Show me: your low-light *FLASHLESS* pictures

[dcg0317]

Last night's thunderstorm:

grim

Nice shots grimgrinnin, hope noone was under that tree.

 

[disneyfreakjackie]

Wow! I think you're the first person who 'caught' the Yeti this clearly. Every other photos I've seen of the Yeti have been blurry.

WOW! AGAIN!! This is terrific!! First pic I've seen of it!!! You GOOOO!!! I'd like to try for that pic but DH might FREAK if I pop the camera out on a roller coaster!!!

 

[extreme8]

I wouldn't recommend it. It was a bit unnerving trying to protect my Dslr while hurtling through the Himalayas
I couldn't use the viewfinder most of the time because I was afraid of giving myself a black eye or a whacking myself in the head and getting a concussion!
I have a few more pics from the ride, but I don't want to hijack the thread. I'll start another and post there.

Here it is
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1205567

 

[Mickey Fliers]

Does this count? This is inside a monument at Little Round Top in Gettysburg. Low light, no flash. Must qualify .

 

[Carolc]

Here are a few of mine.
Just got back and haven't had time to edit them (other than resizing)
Comments and suggestions are welcome.

lunch at Scifi

Your photos of Sci Fi are great!... how did you take them? I took the kids to eat there on Tuesday, and I felt embarrassed to run in front of our car long enough to get a picture of them with the point and shoot (I didn't even try with my DSLR). I noticed from your exif that this one was over 3 seconds. Where did you put it? Did you bring a tripod?

Thanks,
Carol

 

[extreme8]

I did take them with a tripod & remote shutter release. Just one of the little cheapie tabletop ones that fit in bottom of my backpack. I just setup the tripod on the fender of the car and clicked off a few.

I'm usually not comfortable making a big fuss when I take a picture but I really wanted this shot (I was inspired by a similar shot in another thread). I asked my waiter if it was OK and he said it was fine to take all the pictures we wanted and even offered to take some of us in our car.
After we got our picture taken I guess other folks relaxed enough to do the same because flashes started going off all over the place.

 

[makinorlando]

Your photos of Sci Fi are great!... how did you take them? I took the kids to eat there on Tuesday, and I felt embarrassed to run in front of our car long enough to get a picture of them with the point and shoot (I didn't even try with my DSLR). I noticed from your exif that this one was over 3 seconds. Where did you put it? Did you bring a tripod?

Thanks,
Carol

I agree the photo is great! I was admiring it as well!

 

[extreme8]

I agree the photo is great! I was admiring it as well!

Wow, I really appreicate all of the great comments.
As I mentioned before, I've been lurking here for a long time but never posted because I didn't feel that my work was good enough to stand along side what I was seeing here.
I guess you're always your own worst critic...

 

[toocooltobeMom]

DS(14) took this while dining @ Japanese Restaurant 8/18/06.
Used A Canon EOS XT With No Flash, Done Free Hand

 

[rer1972]

grim

That shot (as well as your others) is awesome!

 

[jtimmons]

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Starry Night

Sparkler

Sunrise in Pacific Grove

Sunset in the Mountains

 

[makinorlando]

More great photos!


Starry starry night is great! I was admiring Orion in the early morning sky when I was out with the dog and considered coming in for my camera but it was just too early and before my coffee!

 

[jann1033]

Starry Night

Sparkler

Sunrise in Pacific Grove

Sunset in the Mountains

beautifuly! mind spilling your guts about the shooting info?

 

[Carolc]

beautifuly! mind spilling your guts about the shooting info?

OMG... I agree!! MarkBarbieri - These are absolutely stunning shots! Please share some tips for us beginners!

Carol

 

[Carolc]

Wow, I really appreicate all of the great comments.
As I mentioned before, I've been lurking here for a long time but never posted because I didn't feel that my work was good enough to stand along side what I was seeing here.
I guess you're always your own worst critic...

Are you nuts?? You are your worst critic... Your photos are absolutely gorgeous!! You obviously have a good eye (and good equipment). By all means, please post more!!

...and if you have any 'unusual' Disney park shots, please post over on the other thread (link is in my signature).

Looking forward to seeing more...

Carol

 

[MarkBarbieri]

For the Starry Night photo, I put the camera on a tripod and used a remote shutter release. I used a high iso because this time I actually wanted noise in the shot. I inclued the trees in the photo for sense of perspective. The red/purple fringe at the top is a problem that early Canon DSLRs (this was a D60) had with extremely long exposures. In this case, I thought it added to the picture. The original was very muted and because I was trying for a weird sci-fi sky look, I oversaturated the colors.

