[HOW TO] Night Photography

...mods, if wrong place please move.

Firstly, as a photographer, seeing so many 'images' of UFO's as blinding white lights and nothing but blur brings out the skeptics in all ATS members. So, I would like to give you a little insight to different cameras and how to use them effectively under any circumstance.
DSLR - Semi-Prosumer cameras

- These are the cameras that have inter-changeable lenses. Usual makes include Nikon/Canon/Sony.
- It does not matter what camera body you own, but the lenses are what counts !
Lenses come in many configurations of either zoom or fixed focal and will accompany with an f-stop number (depicted on the lenses as f/2.8 for fixed or f/4-5.6 for cheaper zoom lenses for example)
- the smaller the f/stop the better in the dark without the need to open the shutter longer creating a blur of the image. With this, it is also must be said that the depth of field (D.o.F) will become shallower without further compensation.
- Settings are able to be set manually they are
Aperture / Shutter speed / ISO (read manuals for further instructions on how to change)
- Also, most will have a dial on the top left. On this dial is pre-set configurations.
AUTO - defined by a green rectangle
AV - Aperture Priority, allows you to set the aperture and the camera sets the other settings
TV - Shutter Priority, allows user to set the shutter speed between 30sec > 1/2000th of a sec and cam does rest
M - Manual, allows full control over the camera to either underexpose the image or over expose
P - Program, sets a certain manual setting.
Now going the other way to the icons;
NIGHT MODE - will push your settings as far as possible to get as much light onto the CMOS (sensor) as possible. Flash will usually auto popup but this is only good for near objects as the shutter speed will become faster letting less light in. Over-ride the flash but keep a steady hand or use tripod or flat surface.
SPORTS MODE - defined by a running man, this will add a burst mode to your shutter and speed it up to 'freeze' the action
LANDSCAPE - defined by a hill and sun, will open the aperture and create less DoF (good for daytime UFO pics)
PORTRAIT - defined by a person, will use all DoF and blur any object behind if using a low fstop lens

Now some examples of settings to use

Me personally, i would either use AV or Manual
On Manual mode;
I have a fixed 50mm Prime lens with an f/stop of 1.4
First move your ISO to the furthest possible (mine goes to 6400) but most will go to 1600 - this will make the image more grainy (noise) but allow a clearer shot
Now lower your f/stop as far down as possible (this lens will go down to 1.4 no further) if a zoom lens DO NOT zoom in on object, you risk having an underexposed image, instead leave it at the widest point (u can zoom /crop in editing software later)
Set you shutter speed, the faster the clearer it will become.
Eg Exif data will be
1/1600th sec
f/1.8
ISO 3200

That in rights should turn night into day-ish but watch for surrounding lights

another good setting to back your claim would be to open the shutter for either the 30sec or if have a remote-lock turn to 'bulb' which is next after 30sec
Opening the shutter will allow any light to become painted onto the sensor giving the effect of streaks of light. This can become a good setting to describe the possible movements of the craft. WARNING....must be on tripod or set onto the ground as to not move the camera. This is best achieved by keeping the ISO down to say 100 (used in daylight) as you don't want more light coming in making the image over-exposed.
Possible settings;
30secs
f/1.8
ISO 100

I will update further
Cheers

Maybe I am reading wrong... Looks like you are suggesting basics on how to capture fast moving objects (1600 = a whole lot of noise, but fast object = easy) instead of talking about things like 15, 30, 60 second aperture settings and HDR options for night shots.

Did you mean to do multiple How-Tos?

Originally posted by lordtyp0
Maybe I am reading wrong... Looks like you are suggesting basics on how to capture fast moving objects (1600 = a whole lot of noise, but fast object = easy) instead of talking about things like 15, 30, 60 second aperture settings and HDR options for night shots.

Did you mean to do multiple How-Tos?

I will do a few more sorry, but I am about to head home from work
I was going to set up my camera and display images of different settings to post here.
HDR is another option, but needing 3 shots of the object in 1 position at different settings.
It's no use using a shutter speed of 1/200th because if it moves at speed its just going to be blurred no matter what settings.

thanks for the reply btw.

reply to post by lavenlaar


Thanks for the advice. I've just ordered a Canon EOS 550D with an 18-55mm lens and an EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III lens to go with it. Now I just need a convenient UFO to turn up.

reply to post by lavenlaar


*nod

I've got a Lumix at the house that will store as raw-photoshop will then let you do the HDR without a triple expose

It leads to some cool pics.

The question in the previous post was related to the title being "Night Photography" but you recommended 1600 speed, so threw me off

Originally posted by lordtyp0
reply to post by lavenlaar

 

*nod

I've got a Lumix at the house that will store as raw-photoshop will then let you do the HDR without a triple expose

It leads to some cool pics.

The question in the previous post was related to the title being "Night Photography" but you recommended 1600 speed, so threw me off

edit on 6-11-2010 by lordtyp0 because: (no reason given)

I can see why, but at 3200iso a lot of noise but compensates for the speed of the shutter.
HDR & Infrared are great when pulled off correctly. Usually best at dusk.

thanks for posting, i've only recently upgraded to a 500D and am working on my night shots, got some pretty good ones tonight actually. I've only got 18-55mm kit lens and the nifty 50mm f/2.8 but hopefully 'santa' will get me something better to improve some more ;p. s&f