Advice from Night Shot Experts

[bdtracey]

If we adjust the settings until the meter reads zero won't that give the exact same exposure as Aperture, Shutter, Program, and even Auto?

Also, if you're shooting fireworks (as stated previously) you won't be able to automatically meter prior to the firework burst anyways.

I'm no pro but I'm thinking prior to Wishes I'll go full manual and make sure that I can get a decent shot of the castle at ~ 4 sec shutter speed and play with the aperature. ISO 400 max...hopefully shoot 200. Once I get this dialed in I can bump up my aperature if fireworks start to over expose. Thoughts?

 

[boBQuincy]

Also, if you're shooting fireworks (as stated previously) you won't be able to automatically meter prior to the firework burst anyways.

I'm no pro but I'm thinking prior to Wishes I'll go full manual and make sure that I can get a decent shot of the castle at ~ 4 sec shutter speed and play with the aperature. ISO 400 max...hopefully shoot 200. Once I get this dialed in I can bump up my aperature if fireworks start to over expose. Thoughts?

This was taken at ISO 100, f/16, 3 seconds (Canon Rebel Xsi, 24-105 lens @ 24mm). That is probably a good starting place.

 

[Groucho]

I use Aperture Priority with the ISO manually set to a low value (100-200.) I'm not sure how you can know the settings for manual ahead of time consistently; there is more variation of brightness for night shots than there is for daytime shots. Ie, the castle is pretty bright but if you want to get a shot down a back alley at AK or of an attraction facade like PotC or HM, you will need a much longer exposure.

I will sometimes use exposure compensation, or if I will be taking a bunch of nights shots in a row, I will sometimes switch over to manual mode and "green button" first (the camera will set the correct exposure) and then modify it from there. Really, though, most of the time, I find Av and maybe some EC (or switching to spot metering) does a good job and is the easiest/fastest.

 

[DebºoºS]

I agree with this. Manual and bulb mode (and manual focus) is a must for fireworks. That's another situation where you simply can't meter. You have to know what works. If you use aperture priority or shutter priority, you'll undoubtedly come back with a lot of blown out fireworks shots.

Ditto for fireworks.
I use Ap after dark. I don't have time to think too much about what I'm doing and certainly no time to chimp. There's usually someone either walking ahead or standing waiting for me to finish. Not complaining just the way it is. Now, if I'm wandering around after dark during EMH alone I'll take some in Ap then switch to manual and play around.

 

[Gdad]

Good advice here. For regular tripod night shots I usually just use aperture priority around f/8 or so, the lowest ISO (auto-iso turned off) and a remote release or timer. The only time I would use full manual is if I'm shooting in bulb mode for something special- like fireworks, star trails, light painting, etc. For fireworks I usually do a few 5-6 count test exposures and tweak the settings to make sure I will get a decent exposure on the castle.

 

[GrillMouster]

If we adjust the settings until the meter reads zero won't that give the exact same exposure as Aperture, Shutter, Program, and even Auto?

Yes, that's the point I was trying to make. If you want to achieve the same exposure as Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Program or Auto, you can do it by "zeroing" the scale in Manual, rather than setting the dial to Aperture, taking a shot, checking the metadata for that shot, memorizing the settings for that shot, setting the dial to Manual, setting apperture & shutter to equal that of the image you just took in Aperture Priority mode. None of this is to say that the camera's meter is correct.

 

[Groucho]

Good advice here. For regular tripod night shots I usually just use aperture priority around f/8 or so, the lowest ISO (auto-iso turned off) and a remote release or timer.

The one thing I'd add to that is... I was doing the same thing then realized, I don't want all my daytime photos to have huge DoF, why would I want all my night photos to? For most of my night shots, I do still use a small aperture, but not always.

Example: here's one that's F2.4, ISO 200, 3-sec, taken in Av with +1.5 EC. I like the way the short DoF makes the walkway look almost glassy, more so than if it was in sharp focus.

