Evening and night pictures

[wendyjrichards]

I have a Canon SX30i and am visiting the Tiverton Balloon festival this weekend and want perfect pictures as in the evening all the balloons are inflated and launched to music and I want to know the right settings for this type of photography - I want to catch the lights and the beautiful array of colours etc.
Any help would be appreciated as do not just want to rely on "Auto" settings but want to experiment as well.

Thanks

Wendy

[GeoffWessex]

Down to basics, your camera (all cameras) will try to give an exposure that gives a middle grey (or color).... so a 'straight' picture of a field of snow or a dark black night would both be grey. So you need to think about what part of a scene should be midtone, or the 'middle exposure'. I would suspect in this case it's not the direct view of the flame from the burners but somewhere inside the balloon, near the bottom. That is what should be measured by your camera's meter.

I don't know the Scene Modes of your camera but I'd think one of them might bring you close to a good exposure.

Otherwise...... your camera has an 'exposure lock' (or AE lock) - so the camera would then be pointed at that area (with as narrow an exposure mode as possible, like 'spot'), then you'd press and hold the AE Lock, recompose your shot and then press the shutter release. If that's successful, take note of the Aperture and Shutter speed it used.... you could then, with the use of Exposure Compensation, get that same setting from the subsequent pictures without the AE Lock technique. If the correct setting cannot be achieved with Exposure Compensation (quite possible, as your camera will only handle +/- 2 stops), you might like to switch to manual to get the successful setting back.

Even with a correct exposure, I suspect that the shutter speed may be quite slow.... in which case I'd recommend using a tripod rather than raising the ISO - all that night sky can appear very 'noisy' with a small camera sensor with higher ISO.

[ianpinion]

As Geoff has already suggested, it's very difficult to tell somebody what settings to use for a scenario like this, because unless you're actually there it's impossible to know what the light conditions are going to be like to be able to make any assessment.

As far as your ISO settings go, I would use 100 if it's bright, 200 if it's hazy sunshine or 400 if it's overcast or a bit dim. Like Geoff I would assess the scene and look for the midtones between the highlights and shadows. If most of the scene was of a midtone you'd be okay to use the camera's normal evaluative metering, but if less than 50% of the scene is midtone you will need to use spot metering and aim it at a section of midtone, take a reading or lock the exposure and then recompose to take your shot.

The other thing to assess is how much movement is there in your scene. If everything is pretty static then use Aperture Priority at about f/5 - f/6.3, but if there is movement put the camera into Shutter Priority set between say 1/60th and 1/125th of a second for starters. Take some test shots first using these settings, have a look to see if they're okay, if not adjust accordingly and take some more test shots until they're correctly exposed.

Enjoy the spectacle and we look forward to seeing the results sometime next week. Best of luck!

[GeoffWessex]

Ian,
I think the part of the ballooning event that Wendy is referring to usually happens just after dusk, so light levels are low and the brightest part would be the flame from the gas burners, so I'd think the midtone would be somewhere above that, inside the balloon itself. There generally isn't much movement in the scene - so as long as you've got about 1/125th or faster it should be fine. I'd definitely want to avoid a high ISO (the camera in question has a quite small sensor and is bound to be noisy in the blank or dark sky areas of the shot). So I'd go for the tripod as much as I could. That's the great thing about digital..... you can keep shooting and make corrections as you go - this would be very 'hit and miss' with film.

[ianpinion]

Geoff,

If it is at dusk, then the light levels are going to be very low aren't they, but in the original description there's nothing to suggest whether it's early evening or late evening. Unless you're familiar with the event, how is one to know? I agree with you about keeping the ISO low, hence why I suggest going to 400 max! This may mean though that the shutter will be open for more like a second or two, so any movement as the balloons take off will be blurred and you'll definitely need a tripod, Wendy.

I think we can agree on one thing though Geoff and that would be that be to keep aperture fairly wide, use spot metering and take some test shots first to get your settings just right.

[GeoffWessex]

Yes, quite right..... digital is perfect for testing things.
I suppose my idea that the event is at dusk is a bit of an assumption. When I lived near Bristol they had an annual balloon-fest and it included a 'NightGlow' (or something like that) which is a magical occasion where the balloons (tethered) just go up and down as the light from the burners illuminates the insides.

[wendyjrichards]

Thank you to both Geoff and Ian your advice has been noted - printed and kept for further reference - like you both say digital is just so great for taking picture after picture until you are happy with the result and although I do not have a DSLR the camera I have just purchased is for me just amazing - I previously had a compact and having a lowish budget this had just great reviews and seemed more like the camera to take me to the next level with getting too complicated. So far I have had some amazing pictures but still want to experiment and this weekend is just such an event that I want it to be perfect.
I have got a tripod and already have it packed ready to go so will take your advice and use it whenever I can to steady the camera - that is the only down with this camera the 35x zoom is amazing but the noise at that distance is a little dissapointing however I am still hooked and now even using microstock sites to post photo's to as a result.
My next stage is my website to showcase my pictures in a hope that one day one will sell?
Thank you again for your advice and will hopefully post some photo's after the event on the weekend.

Wendy

[ianpinion]

Wendy,

If you're hoping to sell some of your images as time goes on, then before you try to set up your own website, why not register with Photobox for a Pro Gallery. You basically upload your images, set your prices and Photobox will handle any sales you make and print the photographs for you. You can make them open to viewing from a link on Facebook and a few other social networking sites too. Just a thought.

[wendyjrichards]

Thanks Ian, Thanks for the tip - I am registered with Fotolia & Dreamstime as microstock agencies but nothing coming from that as yet - I think these are good but you have to wait for sometime and have literally hundreds of photos on the site to be succesfull so I will certainly have a look at Photobox.

Thanks again for your help and hopefully balloon photoswill be brill.

Wendy