Night shot help

[Nicole786]

You guys have been really helpful with all my ameuter questions since buying my XSI so i'd like to ask another one!

Im leaving for disney soon and would like to know if its possible to take night shots without a tripod? I mostly shoot handheld in aperture priority or shutter priority mode, but what would you suggest as an aperture for a night shot? I haven't taken night shots yet because i'm not sure if it would be too accurate considering although its night, Disney offers a lot of lighting from the castle/spaceship earth etc. Any help is appreciative! I'm thinking of getting a gorillapod slr zoom but don't want to take it out for every little thing

 

[ukcatfan]

You guys have been really helpful with all my ameuter questions since buying my XSI so i'd like to ask another one!

Im leaving for disney soon and would like to know if its possible to take night shots without a tripod? I mostly shoot handheld in aperture priority or shutter priority mode, but what would you suggest as an aperture for a night shot? I haven't taken night shots yet because i'm not sure if it would be too accurate considering although its night, Disney offers a lot of lighting from the castle/spaceship earth etc. Any help is appreciative! I'm thinking of getting a gorillapod slr zoom but don't want to take it out for every little thing

You should get some sort of tripod.

 

[allie5]

I have a gorillapod and to be honest I dont find it very successfull for DSLR use. There are very few appropriate things to attach it to and when you do, its not the most steady of objects. You'll probably need a remote shutter release if you intend to use it.

For my upcoming trip Ive invested in a beanbag as last year I used trashcans a lot for support, but found it difficult to get angles right. Hopefully the beanbag will be usefull on nights I dont want to lug my tripod. The beanbag is light as a feather so easy to carry around. Might be worth a look. If your camera is rock still, then concentrate on Tv mode - if its crowded use long exposures so you dont see people in your finished shot.

If you want to try handheld, then stick on your fastest lens, set to the largest aperture you can, crank up the ISO as high as you dare, watch your focusing as you'll have a very narrow depth of field then hope for the best!!

 

[jfinke]

It is tough. I took the following shot handheld.

You can see the noise in the larger versions. Printed on 4x6 it looks fine. If I was doing it now, I would probably have had my niftyfifty in raw.

EDIT: Actually, now that I think about it, I may have braced it against a trashcan or something. I certainly did not have a beanbag or tripod however.

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
Exposure: 0.067 sec (1/15)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Exposure Bias: 0/2 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

 

[boBQuincy]

Depending on your lens the Gorilla-SLR-Zoom may be enough. The Xsi is light and the kit lens doesn't add much weight, that combo should be fine. For comparison, a 30D with 24-105 is pushing the limits for weight.

Canon's remote release RC-1 works well with the Xsi to eliminate any shake from touching the camera.

Try f/4 and ISO 400 to start, and check the histogram. If at all possible try to shoot bracketed exposures for HDR, it works great for night photos.
This one was taken at 1/3s, f/4, ISO 400, -2 exposure compensation, using the railing for support:

 

[Nicole786]

Thanks for the tips everyone!! I think im gonna try out The Pod, im in the process of looking up some reviews!

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

We have the Xti and use both a Gorillapod and regular tripod ... the Gorillapod is much easier to tote around the parks. As others have said the Gorillapod isn't the steadiest but it does work better than hand held if you can steady it relatively well. I also agree about purchasing a remote shutter.

Here are a couple pics taken using the remote shutter and Gorillapod, all at 100 ISO ...

Bonny