Low DoF nighttime Disney shots are ones that I don't think we see very often... I will probably be trying to come up with a few good ones next trip.

 

[zackiedawg]

The one thing I'd add to that is... I was doing the same thing then realized, I don't want all my daytime photos to have huge DoF, why would I want all my night photos to? For most of my night shots, I do still use a small aperture, but not always.

Example: here's one that's F2.4, ISO 200, 3-sec, taken in Av with +1.5 EC. I like the way the short DoF makes the walkway look almost glassy, more so than if it was in sharp focus. Low DoF nighttime Disney shots are ones that I don't think we see very often... I will probably be trying to come up with a few good ones next trip.

Agreed...I like your example too. I actually love shallow DOF night shots, though I rarely remember to use them with slow shutters too, like you've done. I love two totally different types of night shots, both of which I like to take - the slow shutter low-ISO stuff with the deep DOF and all that lovely saturated plastic look that we all love...and the normal shutter, handheld, high-ISO, shallow DOF stuff that far fewer people shoot or like. I can't explain why - I just thoroughly enjoy the different look the high ISO handhelds give - like a normal street candid, portrait, or detail shot you'd take during the day, except you had to crank up the ISO and throw the aperture wide open to get enough light to pull it off. Skies remain black and night-like, focus is super narrow, a little grain for texture, colors are suitably desaturated which gives a more urban, natural light feel...it's just a totally different type of photography. And of course, being free of the tripod and just wandering around looking for shots like you would on any afternoon has a certain liberating air to it.

Of course, I'm also regularly out there with the tripod and cable release shooting slow shutter low ISO night shots too - because I do love them.

I just need to remember to occasionally try the wide open apertures AND the slow shutter!

 

[Gdad]

The one thing I'd add to that is... I was doing the same thing then realized, I don't want all my daytime photos to have huge DoF, why would I want all my night photos to? For most of my night shots, I do still use a small aperture, but not always.

Example: here's one that's F2.4, ISO 200, 3-sec, taken in Av with +1.5 EC. I like the way the short DoF makes the walkway look almost glassy, more so than if it was in sharp focus.

Low DoF nighttime Disney shots are ones that I don't think we see very often... I will probably be trying to come up with a few good ones next trip.

This is a good point- I think it's actually harder to get a sharp 1/2 to 1 second exposure on the tripod than say a 10 or 20 second exposure because things like the vibration caused by the mirror become more significant. I was fooling around with dark sky shots with relatively short exposure- wide open- high ISO- and found it quite difficult to get the results I wanted.

 

[NostalgicDad]

For night shots, I shoot in full manual almost exclusively. I also like to keep the aperture around f/11 in general when there are a lot of light sources in the shot. I like the crispness as well as the starburst effect that it creates for the most part. That changes though when conditions warrant. And, like Groucho mentioned, we don't see a lot of night shots on here using a wide aperture. My last trip to DL, I sort of had the realization that I need to do more of that type of shooting. Here are a couple with that in mind.....


70mm
f/2.8
1.4 seconds
ISO 200

140mm
f/4
1 second
ISO 200

 

[Groucho]

Justin, can't say I completely disagree, film-like grain can be a nice thing even though it's a dirty word nowadays. Who knows, maybe once everyone can get superclean high ISO images, people will come back to liking noise/grain... just like people liked shallow DoF again after large DoF became easy.

Danny, nice shots as always - I like that you didn't overbrighten the statue in post-processing. It's nice as an almost-silhouette. I also agree about the starburst, especially on a lens with an odd number of aperture blades (creates double the lines, as I understand it - gotta love the 9-blade lenses!)

This is a good point- I think it's actually harder to get a sharp 1/2 to 1 second exposure on the tripod than say a 10 or 20 second exposure because things like the vibration caused by the mirror become more significant. I was fooling around with dark sky shots with relatively short exposure- wide open- high ISO- and found it quite difficult to get the results I wanted.

