a high ISO if you can extend the shutter speed ... I think a high ISO + faster shutter speed = more noise than a low ISO + slower shutter speed, but I am not sure.

[neil_r]

Nice shot Neil! I have a feeling though there was at least some post prossessing work and probably an L lens??? Sharp detail with no noticable noize....I like it. I wish the 10D had more noize reduction. When I read stuff online about doing this types of shots they always say there flipping to noize reduction mode....must be a pro camera thing.

It was an "L" (17-40) but there was minimal photoshop and no noise reduction. It was shot RAW and converted with PS.

I have never heard of a "noise reduction mode" I do not think it is a Canon feature?

I also took some others on the same night using ISO 50, smaller appature and a longer exposure. you can see them at :-

http://www.neil-rice.com/gallery/list.php?exhibition=18&pass=public&lang=eng

Gail.

They are certainly getting better, the beauty of digital is that you can practice, practice, practice and it don't cost a cent.

N

[toddb]

It was an "L" (17-40) but there was minimal photoshop and no noise reduction. It was shot RAW and converted with PS.



I knew it...I got to get that lens!! I've seen so many great shots with it. (I'm not saying your not a great photographer or anything by the way, that was a fantastic composition)

I tend to agree with neil.... I like using a high ISO if I am doing low-light handheld action shots, but doing tripod landscapes, for instance, there is no need to have such a high ISO if you can extend the shutter speed ... I think a high ISO + faster shutter speed = more noise than a low ISO + slower shutter speed, but I am not sure.


I just had a sample of this exact theory...you can say it's defiantly better at low ISO and slower shutter speed. Take a look at the full iso range with a static F8 aperture.

http://www.toddburke.net/forumpost/10d_iso_test.jpg

[ArtierSquare]

I am not sure about the advice you are getting about high ISO and open apature, I go the opposite way this shot was taken at manual with ISO 100 f 11 and an exposure of 21 seconds. Very sturdy tripod. It works for me?

N

I am amazed. This is such an excellent photo... I thought there was always fog on the Tyne! :lol:

[Rayz]

I am not sure about the advice you are getting about high ISO and open apature, I go the opposite way this shot was taken at manual with ISO 100 f 11 and an exposure of 21 seconds. Very sturdy tripod. It works for me?


Neil,
That's an excellent shot of the bridge. I like the symmetry.

Gail,
The subject you're shooting is difficult - large areas of bright light contrasted with detail in the shadows which need bringing out. You need to use exposure autobracketing (AEB) and digitally blend the +2 and -2 shots in Photoshop.

Also, a sturdy tripod is critical and the use of a remote or cord release. It's the quality of the tripod that often distinguishes the professional from the amateur.

The 300D doesn't boast mirror lock-up. Never mind! Vibration from mirror slap is only marginally noticeable over a fairly narrow range of shutter speeds (mainly about 2 secs to 1/30th). As Neil suggests, use f11 and a longer exposure to eliminate mirror vibration.

[toddb]

Excellent observation Rayz. Treat this as you would a landscape shot that has more range then your camera can handle. In a landscape shot in the old days this would mean using a gradient filter to simulate the sky stopped down but not the land so you can get that 8 stops instead of only the 5 stops the camera can do. Being digital, blending multiple exposures layers together is an excellent idea.

At first, I thought that light was like a flash light that was swirled around in the picture...but it's like a light rope or something, right?

[BDM]

In addition to the tripod/seltimer or remote with miror lockup recommendations I offer the following. Try a smaller F stop - say F 5.6 or F:8. I think you may be adding shallow depth of field problems to the mix, particulalry since you are at a relatively close distance form the subject. Using the lens wide open is just adding to that problem and, of couse, even Canon prime lenses are usually not at their best when used wide open. Try using the AV mode so you can chose the F stop and let the camera chose the shutter speed.

I think you could use EI 100 here. You are using a tripod and so the slower shutter speed needed by the lower EI should not be a problem. While EI 400 is pretty good on the Drebel, 100 is better.

Also, some of the highlights look a bit burned up to me. You should check the histogram and see what is what at the right end. You might also try a few shots at -1 to -2 EV settings and check out the results on with the histogram. The scene is relatively contrasty and you are trying to get the exposure such as to accomodate the highlights while preserving as much shadow detail as possible.

