night photography

As requested by rosa, I have copied the info I posted on the comp discussion pages and posted it here for future reference. I have also posted the photo here because it doesn't make much sense without it!

Kathy - turning the flash off can sometimes help, it depends on what your taking a photo of and if your using a tripod etc.
My photo is taken without a flash, I've set the ISO to 400 and the exposure time is 1.6 secs. I also used a tripod to stabilise the camera and as I can't use a remote shutter release cable, I used a 2 sec timer to avoid shaking the camera when i pressed the button.
The high ISO allows shorter exposure times which is helpful if your taking a photo of something that might move, like the birds in my photo. I did try the same photo on a 100 ISO but the exposure was then about 6 sec and the birds were blurred cos they were moving around!

i know not all cameras have as much manual control as mine, but a lot of even small digitals have some manual control. Most will have changable ISO, I wouldn't use higher than 400 because photo's start to get very grainy above that. Then look to see if you can change the settings to 'shutter' and if you can, experiment by taking several photos but increasing the shutter speed time. Your camera will need to be on a tripod/beanbag/support of some kind. If you try to do it hand held the photo will almost definatly be blurred unless you've got ultra steady hands!!

Its probably easiest to try all this in the comfort of your house, in a dark room until you get a hang of what your doing, its very frustrating when your fingers are going blue and the photo's just don't seem right.

Hope this helps, I find it hard to explain things in writing so if it doesn't make sense, tell me and i'll try again!!

 

thanks Glenw this will be a great help for future reference, not only for myself but other members that are unsure of night photography settings on our cameras, now all i have to do is find these settings on my cameras, thanks again much appreciated

 

Very well put Glen, I think even I understood what you were saying.

What I find hard to understand is how you managed to take the shot without distubing the birds, as you say< you had a couple of goes at it.

 

Rosa - no problem at all, glad I can be of help. Its great that this forum is full of people happy to have a go and also happy to ask "how'd you do that?" etc. Gardening was the reason I joined this forum (actually, it was only to ID a plant )and yet I've learnt so much about loads of other things, its great. The forum has helped me discover my passion for photography, for which I will be eternally grateful. Being able to help other people discover that passion is an added bonus.

Pete - the birds are obviously very used to humans coming and going, they are roosting in a tree in a 24 hour tesco car park. They have chosen the tree nearest the shop too, its obviously the warmest one! I was down there for about 20 mins and took loads of photo's, adjusting the settings etc. They weren't in the least bothered by me, even when I accidentally fired of the flash.

I think communal pied wagtail roosts are becoming more regular in cities, I've seen a few programmes on tv about them and also noticed a similar thing when i was in majorca at the end of last year.

I was just lucky that I had to pop to the shop the other night and noticed them and was even luckier still when Roders chose this months theme! :D

 

Its a very good pic Glen, I'm thinking of trying a few night shots myself now.
Just need a patient subject. :D

 

Thanks Pete, its much appreciated and if you want a trip to my local tesco's, i'll happily put you up for the night and show you the sights!! :D :D

 

Blimey, a night in Sheffield, and a trip to Tescos :D :D
No its a good pic. I presume there was some artificial light then?

 

by a night at tescos that sounds like fun :D :D

 

thats right, the tree was bang next to a lamp-post so the only problem I had was getting the focus. My camera isn't good at focusing in low light so I used the manual focus function to get it as sharp as I could. Glad you reminded me about that bit, its another point that rosa and kathy3 may need to bear in mind.

I have done a bit of night photography in the past, but only cityscape's and things like that. Its great how buildings etc that you see everyday can look so different at night.