Taking photos at night -- help!!

[123SA]

I have a Pentax *ist DL with a sigma 18-125 lens (I think). I haven't figured out how to do anything manually so I strictly use the auto functions.

On my December Disney trip, I had a really hard time taking photos at night. I was trying to take photos of the kids with characters. It seemed to work randomly. After a few failed attempts and aggravated people waiting in line, I switched to my old point and shoot digital camera for this type of photo.

Any idea what I was doing wrong? One specific case that comes to mind -- we were meeting TweedleDee and TweedleDum by the Teacups around 8pm -- it was fully dark. The camera focused but it just wouldn't take the photo. I wasn't standing particularly far away from the subjects. I usually zoom in so that the character and child fill the frame.

I appreciate your help.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I have a Pentax *ist DL

I don't know anything about the *ist, so I'll just speculate based on the Canon DSLR's that I've had.

It sounds like you couldn't get a focus lock. On the Canon's, there are two autofocus modes. One is for non-moving subjects and requires a focus lock before taking the picture. The other is moving subjects and will shoot when you tell it regardless of whether focus lock has been achieved.

If you can't get focus lock, you have a few options. First, try focusing on a contrasty part of the picture. It is much easier for the camera to focus on something that has sharp divisions between light and dark areas. It is very hard to focus on something that is a single color and brightness.

Another option is some form of autofocus assist light. Some cameras have these built in. For others, using an external flash will often add this feature. On my flash, the autofocus assist is a bunch of red vertical and horizontal lines. They really help with the focus.

One other option is to turn off autofocus and go manual. Canon cameras have a switch on the lens that allows you to do this.

I wasn't standing particularly far away from the subjects. I usually zoom in so that the character and child fill the frame.

It's possible, although unlikely in this case, that you were inside the close focus distance of your lens. The happens to me occasionally with my telephoto lens. It can only focus to about 5 feet away and occassionally I try to shoot something too close and it can't get focus.

After a few failed attempts and aggravated people waiting in line,

I always try to shoot people ahead of me in line. That gives me a chance to figure out how I want to set up the shot, check the histogram for exposure surprises, make sure I have everything adjusted the way I'd like, etc. I just delete the shots later. You get some strange looks when you take pictures of strangers, but I've caught some stupid mistakes on trash shots rather than the important shots.

 

[ukcatfan]

I don't have the *ist or that lens, but I do have a K100D, so I might be able to help. I believe that Mark hit it right on that you were not able to get a focus lock. Also, it sounds like you were using full auto. You might want to start messing with the other more manual settings to get a good feel for the camera. You also could have switched to manual focus, b/c it does not require a lock to take the shot.

For these night character shots, you might want to consider a tripod if you want to capture the background. The flash will get the subject, but it typically uses a shutter speed to quick to get the background. By manually increasing the length of the shutter, it can then get the background. The problem is that if it is handheld you will probably blur everything.

Kevin