Finally, you may wish to consider setting the focus to manual. If you are auto-focusing, it may be the camera is choosing the wrong focus point - quite likely in a shot like this with many, relatively small objects. One of the benefits of manual focus is the ability to set the focus point to maximise the depth of field. You will want to pick something around a third into the scene (front to back) and perhaps experiment a bit with the focus point by taking a number of shots.

Good luck.

Bruce

[BDM]

After viewing my previous post I do apologize for the number of typos. I was having cat trouble - - he was on the desk and trying to do some of the typing. I should have allowed him to. He may be a better typist!

Bruce

[gail]

Hi Bruce, :) Thanks so much for all your good advice I surely will be trying it all out one night. This pond is really not any thing special I just wanted to kind of learn on taking night shots with my rebel.

And I have indeed learn a lot from you all and I appreciate it very much. :D You seen the first picture I posted it was really bad. And that was what I was getting till I did as someone suggested to do. I put it on tripod and shot TV mode, 5 seconds, ISO 100. set timer to 10 sec.

And it was so much better than the before. I still got to play around with it some more when I get time. And you were saying something about histogram what is that? I see a lot of talk about it but I don't know how to use it. Are what to even look for in it. And on the rebel is there a way to set the timer from like 10sec to like 5 sec?

Yes, and the lights around the pond are just to light it up at night for view. It's the rope lights yes I know they are really burned out in the picture. I will turn them off the next time I shoot to see what I get without them lit.

Ok well again thanks to you all for your help. I appreciate it much.
Hugs Gail, :D

[robertwgross]

After viewing my previous post I do apologize for the number of typos. I was having cat trouble - - he was on the desk and trying to do some of the typing. I should have allowed him to. He may be a better typist!

Bruce

Bruce, if your cat types accurately, maybe we could ship it to CDS.

---Bob Gross---

[ron chappel]

And you were saying something about histogram what is that? I see a lot of talk about it but I don't know how to use it.


And on the rebel is there a way to set the timer from like 10sec to like 5 sec?

Yes, and the lights around the pond are just to light it up at night for view. It's the rope lights yes I know they are really burned out in the picture. I will turn them off the next time I shoot to see what I get without them lit.



-Wow :shock: -you haven't learnt about the histogram yet? :)
This is one of the best things about digital photography! :D
Press the play button on the camera (so you are viewing an image) then press 'info' .The screen will show a smaller pic,the histogram graph and a whole bunch of written info all together.

Now-anythingthing on the left of the histogram graph are dark parts of the image.Anything on the right are bright parts.Most images will be somewhere in the middle .
Sometimes that camera gets it wrong and the histogram is all bunched up one side or the other.

Sometimes there are scenes where there are only very dark and very bright objects -too much for the camera to handle.With the histogram you can check to see if this is happening-it will be off the scale BOTH ends.
When you get the chance,look up some tutorials,there is abit to lkearn about histograms and how they can help

-Sorry,there is no way to make the 10 sec self timer quicker.I think the firmware hack allows this but you certainly don't want to be fooling with that-it's for experienced computer users only.

-ropelights-so that's what those are! :D

All the best with it! :D :D
Have fun experimenting

[gail]

Hi I will have to check further into the histogram. And learn more about it. I notice that in play you could hit info and it would show as what you said. But I didn't really understand what it was all about.
But thanks I will surely have to check it out. And there's no way to make the timer quicker... Oh well. Guess I will just have to learn to live with it then ha. :lol:

[whereismykit]

Hello Gail

I"m much like you learning the camera. Here is a great link on the Rebel it helped me out a great deal Give it a read

http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/lessons_6-10.html

A remote would help you with the camera shake and being able to use bulb mode.

Hope this helps.

[gail]

Hello Gail

I"m much like you learning the camera. Here is a great link on the Rebel it helped me out a great deal Give it a read

http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/lessons_6-10.html

A remote would help you with the camera shake and being able to use bulb mode.

Hope this helps.

Hi, Thanks for the link it's very helpful. I will have to read through it.
I know I have got to get me a remote. I really miss not having one with the rebel. I had one with my G3 and used it quite a bit. So that's on my I need list ha. remote and wide angle lens. Thanks a lot. :D

[toddb]

I used my historgram....but I admit, it wasn't till last month I really understood it. You MUST check this out:
http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml

[Molydood]

hey there Gail, some pretty good improvements with your photographs eh? :-)

I've been experimenting with the 'sweet spot' on the rebel kit lens, its really not too good stopped up or down but fine in the middle. I don't know about the 1.8 50mm, but suggest, as others have, f11, as that seems to be the most sensible place to start if you have not done any tests to find the sharpest 'f' setting for that lens.