Well, if using a tripod (or even if not), that's a good reason to use the 2-second shutter delay. On mine, and I assume on most/all DSLRs, it brings up the mirror immediately, giving the camera a couple seconds to "settle down" without mirror slap affecting the actual imagetaking. When running around at night at Disney taking tripod photos, I usually use the 2-second delay, partly because of that and partly because it's hard enough to carry around an extended tripod without also having the remote shutter release danging off the side of the camera!

 

[GrillMouster]

...I think it's actually harder to get a sharp 1/2 to 1 second exposure on the tripod than say a 10 or 20 second exposure because things like the vibration caused by the mirror become more significant...

True dat. I sometimes use mirror lock-up mode with a release cable. Also, this is where a good tripod is worth its weight in gold (and that's just about what I paid for it).

 

[pxlbarrel]

That is what was so sad as well. I knew better. I was trying to get some shots of the MK from the top of BLT. ( Yes the view is amazing) and thought I would see what the camera picked up. It is smart right?!!. Then these kids show up and I am scared of my tripod set up because the parents were clueless!

Once wishes had started to reset my camera to manual and bulb, I was done at that point.!

Ok, getting a brain freeze here....what is BLT? (I know you can't be taking photos on top of a sandwich... )

 

[Ashmanarion]

BLT is Bay Lake Towers, the new Disney Vacation Club property beside the Contemporary Resort. It is open to non-DVC as well though apparently. At least, that's a what an operator told me at Disney a few weeks ago.

 

[YesDear]

Anyone can pay cash for a room at the BLT just like any DVC location if there is availability. That means that members are not using it. You have to be a DVC owner at BLT to gain access to the lounge at the top however. Just staying there is not enough.

As an example the two bedroom unit on the MK side rents for about $750 a night.

While the building looks big, there are only 280 units there. Once it is sold out, the availability for a cash reservation is predicted to be tough to get!

 

[Pegasus928]

Hi

Hope you don't mind me jumping over from the UK section but I asked a question over there and was sent this way.
We are returing to WDW in October and I am really looking forward to getting some good shots of the fireworks this time - as every other time they have really let........ - no rephrase that - I have really let the side down.
I have read some great advice on this thread up to now, so am really looking forward to getting home and grabbing the camera to start taking a few practise shots at night.
One question of my own though. How do you go about getting decent shots of Spectromagic - or the Halloween parade. I would assume that the same rules don't apply due to the fact that the floats are constantly moving

 

[Groucho]

Anyone can pay cash for a room at the BLT just like any DVC location if there is availability. That means that members are not using it. You have to be a DVC owner at BLT to gain access to the lounge at the top however. Just staying there is not enough.

As an example the two bedroom unit on the MK side rents for about $750 a night.

While the building looks big, there are only 280 units there. Once it is sold out, the availability for a cash reservation is predicted to be tough to get!

It's more like 295 two-bedroom-equivalent rooms - I believe it's more like 428 rooms total. Most two-bedroom-equivalent rooms are actually a one bedroom and a studio that can be rented individually, and then there's the grand villas. Since the rooms can be configured either way, it's hard to have an actual total room count since it varies from night to night.

I'm sure it will be tough to get into but not impossible - Beach Club used to be nearly impossible and it was one of the spots that still had available for our upcoming trip. I think (IIRC) there were a few BLT rooms available but not for the whole length of our stay.

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Hi

Hope you don't mind me jumping over from the UK section but I asked a question over there and was sent this way.
We are returing to WDW in October and I am really looking forward to getting some good shots of the fireworks this time - as every other time they have really let........ - no rephrase that - I have really let the side down.
I have read some great advice on this thread up to now, so am really looking forward to getting home and grabbing the camera to start taking a few practice shots at night.
One question of my own though. How do you go about getting decent shots of Spectromagic - or the Halloween parade. I would assume that the same rules don't apply due to the fact that the floats are constantly moving

You might want to check out How to shoot SpectroMagic. It as a lot of good information. Unfortunately it is not just technique but having the correct equipment.