Night Shots

[allsassy612]

Hi All! I am currently shooting with a Canon Rebel XSi DSLR. I am having trouble shooting at night or in darker settings. I do not have an external flash, just the cameras built in flash. Can someone please tell me how to get decent quality night shots? Do I need to get an external flash? (If so, suggestions would be appreciated). Is there a way to shoot night shots without using a tripod? Thanks in advance for your help!

[allsassy612]

P.S. Is there a way to get decent shots using just the camera's built in flash? Thanks!

[Raindown]

What are you taking pictures of at night?

[MassJester]

To get a decent night shot, you are going to need to use your bulb setting to allow for extended exposures (2 - 30 minutes). Because the exposure is so long, a tripod (or other anchoring device) is a must as is a remote shutter release.

I think the real trick is learning how long an exposure your particular scene requires. Exposures over 30 minutes are problematic as your battery likely won't last much longer than that, and you can't change batteries in the middle of a shot (not to mention the vibration associated with such a change would make a mess of the image).

[WDWFigment]

You definitely do not need to use bulb mode for night shots. You do need a tripod or high ISO, but most cameras can accommodate shutter speeds of up to 30" before going into bulb mode, and unless you're shooting star trails or some other 'specialty' type shot, you're not going to need bulb mode. For most pedestrian night shots, 5-10 seconds will be plenty.

[ssanders79]

What are you trying to shoot at night? If it includes people you might new to go with an external flash to combat thier slight movements. If you are going ffor landscapes or architecture then you will need a tripod to get sharp shots. A remote shutter release will make things even better.

Then depending on available light you might get away using fast glass.

[mom2rtk]

Hi All! I am currently shooting with a Canon Rebel XSi DSLR. I am having trouble shooting at night or in darker settings. I do not have an external flash, just the cameras built in flash. Can someone please tell me how to get decent quality night shots? Do I need to get an external flash? (If so, suggestions would be appreciated). Is there a way to shoot night shots without using a tripod? Thanks in advance for your help!

Can you post an example of what you have shot and what setting you use?

[Frantasmic]

To get GREAT night shots, I just leave the lens cap on. It's dark, no starlight in the way, and voila professional looking darkness!

Seriously, examples of your previous deficiencies would help.

Are you taking well-lit landscape shots in the dark, parade shots, people shots, action shots? All instances have potentially special circumstances you may need to follow (tripod, exposure, lens, flash, etc.)

[zackiedawg]

As others have said...night shots come in two primary flavors - shots in which you are trying to photograph people or movement or action at night...or shots in which you are trying to photograph scenics, landscapes, buildings, or other still scenes at night.

With the first example, you need to try to 'freeze' the action - your subject could move, so long exposures won't work, so the basic idea is to go with a fairly wide-open aperture (low F number)...usually easiest to attain in A (Av) priority mode, and then raising the ISO until you have a shutter speed of at least 1/50 to 1/100 or so. You might get by with slower shutters down to 1/15 or 1/30, if you tell your subject to try to remain still.

With the second example, the afformentioned tripod must come out (or at least find a nice level surface to put your camera down on), and then you use nice, long shutter speeds as needed to take a longer exposure and let the camera suck up all the light it needs. Night shots will vary widely on how much light is needed - a well-lit Disney pavilion at night for example might only need 5 seconds, while a quiet boat dock on a dark lake might need anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes. An easy way again is to use Av priority mode - set it where you want/need it for depth of field, then let the camera decide when it has received enough light to get the right exposure. Manual mode is best once you get the hang of it, but Av priority can help you start to understand how long of a shutter to use for different lighting and different aperture settings. As mentioned above, a remote shutter release is suggested so you don't touch the camera...or use the self-timer so you can press the shutter and get your hands off the camera before it triggers.

[MassJester]

I may have misunderstood the question, but as the OP mentioned having trouble achieving adequate illumination with a built in flash, I figured that the subject was not (well) illuminated in its own right.

There are plenty of circumstances besides star trails and arcane landscapes in which exposures exceeding 30" are required to get the job done.

This is an example of what I was thinking:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/devilineden/4960526117/in/pool-longexposure

[WDWFigment]

I may have misunderstood the question, but as the OP mentioned having trouble achieving adequate illumination with a built in flash, I figured that the subject was not (well) illuminated in its own right.

There are plenty of circumstances besides star trails and arcane landscapes in which exposures exceeding 30" are required to get the job done.

This is an example of what I was thinking:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/devilineden/4960526117/in/pool-longexposure

That person used an ND filter and an aperture of f/16 to force the camera to use a longer shutter speed. To me, this falls in the category of 'specialty' type shots.

This is a more advanced technique and, unless I'm really misinterpreting the sound of the OP's question, they're just trying to 'get into' night shooting. Given that the OP asks about shooting at night without a tripod, I assume they currently aren't using a tripod, and it isn't a question of especially dark settings, just about accomplishing standard night shots. In almost all situations, you can accomplish night shots without bulb mode.