Night Light Photography

[emily16]

Hi all,

I went out last night to photograph the christmas lights in my local town, but on review a lot of the photos are blurry but on the lights, not the actual photo. But if the whole photo is darker then the lights are focused. I switched between AF and MF but didnt appear to make a difference and used Av Tv M and A-Dep just to try and get a decent shot but dont really know the best setting to use, on a whole i think A-Dep worked the best.

So what im really asking is what settings should I use? And why is it when the photo is darker the lights come out fine, but when the photo is lighter they are blurry/milky?


Thanks

[GeoffWessex]

Originally Posted by emily16

Hi all,
And why is it when the photo is darker the lights come out fine, but when the photo is lighter they are blurry/milky?

On the darker photographs, you must have had a much faster shutter speed - freezing the lights. On the lighter ones, you must have had a slower shutter speed - and any movement of either the camera or the lights themselves would cause blurring.

[emily16]

Oh ok thanks, is it still possible to get movement with a tripod and remote shutter?

[silversnapper1]

If you have the camera mounted on a tripod you should switch IS off on your lens as this can cause camera shake too.

Steve.

[emily16]

Oh yes thank you i have read that before but forgot, so thank you!!

When i have it on Av in the dark it has a long shutter speed but i cant seem to change it so is this mode best avoided in dark or is there a way around it other than increasing ISO?

[riddell]

3 choices. All with a compromise

1. Go with a wider apature
2. Go with a higher ISO
3. Mount the camera on a tripod.

Paul.
www.photographybyriddell.co.uk

[amk1977]

Originally Posted by emily16

Oh ok thanks, is it still possible to get movement with a tripod and remote shutter?

Hi Emily,

Mounted on a tripod, you eliminate the movement which would otherwise be caused by hand holding the camera. This will mean you can generally use much lower shutter speeds and get better/correctly exposed images without motion blur.

Of course, if the subject is moving or is moved while the shutter is open, you will get blurred images as a result. Lights on a christmas tree blown by the wind is an example. You can still get a bit of vibration, caused by mirror slap, so using a shutter delay is advisable when mounted on the tripod. Turning the IS off as Steve mentioned is another good tip.

Using a wide aperture will allow in more light but wll decrease the sharpness of the photo as well as limiting the depth of field, which may not be desirable in all cases. Raising the ISO up will make the sensor more sensitive and allow you to use a faster shutter speed, thereby helping to eliminate the blur. The downside to increasing ISO sensitivty is the increase in noise that goes with it. This can be corrected to a large degree in post processing but, is not always completely removed. Mounting the camera on a tripod is the best bet for image quality. The only drawback is having to hump the tripod about and limitations of positioning the camera.

[cosmicma]

your best bet would be to take a couple or three images at different exposures ( under , normal , and over exposure ) and merge them together in some hdr software
obviousy using a trpod and remote shutter release so all exposures are of the same scene with no movement

i would stick to the same apeture , iso ( 100 iso would be best ) and focal lengh and just vary the shutter speed

worth a try....

[walter-m]

emily
you could also try to lock up your mirror for any vibratetion even on a trypod, this may also help.

good luck.