Taking Carnival Pictures

[HailttRedskins]

As long as the weather holds up I plan on going to the local carnival down the street tonight to take some pictures.

I'll be using the Rebel XTi I received along with a tripod. I'm not to sure what to set the settings to considering it's more so a trial and error type deal I believe.

However I did read a tip page on how to take fireworks and was wondering if it would be smart to base it off of that.

Here's the page I looked at:

http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/how-to-photograph-fireworks/

If you have any tips or pages that would be helpful that'd be great.

Thanks :mrgreen:

 

[JerryPH]

No.
Taking pictures of fireworks is completely different from taking carnival pics.

First, are you inside or outside? If outside in sunny conditions, it is a lot easier. If inside, do a search on how to take ipictures in dark environments. Tripods at a carnival are not going to be your friend, especially if you are going to be inside (where room is an issue). In many cases, flash is not permitted or desired. Fast glass, high ISO and proper composition will yield you good results.

 

[HailttRedskins]

No.
Taking pictures of fireworks is completely different from taking carnival pics.

First, are you inside or outside? If outside in sunny conditions, it is a lot easier. If inside, do a search on how to take ipictures in dark environments. Tripods at a carnival are not going to be your friend, especially if you are going to be inside.

Kinda silly to ask, but why would I be inside at a carnival

I'll be there at night, I don't think day pictures of a carnival would do much for the eye.

And how would a tripod not be your friend at a carnival, a simple shake would cause a blur wouldn't it?

 

[SanctuS]

I think he means that handling a tripod with a crowd wouldn't be easy, especially indoors. If you are taking pictures at night, you are going to want fast glass (small f-stop number). This will help you use the fastest possible shutter speed to minimize blur.

 

[someguy5]

Here's the page I looked at:

http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/how-to-photograph-fireworks/

If you have any tips or pages that would be helpful that'd be great.

Thanks :mrgreen:

That page seems to give you a good number of tips on the subject.

A tripod WILL be your enemy if you are in a crowded area and people are bumping into you and/or getting in the way of your camera while your shutter is open.

 

[JerryPH]

The board froze on me before I could finish my post, for some reason.

Carnivals are held inside as well as outside. Ever hear of the Big Top? lol

The biggest friend to you will likely be high ISO and a fast lens... your second best friend is likely noise reduction software. A monopod could be helpful along with good technique.

 

[HailttRedskins]

Hahaha that's my fault Jerry, around here we only get the outdoor kind, none of the indoor stuff with Animals, hell, that last time I went to one of those I must have been 10, and I'm 20 now.

I plan on taking some distant shots which would be where I would be using the tripod at.

I do have a monopod too, would that be good for being around the people?

I have programs which can help me fix just about everything I want done so I should be good there.

I always thought it was better to shoot at a lower ISO at night, but I'm still a newbie, what's the difference exactly.

 

[JerryPH]

Higher ISO increases the camera's sensitivity to light and lets you raise shutter speed so not every picture is blurred (a fast lens lets you do this too). You can save a noisy pic, but a blurry pic is blurred for life.

A tripod is a little dangerous in a place where there are lots of people around (easy to trip over, pulling your camera to the ground, and often causing someone to fall)... but a monopod is a good alternative... mind you it still requires good techinique to get the most from it.

My carnival pics were all hand held.