I also think that the suggestion to turn the rope lights on for a short period only is well worth a try providing you have some other form of lighting on the scene, even if it is just moonlight. Perhaps try it without any lights at all and a longer exposure (you may need the lights on initially to auto focus though, you can always switch the lens to MF once focussed via the AF)

If your tripod is a cheapy like mine, you can try hanging heavy weights from the centre hook, to aid stability, if you have one, and ensure its not swinging about!

sorry if you know all this, I'm new to it too so just venting what I know.

looking forward to seeing the final masterpiece :-)

[gail]

Hi all this is what I came up with tonight. I set the camera @ 30 sec F/11 ISO-200. I think they came out a lot better than befores.
I'm pretty proud of them. Compared to what I was doing. Thanks to you all for your help. Now I can play around with it some more till I learn to do better but this is a big step from the befores ha I think.... :roll:

I think they could have been a bit lighter would have help. I did nothing to these but resize and frame. I was so proud of my self I had to frame them just for FUN! :lol: Well this is a start now I can get better with time.
And this is with the rope-lights off. Just had poll light for the lighting and the lights in the bottom of the pond.

Thanks Best Regards Gail, :lol:

And to compare them side by side here's the before..
http://photos.imageevent.com/gailsgallery/miscthisandthat/websize/IMG_6756%20copy.jpg

After and this one is cropped in a little tighter than the above.
http://photos.imageevent.com/gailsgallery/miscthisandthat/websize/TRIA997.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/gailsgallery/miscthisandthat/websize/mypond.jpg[/img]

[toddb]

Nice job. Those are a huge improvement. Now try some light painting. I posted this in another thread but thought it worth revisiting. I would think this would be perfect experiment for you night shots. You could selectivly point a flash light on certain things for a short time and light up those areas.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/special_feature/2003_luau_video/lightpainting/

I'm actually really curious. I don't have anywhere like that to take pictues...not yet anyway.

[gail]

Those are a huge improvement. Now try some light painting. I posted this in another thread but thought it worth revisiting. I would think this would be perfect experiment for you night shots. You could selectivly point a flash light on certain things for a short time and light up those areas.

I tried the link when I get there it want do anything. The quick time movie player is blacked out. What am I doing wrong. I have dial-up connection could that be the reason too slow maybe to see the movie? :roll:

http://www.sportsshooter.com/special_feature/2003_luau_video/lightpainting/

[neil_r]

Gail,

Now you could try turning the rope lights on, just for the last few seconds of the exposure, it would be interesting to see the results.

N

[ron chappel]

I agree with the others-turn of the rope lights for a few secs during the photo.
I meant to mention it before, but as usual when i start typing my mind is going 10 times faster,so i forget alot of usefull stuff :roll:

Oh-as to the pics being abit darker than you want...see what settings the camera had for those then switch to M mode and dial in something abit brighter.Try more shutter time for example(but keep other setting identical)
This is seperate from the rope lights pic though.If you add the rope lights for a few seconds it might just make the whole scene perfect anyway :)

One more thing-Don't worry too much about a lack of remote control -for this pic anyway.For really long exposures on a tripod (say 8 secs or more) the shake from pressing the shutter button is not much of a problem
Why :shock: :? :o
Because the camera is gathering light over all of those 8 secs ,but the camera shakes for only about a second of that time.7+ secs of sharp pic teand to drown out the unsharpness

[gail]

Gail,

Now you could try turning the rope lights on, just for the last few seconds of the exposure, it would be interesting to see the results.

I did and this is what I got.... :)



http://photos.imageevent.com/gailsgallery/miscthisandthat/websize/IMG_7030.JPG

And this don't no.... what happen here lol. :roll:

http://photos.imageevent.com/gailsgallery/miscthisandthat/websize/IMG_7028.JPG

[gail]

Hey and I have a question...When I took the picture had the camera set to F.11 and it takes like a few min's for it to take. Is this normal?
But I could put it back to 1.8 and it would show up in just a sec. I'm I making sense as to what I'm asking? ha ha crazy meeeeeeeeee.. :roll: :roll:

I was thinking something was wrong with my camera. It would like freeze and not do anything I guess maybe when you use slow shutter speed it does this am I right? :?

[ron chappel]

Hey and I have a question...When I took the picture had the camera set to F.11 and it takes like a few min's for it to take. Is this normal?
But I could put it back to 1.8 and it would show up in just a sec.