I took a few shots at different exposure lengths. Shorter shots had fewer stars, but the stars were sharper. During the longer shots, the stars moved significantly. This was the best compromise.

I've also had fun with ultra-long exposure shots (several hours). In those cases the stars trace circular trails across the sky with the north star roughly at the center of the circles.

One interesting thing about the photo is that you can see a thin line running diagonally across the sky about two thirds of the way up through the photo. I pretty certain that this is the trail of a satellite going across the sky. If you camp in really desolate areas and have binoculars or really good eyes, you can sometimes see them wander across the sky.

The Sparkler photo was one of many taken of my kids and the neighbor kids taken on the 4th of July last year. Again, the camera is on a tripod. Looking at the EXIF data, I guess I did use a flash on this one (oops, sorry). I used Aperture priority mode, which on Canon SLRs fires the flash but keeps the shutter open for a while afterwards. That allowed me to show my son and the street with the flash and still have time for the sparkler to make its trail. The shot was 0.8 seconds at f4 with an ISO of 200 and a focual length of 40mm.

The Sunrise in Pacific Grove photo was taken in February in Pacific Grove, California. PG is a pretty little town between Monterey and Carmel on the Monterey Peninsula. That area is a photographer's paradise.

For the shot, I had the sun rising behind me (you can see the glow off of the windows of one of the buildings). It was a 2 second shot at f22 with an ISO of 100 and a focal length of 28mm. The 2 second shutter speed allowed the water to move enough to have a ghostly quality but still be recognizable. I have some other shots taken with longer speeds where the water looks like a spooky fog on the water.

The Sunset in the Mountains photo was taken up in the mountains of Estes Park, Colorado. The don't often get colorful sunsets there, so this was a treat. The original photo was pretty drab, so I made to major changes. First, I totally blacked out the lower part (even blacking over a few cabin lights). Second, I massively oversaturated the colors at the top. It makes the sunset look surreal. Some people like. Others have found it hideous. I like it, which is what matters to me.

For anyone bored enough to want to browse more photos from these occasions, you can see the Starry Night and Sunset in the Mountains pictures from my 2002 trip to Colorado at http://barbieri.smugmug.com/gallery/1630315. You can see the Fourth of July pictures from 2005 at http://barbieri.smugmug.com/gallery/639725. You can see my 2003 Monterey pictures at http://barbieri.smugmug.com/gallery/486530. My main smugmug site is http://barbieri.smugmug.com. I also have lots of photo slideshows at http://barbierifamily.org/slideshow.

I'd be happy to explain how (or why) I took any of the pictures, did the photo editing work, or created the slideshows. As my smugmug home page makes clear, I've got more equipment than talent. Still, I like my pictures and that's enough for me. I especially love my Erik's First Four Years slideshow and highly recommend making something similar for your kid's next birthday party.

 

[jann1033]

if you have more equipment than talent you must have semitruck loads of stuff cause sure don't think you lack talent

thanks so much... i might try these out next trip

 

[Carolc]

Thanks for taking the time to provide us with all this good information, Mark.

For Starry Night, you mentioned you experimented with different exposures... but how long was the exposure on this one? I really like it...

I agree with you... I like the sunset in the mountains. I can't imagine anyone thinking it is hideous. What do you use to edit your photos, Photoshop? I think I am the only person who does not own it.

I looked at your website quickly (you have a ton of great photos!). One 'search' word that caught my eye was 'accident'... what happened to your (son?)? Ow!

Thanks again,
Carol

 

[MarkBarbieri]

how long was the exposure on this one

I lost the EXIF on that one and don't recall. I think it was something like 4 or 8 minutes at F5.6 and ISO 1600.

what happened to your (son?)?

He had just learned to ride his bike without training wheels a few weeks before. For some reason, our usually cautious son decided to ride it down the one significant hill in our area. He didn't handle the transition from grass to concrete properly and wiped out on his face on the concrete. His helmet was barely scratched but his face had major road rash (as you could see). My wife got really scared when she got him into the car and he wanted to know how he got hurt because he couldn't remember anything about it.

On the positive side, it healed amazingly fast. Within about 10 days the only signs of the accident were a few extremely pale patches of skin. He doesn't seem to have suffered any lasting damage from the accident.