High Tide Aquatics

Shooting at Night Time

I am curious about some things with night time photography.
First, what mode do you recommend using? Say for night time city-scape shots, or even people pictures.
When I took pictures of the fireworks, I use a remote release trigger, a tripod, and was in BULB mode. I had the ISO crunched down to 100, and f/8-11. Everything turn out great. I suppose I could use this method for taking night time city-scape shots, only I would need to take a couple test shots to determine how long I need to leave the shutter open for when in BULB mode. On this note ... when using BULB mode, do it need to be pitch black?

Also, for city-scape shots, some people seem to be fond of M mode with a tripod, and remote release trigger ... essentially you designate the f/stop, and the shutter speed independently. I'd probably want the f/stop to be a little higher, say around f/8-11 in order to minimize the DOF (want everything in focus). I assume I will also be focusing to infinity? In regards to the shutter speed, I would probably end up taking multiple test shots in order to determine the length of the correct shutter speed/exposure time. Essentially set the f/stop to the desired stop, and then tinker with the shutter speed until you get the result you want.

Or for city-scapes ... what's wrong with using Av mode with a tripod, and a remote release trigger?! I can still set the f/stop to f/8-11, and let the camera decide the shutter speed. Makes sense to me, but maybe there is a flaw in this I am not aware of?

For people shots, it would obviously be a large PITA to set up a tripod, and have everyone stay perfectly still. I have an 85 mm 1.8, and the 50 mm 1.8. Both are decently quick IMO -obviously not as quick as 1.4's. Should I just stick with using the primes?

I also have an external flash I can mount on my camera, with a flash diffuser. Would this help with night time shots of people? How do you determine which way you want the flash to face? My flash, like many other hot shoe mount flashes have a pivotable flash head. I'd imagine that if I had the flash facing right at the subjects, they may become a little too highlighted.

Long winded post, I know. But any help is appreciated!!!
 
Here's my approach

Aperture priority all the time
Auto ISO set for non-tripod use where i do 1/(lens focal length) as a rule of thumb for the slowest the shutter goes before upping the ISO

For any landscape, where i want a lot of detail, I will always use a Tripod. For moving objects like people, I always handhold and accept the noise for the sake of composition.

For night landscapes, or architecture, etc., I make sure my aperture is to my liking first. So the depth of field is top priority. If I want EVERYTHING in focus, I go for f/8 to f/11. Some of my lenses have sweet spots at f/8 so I just use that. The shutter speed is secondary. Shutter speed is lowest possible, since regardless you'll have movement somewhere (stars, wind, etc). The tricky part is if you have moving objects in your scene, like water or cars or what not. Then it all depends on how clear you want the water reflection to be, or how long you want taillight streaks to be. At the end, once I get the DOF I want, and the correct movement, I check the exposure, if it's good enough, I'll leave it, otherwise I'll up or lower the ISO to compensate to a certain extent. my D700 works great up to 6400 before it gets too grainy to use, my d80 will probably only go up to 400 ISO before I hate it.

Also if you are far enough away or have a vast enough landscape, your aperture can vary a good amount without changing the DOF significantly.

I've never taken good pictures of fireworks, so don't know about that.

For taking pictures in general, I only shoot primes now. The DOF control is lovely. I have 50mm f1.8, 85mm f1.4, 24mm f/2.8, 105mm f/2.8, and that's it. They cover everything I need. One day I want to get a 180mm F/2.

My low light capabilities on my D700 also rock, so I have never ever used my onboard or any off camera flashes. I'm not really into studio / portraits anymore, but more documentary, so I only use natural lighting now.

If you do use a flash, use a defuser to reduce hot spots. Bounce the light off of ceilings, that's the best. If you're out in the open, just point it straight up. Never point the flash at someone's face directly, diffuser or not.

Best way to learn, just go out there and try all permutations ;) see what works best.

We should go out shooting sometime, I'll have to organize a BAR photoshoot.
 
Art, it would finally be able to meet the man behind the camera! I am a large fan of your Flickr photo stream (I am anthonymikelee if you didn't already know? :D ).
I definitely love getting those shots in where you get the blurred tail lights, and head lights. Look amazing! Thanks for all of the tips! Amazingly helpful! With regards to the f/stop, I agree with your approach ... most times I want everything in focus, so f/8-11 is normally what I use.
I have only prime lenses, except for Canon 17-40L f/4. I love prime lenses for the same reason as you ... that and they are smaller, and generally lighter :) I have been guilty of using my 17-40L more often lately though. At night it would only be useful for landscape shots with a tripod. Primes will shine at night when the sun goes down! So torn between my 17-40L and my primes during the day.
I don't have as many as you, however in addition to the 17-40L; I have a Canon 50 mm 1.8, a Canon 85 mm 1.8, and a Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro.

I have two noob questions now though, bear with me! :) :
Is there a benefit or effect on image quality that a longer shutter speed produces? Of course besides the blurring of motion (cars, people walking et cetera).

Second, why do people choose to use M mode, and a shutter mode (Tv)? M mode just seems like it would be a hassle (more so than with Av) to get everything just right with regards to exposure times and such. In Tv mode you can get a shorter shutter speed at the cost of a lower f/stop (
 
A_Lee said:
Art, it would finally be able to meet the man behind the camera! I am a large fan of your Flickr photo stream (I am anthonymikelee if you didn't already know? :D ).

Haha yeah I know =) your pictures are really good too, your composition is really awesome.

I have two noob questions now though, bear with me! :) :
Is there a benefit or effect on image quality that a longer shutter speed produces? Of course besides the blurring of motion (cars, people walking et cetera).
Image quality will be more affected by your aperture. Going to the extremes (f/1.8 or f/22 in some lenses for example) will yield softer shots and less detail around edges. Each lens has sweet spots as well. My 85mm f/1.4 has better details at f/1.8 and is AMAZING at f/2. F/1.4 is actually good enough and looks great already, but it just gives a little more in the sweet spots. Shutter will not really change that, BUT, longer shutter speeds will always take in some kind of motion. In practice, I go for the fastest shutter speed possible. The only time I don't, is if I'm dealing with motion that I want to capture.
 
Second, why do people choose to use M mode, and a shutter mode (Tv)? M mode just seems like it would be a hassle (more so than with Av) to get everything just right with regards to exposure times and such. In Tv mode you can get a shorter shutter speed at the cost of a lower f/stop then again I suppose you can also get a longer shutter speed at the cost of a smaller aperture (but this can be achieved in Av mode also)?

M mode is used mostly when you don't trust or care for your internal meter to adjust your exposure. Sometimes you want to way over expose, or vice versa. The metering samples areas that might be wack. Lots of people use M just so they can play with the settings without getting what the internal metering says is perfect. Definitely a hassle unless you know exactly what you want. With RAW these days, it's really easy to adjust so I never shoot in M anymore. Shutter mode is really for getting motions, like car taillights, you want to time it perfectly. I think the norm is Aperture priority mode. That's what I'm on all the time.

Hope that helps!!
 
Yeah, I normally use Av. The only time I used M mode was so I could use BULB mode for some fireworks shots :)
But for Tv when you want a slower shutter speed to capture movement, chances are your aperture will adjust (get larger), and I'd imagine that in some situations when you get the shutter speed you want, the f/stop may be too high for your liking. What would you do in this situation? Switch to Av right? Get the aperture right where you want it, and let the shutter speed adjust itself ... but what then do you do if the shutter speed is too quick for your needs?
Did anything I say make sense? :D
 
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