Please help with taking night pictures

[disnut1149]

Hi
I'm leaving for DW on Sunday and I'd like to take pictures of the Osborne lights. I'm not sure how to get the best night pictures. I've taken some before of Spectromagic and some of the lights turned out as streaks. They look like comets flashing across the sky. I set it on night, but am I doing something wrong? My camera is the CX 7430 Kodak Easy Share, 4 mega pixels. I've had it for about a year and I'm still not really good with it. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[ukcatfan]

If your camera has manual settings, try tose. On night mode, the shutter speed was set too long and you moving the camera causes the streaks. If possible set the aperture to the most open setting (i.e. the lowest number ~ f/2.8 or so) ans also set to the highest ISO setting that you can tollerate. Higher ISOs cause more noise. Try experimenting before you go.

Kevin

 

[BorisMD]

The other thing that is essential for night shots is some way to hold the camera still. The most common way to do this is with a tripod. The problem with tripods is that you have to carry them around. They are rather large and bulky.

Some things you can try include a small tripod, or just set the camera on a stable object (trash can, ledge, etc.). Then use the timer to trigger the shutter. That way, you don't shake the camera by pushing the shutter release.

Also, some of the "night" modes on point and shoot cameras will fire the flash, to give light to somebody in the foreground, yet keep the shutter open a little longer to get the background. You might want to check the owner's manual about this. If you don't have the manual, you can often find the info on the manufacturer's website.

I agree with the practice at home advice. It's good to know what you're doing before you need to rely on your equipment on vacation.

Post back if any questions.

Boris

 

[disnut1149]

Thanks for you help. I'll try your suggestions.

 

[ukcatfan]

The other thing that is essential for night shots is some way to hold the camera still.

Last year, I was able to get some reasonably sharp handheld pics of the Osborne lights. My camera did have IS though and I am sure that helped. With all the people that are usually in the streets for the lights, you would probably get some nasty looks for setting up a tripod. The trash can, ledge, etc. idea is a very good one for that situation. Bracing against a lamp post or wall can also help, but be careful to not press the shutter to hard and move the camera.

Here are a few of them.

Kevin

 

[disnut1149]

Kevin
Your pictures are beautiful. I'd love to be able to get some pictures like that!!
I've taken pictures at night before, but they don't always turn out that good.
Thanks. Joan

 

[Groucho]

Spectromagic is going to be extremely difficult for any PnS and pretty tricky for DSLRs as well (unless equipped with a very fast lens.) The problem is that the movement of the floats means that you need to have a fast shutter speed in order to not get blurring. You don't want to use a flash if you can avoid it as things just won't look right - first off, your flash probably won't have enough power to light up the subject properly, and even if it does, you'll have a bright area in the middle (probably showing unflattering things like the harnesses used to keep the cast members from falling off) and a bunch of darkness in the background, with maybe some redeyes looking back.

So, to make the shot work, you're going to need to have a low aperture and a high ISO level. On a PnS, the low apertures still aren't that low, and the high ISO levels will almost certainly result in terrible noise.

You should be able to do OK taking night photos of things like the Osborne Lights, though, using a tripod, because they're not moving. You'll probably want manual mode (but try night mode first), set the aperture low (but you may want one higher than the lowest, you'll probably get a sharper photo that way) and the ISO to a pretty low level. If you can, set the shutter to wait two seconds or so after pressing to actually take the photo. Get your tripod set (a minitripod will do fine for a PnS), hit the shutter, and wait while it takes a long photo. The results should hopefully be worth the wait!

 

[manning]

Last year, I was able to get some reasonably sharp handheld pics of the Osborne lights. My camera did have IS though and I am sure that helped. With all the people that are usually in the streets for the lights, you would probably get some nasty looks for setting up a tripod. The trash can, ledge, etc. idea is a very good one for that situation. Bracing against a lamp post or wall can also help, but be careful to not press the shutter to hard and move the camera.

Kevin

Use the shutter timer on the camera to eliminate any shake resulting from pressing the shutter release. You can use 2 sec. but I use 10 to be sure there isn't any shake.