I was thinking something was wrong with my camera. It would like freeze and not do anything I guess maybe when you use slow shutter speed it does this am I right? :?

yes that sounds normal (especially if it gives a picture at the end of it all :lol: )

If you have the camera set for any of the auto modes and choose a certain shutter speed(for example) it will choose the appropriate aperture.
So yes-choosing f1.8 will mean the camera then only needs a short shutter speed.Choosing f11 will make it want a much longer shutter speed

Not sure about the 'few minutes' you say though....is that just a figure of speech?The Drebel wil only give a maximum of 30 secs shutter time in the auto modes
...in fact f1.8/1sec does equal about f11/30 secs
Such is the beauty of shutter/f-stop/ISO interchangability in photography:D :D :D .You'll realy love it when you understand how to do that


As for the weird 2nd photo :shock:
There's gotta be some moving lights in that pic!
...unless something weird happened like the camera was still taking the shot when you moved it.That could happen if you thought it was 'frozen',so you gave up on that particular image...?


And one more thing...(OMG she says,MORE??) :lol: :lol:

I should have mentioned this wayback
This subject is actually quite an interesting one.You can learn alot from it BUT it's also quite complicated.Looks like you unintentionally jumped right in the deep end :)

[ron chappel]

after looking at that last pic again i can see it definitely is a double exposure.Thought of another way it could have happened too-maybe you unintentionally zoomed while the camera was still taking the pic?
Not that it matters much but it's interesting trying to work it out :)

[gail]

Hi LOL :lol: Yes the minute, thing was just a "figure of speech" ha. And yes I bet I did move the camera on that last one as I think of it now. It was still doing its thing. I will have to play around with it some more when I get time. Hey this is fun I love doing the night photographing.

I'm having a blast. :roll: Now all the nabors are probably wondering what is that crazy lady doing out in the yard this time of night ha. :D

Well I will just let them wonder.... :roll: :roll:
And again thanks for your help you have been a great deal of help to me. Don't know what I would have done with out you. You seem like a very fun 8) and out going person just from reading your post. I appreciate you much thanks...

Best Regards Gail, :D

[toddb]

Don't worry about the quicktime link...I'll just explain it to you real quick.

Because your exposure is over a longer period of time (the shutter being opened and light coming in for several seconds), you can use another light sorce such as a flashlight to "paint" the light into the exposure. So say in your last pictures you want to light up one of those stone figures or something....right after you push the shutter button, briefly (and you'll have to do allot of experiementing with this) point your flash light on it. Be careful not to do it too long or you'll over expose that spot. The trick for you is not to get in the frame as your doing it. In the movie clip they were using a 1,500,000 candle spot light and they where a little farther away. They used the light just like a paint brush on a canvas. It's pretty fun. In the movie clip they were using even longer exposre times up to 30 seconds (so don't move you camera).

[gail]

Don't worry about the quicktime link...I'll just explain it to you real quick.

Because your exposure is over a longer period of time (the shutter being opened and light coming in for several seconds), you can use another light sorce such as a flashlight to "paint" the light into the exposure. So say in your last pictures you want to light up one of those stone figures or something....right after you push the shutter button, briefly (and you'll have to do allot of experiementing with this) point your flash light on it. Be careful not to do it too long or you'll over expose that spot. The trick for you is not to get in the frame as your doing it. In the movie clip they were using a 1,500,000 candle spot light and they where a little farther away. They used the light just like a paint brush on a canvas. It's pretty fun. In the movie clip they were using even longer exposre times up to 30 seconds (so don't move you camera).

Ok so what if I am using the 10 sec timer? Just point the flashlight right before the timer goes off?

[toddb]

Ok so what if I am using the 10 sec timer? Just point the flashlight right before the timer goes off?

It will require some timing for sure. You need to realize when you camera is actaully taking the picture. So in your case, you have to wait 10 seconds after you push the button for the shutter to open...then say if you have 8secs exposure, you have that long to "paint" those areas you want light. It doesn't take much. Your are NOT going to want to leave the light in one spot for too long (think of it like an airbrush, the longer you leave it in one area, the more paint, light in your case, you will have in that area).

You may find out that a regular flash light might have too much of a spread or lack of controling where the light spreads to. It's not going to be easy, but I think you'll find it fun to experiment with.

Like that last shot...where those bricks are lined up in front there...just sweep the flash light's light across from one end to the other. I admit I don't have more then 10 mintutes experience in this myslelf, but it doesn't seem to be pretty cool in making getting light where you want it without flooding the whole scene.

