Night settings

[icepuck]

Hello, newbie to forum here.

Not new to photography but always issue with night photography.

Searching I almost always see answers to night shots with such things as skylines or well lit areas. I'll be out at a lake where there aren't going to be lights all around. There is a full moon to be out next week and blue bonnets all around.

As mentioned these setting have always been troubling. I've seen to use a timer to help with the steadiness but how much I'd love to get a nice shot of this. Another would be a shot of the family sitting at the camp fire without having to use the flash.

thanx

 

[Overread14 2]

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson -loan it from the library or buy it and read this book it will give you a greater insight into exposure and how to control it that will help you in any situation.


Night time is dark and you've 3 settings on the camera;

1) Aperture - the smaller the f number the wider the aperture is; this lets in more light for the shot, but also means that the depth of field (are of the photo in-focus) is smaller/thinner. At night you'd want to use as small an f number as you can whilst still maintaining the depth of field for the shot

2) Shutter speed - the slower the speed the more light that makes it to the sensor. Of course you've also got to overcome motion of the camera/lens (handshake) by using at least 1/focal length of the lens or faster in shutter speed (rule of thumb only); then you've also got subject motion, a living subject is going to move and even if not wind can create motions.

3) ISO - a higher ISO increases the signal from the sensor and thus increases the effect of the exposure, however it also increases the noise in the shot. However its important to note that a well exposed photo at a higher ISO will always have less noise than one taken at a lower ISO and then brightened up in editing.


So for a night shot you want wide aperture (small f number); as slow a shutter speed as you can get and as high an ISO. For something like family you want at the very least 1/100sec and ideally faster - aperture can't be too small either otherwise the tinyest motion will throw things out of focus. ISO thus is the key setting to raise as high as you need.



Light Science and Magic 4th edition - read this book to start getting a grounding in using flash. I'd also suggest checking out the Srobist Blog as well for some times; because at night in challenging conditions flash is going to be a huge help!

 

[rambler]

Also learn to use the "bulb" setting on your camera. (check your manual) This setting allows you to leave the shutter open as long as you hold it open. This is the setting you will use if you want to hold the shutter open more than 30 seconds.

 

[Derrel]

Camp fire is actually very bright compared to say, moonlight. Here's an article on moonlight shooting. His suggestion: for a full moon lighted landscape, use a baseline start point of ISO 400, at f/5.6 and 60 seconds. On the day on either side of the full moon, you need a 50% increase, so the 60 seconds will go up, to 90 seconds at f/5.6 at ISO 400.

Night Sky Photography: pro secrets for stunning moonlight landscapes | Digital Camera World

Campfire light is very bright up close, and gets dim rapidly as people move away from the fire. Here's an article you might find helpful for photographing the family around the campfire: How to Photograph the Perfect Campfire Scene | Pro Nature Photographer....

Take note that he's not above "assisting" ye olde camp fyre's lighting, by using electronic flash with a Rosco 3407 lighting gel, which is amber in color and close to the color temperature of the fire.