Night Photo tip

[SharonLowe]

Going to WDW to see the Osborne lights and MVMCP sans tripod (a short trip mostly about my DD, not photography), made me remember a good tip for handheld night photography when even your highest ISO and widest aperture still give pretty slow shutter speeds.

Set your camera to burst mode (or sports mode for some cameras - whatever allows you to take several images without taking your finger off the shutter button), aim and focus at your subject, then shoot a burst of at least 3 images, keeping the shutter release down. The 2nd or 3rd one will be your best and will likely be clearly focused enough for small prints. I did this for Osborne lights and it worked well.

Here is a 100 percent crop of the 1st of 3 images shot in burst mode. Straight out of camera; RAW, no sharpening or any other adjustments. ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/20 second:

2nd one (speed changed to 1/30 second while shooting)

3rd one:

 

[Code]

Good tip! I do the same whenever I know I'm relying heavily on image stabilization, it's a good way to stay at lower ISO where possible.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Great tip. I never really noticed that the later shots come out better. I often fire off a burst just to improve my odds of getting something not terrible.

I've also taken to setting my camera to do 5-shot bracketing. Then I switch it to high speed mode and fire off a burst of 5 quick shots. My hope is that with the shots being taken fast enough, I have a chance of pulling off a handheld HDR shot. I haven't tried that yet.

 

[Code]

I've also taken to setting my camera to do 5-shot bracketing. Then I switch it to high speed mode and fire off a burst of 5 quick shots. My hope is that with the shots being taken fast enough, I have a chance of pulling off a handheld HDR shot. I haven't tried that yet.

CS3 (maybe CS2 also, not sure) can align by content when creating an HDR. I've only done a few HDRs so far, and they were all handheld with align by content.. it works well (just wish my camera could bracket +/- 2 EV, it's limited to +/- 1 ).

 

[bostran1]

I can't wait to try this out too. Thanks

 

[DVC Jen]

Great tip.

 

[Amy]

Ooh, I'll have to remember this; our trip will be here soon! I have a Canon S3 IS and I seem to use Sports mode quite a bit with continuous shutter. I got some ok photos of the Osborne Lights 2 years ago with my old Canon A70, but the S3 is heavier (and thus harder to hold still), so I'm really curious what kind of shots I'll get this year.

 

[SharonLowe]

Ooh, I'll have to remember this; our trip will be here soon! I have a Canon S3 IS and I seem to use Sports mode quite a bit with continuous shutter. I got some ok photos of the Osborne Lights 2 years ago with my old Canon A70, but the S3 is heavier (and thus harder to hold still), so I'm really curious what kind of shots I'll get this year.

The S3 has image stabilization, so make sure it is on and use your highest ISO (or at least 400). Even with all the lights, it is still quite dark so you will need all the help you can get. Also, use both hands to hold it and use the viewfinder rather than the screen because holding the camera closer to your body will stabilize it even more. I laugh at all those people who hold their cameras at arm's length and then wonder why their photos are blurry.

It was a mob scene when we were there (first night so maybe worse than normal) so using a tripod would have been a nightmare in my opinion. I'll post some from our trip when I get a chance. It was quick since we were rushing to MVMCP. I could have spent all evening there exploring and taking photos!