Night Shots - Well an attempt

[ttora4runner]

Kind of toying around with night shots with my camera's.

The first couple of shots are with a Kodak C813 P&S. I've had the camera for a few years and for one reason or another never really played with some of the settings.

Next couple are with the new camera I just picked up a Panasonic Lumix FH20. This one has alot more settings to experiment with.

I know I still got a lot to learn.

 

[crawldit]

I know I saw my biggest improvement when I started using a tripod. I would get out and shoot as much as possible and keep playing around. But I would definitely recommend a tripod. That would sharpen up some of those shots. It would also let you bracket a shot and you can take multiple shots at different settings and see how they effect the output of the image.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Looks like you're off to a good start.

Try and experiment with taking some shots about 45 minutes after the sun went down rather than went it's middle of the night dark outside

If you do some long exposure shots at that time, you'll probably still get lots of detail in sky, but the buildings and subject will be lit almost like it's still light outside. But it still makes the lights and the subtle colors pop out

This would be a cool sticky to keep seeing peoples Night Photography Work

 

[photoman]

I am going to agree with crawldit and suggest picking up a tripod. You can use an inexpensive one to start - $20-$50

Other things to consider is composition, subject matter, and the lights themselves.

In your first two shots you are too far away for there to really be any subject- its just a blanket of lights.

I walkway is a good subject matter but the lighting is consistently drab. Yellow and orange streetlights are not as dynamic and reds, blues, or clear. They also great isssue for your cameras white balance.

Learn how to change your white balance settings and play with those on your next night shoot.


A few examples of night shots:

 

[ttora4runner]

I agree a tripod is in order.

The first two photo's I'm more or less just kind of goofing around with some of the settings and seeing what happens. They were really the only ones that came out descent.

The second to last photo I'm kind of scratching my head on. That green light is actually a yellow light shining on the side of the building but for one reason or another it came out green? Any idea's why it would do that?

 

[wjeeper]

I gotta say I really like the photo of the Bountiful tabernacle! Driven by it 1000, times and I can say that pic was a new perspective:victory:

 

[photoman]

I agree a tripod is in order.

The first two photo's I'm more or less just kind of goofing around with some of the settings and seeing what happens. They were really the only ones that came out descent.

The second to last photo I'm kind of scratching my head on. That green light is actually a yellow light shining on the side of the building but for one reason or another it came out green? Any idea's why it would do that?

I would say white balance setting would be the cause for the color change. Did you set the white balance or was it on Auto?

 

[ttora4runner]

I would say white balance setting would be the cause for the color change. Did you set the white balance or was it on Auto?

Truthfully, I don't remember.

 

[Snafu]

I'm in the same boat...trying to have some fun and learn at the same time...I'm still looking for a tripod. At the moment I'm using the truck as well as the ground only.

I'd like to go back out and try again...but these were my first shot at it...it was hard to NOT jerk the camera no matter what since I was shivering from the cold out there that night!

I've found several sites that have a lot of tips for better night shots...Just keep looking and playing...at least that's my idea

 

[Michael Slade]

Try this site...

It's all about night photography.

 

[ywen]

I like your 2nd shot! It turned out well.

For small P&S cameras, you can set the camera on ground or any surface. Or brace the camera against a sturdy surface and control your breathing while holding it. If you really want a tripod, one of these might be better than lugging around something big.

http://joby.com/gorillapod

The key is to use the timer feature on your camera, so that the camera doesn't shake from the act of your finger pressing the shutter. It would be best if the cam has a 2sec count down so you're not standing there waiting for the full 10 seconds.. Also if your camera ONLY has auto focusing it is pretty much useless for night time photo since most of the time, it's too dark for your camera to lock on focus

These were all taken with my Ricoh P&S, none used a tripod. The Ricoh has manual focus and an infinity focus setting so these were used instead of AF.

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