[gail]

Ok I will have to try that is does sound fun...I just had a ball last night taking the night pic's and even tried to get one of my dog. it came out good all but his head movement was blurred.

He moved his head about the time the shot fired. His body was in focus and his head was like he had 2 heads. I still haven't gotten the part of taking photos of something moving either.

I take some of my animals some times and if they are running are doing something moving in any way it will be blurred. I got to work on that also. Learn to get shot of them when they are in movement. :roll:

I still got a lot to learn guess you can't learn it all in one day ha.
So I just try and take one day at a time... :)

Best Regards Gail,

[ron chappel]

I'm having a blast. :roll: Now all the nabors are probably wondering what is that crazy lady doing out in the yard this time of night ha. :D

Wear camoflage gear and hum the tune from 'mission impossible' while doing it-that'll really start to freak them out :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[BDM]

Hey and I have a question...When I took the picture had the camera set to F.11 and it takes like a few min's for it to take. Is this normal?
But I could put it back to 1.8 and it would show up in just a sec. I'm I making sense as to what I'm asking? ha ha crazy meeeeeeeeee.. :roll: :roll:

I was thinking something was wrong with my camera. It would like freeze and not do anything I guess maybe when you use slow shutter speed it does this am I right? :?

If you are talking about exposure time that's exactly what one would expect. Take a look at the shutter speed dial. You will see that it progresses in a way that each setting is either twice as short or twice as long. So if you change from say 1/125 to 1/60, the shutter is open twice as long and twice the light is admitted to the camera.

The lens works the same way. Each aperature step admits either twice as much or one-half as much light.

So, here is how that can be useful. Let's say you meter a scene with the camera and it recommends an exposure of F: 1.8 at 5 seconds. But for a greater depth of field you want to close the lens down to F:8. For purposes of this discussion F: 1.8 is close to F:2. Counting up to F:8 we see F:4, F:5.6 and F:8. That means there is a three F stop difference. At a setting of F:8 the lens is admitting three stops less light than it was at F:2 (F: 1.8).

So, you change the lens to F:8. You do not need to take another meter reading (unless the light has changed). Just increase the shutter by three steps from the original 5 seconds ( 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 40 seconds). That means 40 seconds at F:8 will give the same exposure (amount of light hitting the sensor) as 5 seconds at F: 1.8.

That is how the relationship between shutter speeds and lens stops works.

I hope I haven't confused you. But the bottom line is that as you use a smaller F stop on the lens, you have to increase the shutter time to compensate so you will end up with the same net exposure. If you used a smaller F stop (a higher F stop number) without increasing the shutter time you would end up with a much darker picture.

Now, aside from the above discussion, if you mean the camera took longer to write the exposure to the flash card, I believe that with longer exposures that often happens but perhaps someone else can better comment on that. The file size written to the flash card is somewhat dependant on the subject matter, I believe that longer exposures and/or darker subjects tend to result in larger files. Of course, because of the longer required shutter time, the total time the camera will take to make the exposure and write to the flash card will likely be much longer. The increased total time most likely is caused much more by the longer shutter time than any slight increase in writing time to the flash card.

And by the way, if you do end up with a bit darker shot, and you are shooting in the raw format, you are probably better off in that you can make quite a bit of correction in Photoshop for somewhat darker images than you can with images which have burned out highlights. Generally, if there is no detail in the highlights, nothing much can be done to restore the detail in post processing. While it is generally best to try for a proper exposure when shooting, if you do make a mistake, it is better to go a little too dark than too light. Of course, this type of tricky shot demonstrates the value of shooting in the raw format and using post processing (Photoshop or some other such program) to "tweak" the result.

Bruce

[BDM]

My rather lengthy discussion of F stops and shutter speeds assumes you have set the camera to manual exposure so you can adjust the lens aperature and shutter independently. If you left it on auto exposure, while the camera "should" do much the same thing, sometimes it goofs up. This kind of shooting is where full manual control can be most helpful.

Bruce

[BDM]

After viewing my previous post I do apologize for the number of typos. I was having cat trouble - - he was on the desk and trying to do some of the typing. I should have allowed him to. He may be a better typist!

Bruce

Bruce, if your cat types accurately, maybe we could ship it to CDS.

---Bob Gross---

Oh, boy! It would not take much convincing for me to ship the cat - - anywhere.

Bruce