Christmas Lights CAMERA SETTINGS HELP

Hey guys!
im not sure if this in the right Place! (correct me if i am)

i tonight ill be going to our Alberta Legislative Light up
tons of people and christmas lights, and which it will get dark fairly quick

i have two lenses to use on my canon 7D
18-135EF S OR EF 50mm 1:1.4

Not sure the settings to use, or what lens! help!!!!

Using a tripod or not?

BrickR wrote in post #15334767
Using a tripod or not?

i can bring one, would it be best?

If you are going to be planning to focus just on the lights then a tripod and a slow shutter is all you need. Keep the iso low to maintain image quality.

If you want people in the image that is going to be a different story as they won't be able to stand still for 10 or 20 seconds. In that case you want to either bump your iso up and/or use a flash. Basically you are exposing the background and then popping the flash to light up the people. Balancing the two can be a bit tricky to make it look good though.

p.s. too bad the dome in under tarps, you'll want to keep it out of the image.

Tripod yes, But you take xmas light pics at dusk, not when its dark, it allows light on more surroundings and gives more of the illusion the lights are illuminating more than they are.

Plus it helps balance the dynamic range w/o over-sat. all the colors to white in the sensor.

Cheers,

Ron

Thank you guys! what about len to use?
i was thinking the 50mm for the low light

I found this very helpful:

http://strobist.blogsp​ot.com …aph-christmas-lights.html

Depends on what you what to accomplish. For landscape pictures you'll get sharper pictures if you use a small aperture (so like f/8 or f/11). With a wider lens (like your 18-135) you can stand closer to the leg when you're at 18 ... but if you use 135 then you can back way up and compress the scene. Are you shooting just the leg or people as well? If you want just a snapshot (walking around and stopping occasionally for pictures) then the 50mm would be good for that, but if you want to stay in one spot; using a tripod and doing long exposures, then it doesn't really matter which lens you use, if it's on a tripod and it's set to a small aperture.

I want the lights.

Then I'd definitely suggest a tripod and long exposure (high aperture like f/16 or something and several seconds-long shutter speed) ... and lens choice is up to you - in my last post I explained the difference in between them

Your in canada? eh?
Just put the 50mm in your pocket and take both
but you'll be fine with just the 50 and a tripod
I'd start with Aperture priority f/8 iso 100 let the camera pick the speed.
and adjust from there.
should be some nice shots
post them up when your done

Tried the night before and it was like ISO100, f8, 2 sec. Was using 24-105mm f4 at 24mm end as city hall building was kind of big.

Something that might be helpful...back in film days many of us had a Jiffy Night Scene calculator that was first published by Popular Photography in the mid-1980's. The "New Jiffy Exposure Calculator" is more suited for digital cameras. Use the link to download the PDF, then print, cut out as indicated, assemble, and throw it in to the camera bag. If you get it printed at a print shop use a nice quality card stock. It is a great starting point for night time exposures. But remember to bracket.

PDF available at http://www.stacken.kth​.se/~maxz/files/jiffy.​pdf

check scene 7, 11, 13 for Christmas scenes and outdoor buildings.

Also if you want a nice star effect, lens have different types of starbursts depending on the lens optics.

John from PA wrote in post #15361621
Something that might be helpful...back in film days many of us had a Jiffy Night Scene calculator that was first published by Popular Photography in the mid-1980's..

Oh my gosh.. This is the exact reason I sold my SLR when I moved into dSLR photography! Never again would I have to use sunny 16 or a chart on the back of a 35mm film box to try to determine a starting setting.

Now I simply take a picture and look at the histogram. I would rather chimp than have to use a slide rule.....

But thanks for a blast from the past!