Photos of Las Vegas at Night

[FergieTCat]

I'm taking my S2 to Las Vegas in two weeks (wahooo!!) Can someone tell me the settings to use for taking pictures of the lights on the strip? I'd read the manual, but I figured you guys would have experimented by now.

 

[salmoneous]

Step 1: get a tripod.

For what it's worth, the best panoramic shots of the strip I've seen were taken from the upper levels of the Palms parking garage.

 

[FergieTCat]

When I first got the camera, I had it in New York City one evening. I experimented with taking pictures of building lights, and discovered it worked better when I manually played with the shutter, rather than automatic. I got a really nice shot of black buildings against a dark blue sky at dusk, and I believe I had it set manually at about 1/30 (don't know the f stop).

If I make it to the Palms, I'll keep your advice in mind.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

If you don't use a tripod

1. Set at the widest angle
2. Set ISO to 200
3. Set IS on
4. Go to Tv mode (shutter priority) and set to 1/30 sec or 1/15 sec (if you have steady hands)
5. Snap away

PS: you won't be able to do 1/15 sec if you're not using IS.

If you use a tripod:

1. Set at the widest angle
2. Set ISO to the lowest setting (ISO 80?)
3. Set IS on
4. Go to Tv mode (shutter priority) and set to 1sec
5. Snap away using Timer Shutter Release so your finger vibration (when pressing the button) doesn't get transferred to the camera body when the shutter is snapping the pic.

 

[handicap18]

Definately get a tripod. I used one about 10 years ago with my old Nikon N6006 and got some good ones. I hung out around the bridge that crosses the strip from MGM to New York New York and got some nice ones of Excalibur. Then went across the street to the Excalibur and took some of the MGM (New York New York wasn't quite finished then). One of these days I'll get the scanner hooked back up and scan some of those. Long shutter speed is definately key. I usually do it for a few seconds in shutter priority.

 

[BVC4us]

Kelly, you seem so knowledgeable. I think your pictures are amazing. I really appreciate the advice you give to people. I just bought a rebel xt and am trying to learn what's best for inside shots and best for outside shots. If I want to take sunny day outdoor shots should I just put it on auto mode or should I try something else. Sometimes the auto shots seem to come out a little dark. Thank you for any advice, I really appreciate it.

 

[Stephanie218]

This is really helpful as I'm leaving for Vegas next weekend - thanks everyone!

 

[Kelly Grannell]

Kelly, you seem so knowledgeable. I think your pictures are amazing. I really appreciate the advice you give to people. I just bought a rebel xt and am trying to learn what's best for inside shots and best for outside shots. If I want to take sunny day outdoor shots should I just put it on auto mode or should I try something else. Sometimes the auto shots seem to come out a little dark. Thank you for any advice, I really appreciate it.

When I'm really really lazy (this happens a lot during vacation ), I just use P mode so I only have to choose ISO (in this case the lowest ISO possible) and the focus point (I tend to use centre-focus, half-press the shutter to focus, while holding the shutter button half-way then recompose the picture). This is my "auto" mode, so yeah, especially outdoor, just use "auto" mode. The camera tend to make it darker (slightly underexposed) in order to play it safe and not have any overexposed area.

A note, it's better to underexpose because you can fix the exposure later, but if you've overexposed, in virtually all cases, you can't fix the overexposed area anymore.

 

[BVC4us]

Thanks Kelly, I'm going to "practice" this weekend. Hopefully, we'll get some snow so i can try snow pics too.

 

[figment97]

Kelly... oh knowledgable one. Is the lowest ISO number always good? When would you want to bump it up to 400?

Stupid question from a beginner I know... but thanks for the help.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

The lower the ISO, the less sensitive it is to light but also it will yield the least amount of noise. The higher the ISO, the reverse would be true.

If you're taking a pic of a person at night time in a restaurant (for example) and use the lowest ISO setting, you'll get the person's face but not the background (unless you use slow shutter speed, tripod, but that's a whole 'nother issue that we won't deal here). If you use ISO400, you'll get the person's face and some of the background.

You will get higher ISO noise, but you can always clean the noise with an applications such as Noiseware, Noise Ninja etc.

Just try it out tonight at home. Make the background a'la a restaurant, or even take an outdoor pic with lots of city lights in the background. Take a pic with low ISO and then take another one with high ISO, you'll be surprised with the difference.

 

[Greg K.]

The lower the ISO, the less sensitive it is to light but also it will yield the least amount of noise. The higher the ISO, the reverse would be true.

If you're taking a pic of a person at night time in a restaurant (for example) and use the lowest ISO setting, you'll get the person's face but not the background (unless you use slow shutter speed, tripod, but that's a whole 'nother issue that we won't deal here). If you use ISO400, you'll get the person's face and some of the background.

You will get higher ISO noise, but you can always clean the noise with an applications such as Noiseware, Noise Ninja etc.

Just try it out tonight at home. Make the background a'la a restaurant, or even take an outdoor pic with lots of city lights in the background. Take a pic with low ISO and then take another one with high ISO, you'll be surprised with the difference.

I assume you mean without a flash???

 

[Kelly Grannell]

With flash if you're taking pic of a person with night-time background. No flash if there is nothing in the foreground.

 

[ducklite]

Actually a great place to take photo's at night in Las Vegas is the patio of the bar on the top floor of the Rio. It's just off the mid-strip, and you can get a panarama of all the strip hotels from one end to the other.

Anne