Downtown Festival of Lights

brighteyesphotos · Nov 20, 2006

I love this time of the year. Downtown Battle Creek has their annual International Festival of Lights going. I caught part of the parade and then walked around a bit. It's even better when it snows.

The firetrucks were all decked out.

People waiting for the parade to start.

I wanted more pictures but I couldn't get the exposures right without making everything this huge blur. That and this brat stood in my way and when asked to move, he told me to "F-off" and his mom just laughed. :x

Any tips on low light, moving subjects shots?

brighteyesphotos · Nov 20, 2006

Oh and the lights are moving in the first one to create an effect of a waterfall which is what that normally is during warmer weather. I did a 3 second exposure and got them all lit at the same time.

Mad_Gnome · Nov 20, 2006

I do a lot of low-light photography with moving subjects, and unfortunately, I've found that it's not inexpensive. Large-aperture glass, high ISO and either a monopod or tripod are the only real suggestions I can make.

brighteyesphotos · Nov 20, 2006

I had the tripod but I think my ISO was set too low. My camera stopped at f/4 at the setting I had. I think the ISO was 400. 800 for the next time? or 1600 or 3200?

Mole · Nov 20, 2006

I just got my first DSLR and I always forget to change the ISO when doing shots in low light. When I get home im like crap now I'll have to wait till the next time to try and get these shots.

Mad_Gnome · Nov 21, 2006

Donna, I'd try a few shots at both ISO 800 and 1600 next time, and see which comes out better. 800 would be a good start, as you could cut your shutter speed in half. 1600 would depend on how much noise your camera generates at that speed. Some cameras are unacceptable at that ISO, while others take it without a problem.