File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
/p/, I need advice regarding night photography. The problem is that when I see something awesome, it just doesn't come out as it appeared to me. Blacks and shadows seem to not be defined as well and light seems to leak in everywhere. I've attempted at messing around with my iso/shutter speed, but that only seems to make things worse and too dark (which is horrible). Part of this could be my camera, which is a shitty powershot a630 (Once I have enough money saved up I'll most likely buy a dslr..haven't decided on which though), but also I'm wondering if there is anything else I could do to remedy this a bit.

Also, I need suggestions for night shot subjects, as now that I'm out of college for the summer and living in a suburb of Chicago, there is not much here besides commercial markets and homes.

Oh, and pic completely unrelated. It's of my desk back at college..
EXIF data available. Clickhereto show/hide.
Camera-Specific Properties:Equipment MakeCanonCamera ModelCanon PowerShot A630Camera SoftwareAdobe Photoshop CS2 WindowsMaximum Lens Aperturef/2.8Sensing MethodOne-Chip Color AreaImage-Specific Properties:Image OrientationTop, Left-HandHorizontal Resolution180 dpiVertical Resolution180 dpiImage Created2007:06:29 21:22:04Exposure Time1/25 secF-Numberf/3.5Lens Aperturef/3.5Exposure Bias0 EVMetering ModePatternFlashNo Flash, CompulsoryFocal Length7.30 mmColor Space InformationsRGBImage Width1024Image Height768RenderingNormalExposure ModeManualWhite BalanceAutoScene Capture TypeStandard
>> Anonymous
I was told to do night photography right, having a fast prime (ex: 50mm f/1.8) is good, though I am not sure
>> Anonymous
Could you post an example of your problem? Lack of definition on black and shadows sounds like too high ISO and light leaks maybe due to lack of tripod? Or too long shutter speed.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>>59370

Usually I end up deleting most of my night shots because I hate the way they end up, but this one fell through the cracks somehow. Looking at it now, I hate the shot. I remember right before taking this how the dead branches of all the trees were silhouetted against the partially moonlit sky and the dark shadow of the tree up close stood in stark contrast to the white, undisturbed snow. In the pictures, the dead branches are all muddled together and seem to kinda dissolve into the sky, and the shadow cast by the close tree is not nearly as contrasting as it was in real life.

I know the composition is kinda crap, that's partly from myself being a fairly large noob at the time (not saying that I'm still not, lol), and also from it being about five degrees out (which explains the shakiness). I can think of 5000 things to do differently now regarding the composition, but I'm still at a loss to explain why it looks so shitty (disregarding the horrible composition).

Camera-Specific Properties:Equipment MakeCanonCamera ModelCanon PowerShot A630Camera SoftwareAdobe Photoshop CS2 WindowsMaximum Lens Aperturef/2.8Sensing MethodOne-Chip Color AreaImage-Specific Properties:Image OrientationTop, Left-HandHorizontal Resolution180 dpiVertical Resolution180 dpiImage Created2007:06:29 21:53:15Exposure Time1/10 secF-Numberf/2.8Lens Aperturef/2.8Exposure Bias0 EVMetering ModePatternFlashNo Flash, CompulsoryFocal Length7.30 mmColor Space InformationsRGBImage Width1650Image Height1238RenderingNormalExposure ModeManualWhite BalanceAutoScene Capture TypeStandard
>> Anonymous
human eyes are vastly superior to any sensor there is now. to get something close to how you see you need a rather thorough understanding of the relationship between all the different aspects of an exposure. if you want more shadow detail then meter for the shadows. i dont remember what kind of metering the A630 has, but if all else fails, just meter at a dark scene and lock the exposure before taking the picture. read a lot on exposure, iso, aperture, etc etc too and just experiment systematically so you can tell exactly what changing one thing does to how a picture ends up.
>> Anonymous
>>59376
Best I can tell you is to get a tripod. Get the ISO number as low as you can, and slow down shutter speed accordingly. Try to adjust white balance to the situation, as well, so you don't get those unnatural light colors.

You can also try learning to shoot using the histogram (I think your camera has it): http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml
>> Anonymous
1. Shoot RAW if your camera can. I'll explain why under point two. If it can't, I think there's a third-party firmware patch for Powershots that let them do so.

2. Pull an Ansel Adams and meter each level of brightness in the scene seperately. If your camera has a spot meter mode, use that; if not just zoom in as far as you can on each and bullshit the rest. Set the aperture and ISO to what you need them (ISO as low as possible, aperture I'll get to in a minute) and average together the shutter speeds from your metering. Don't be afraid to move it up or down; the wonderful thing about live LCD preview is that it lets one see the exposure in advance. At very long exposures, some cameras will quit showing the difference and in that case, one has to take some test shots.

The thing with RAW is that it keeps all the brightness information, whereas JPEG just keeps part of it. With RAW, it is possible in Photoshop to bring out the hidden brightness information and equalize exposure.

3. Aperture is a mixed bag, in my experience, also using a point and shoot as my primary camera with pretty good (technical, at least) results. On one had, creative control insists upon smaller apertures sometimes. On the other, the smaller the aperture, the longer the shutter must be open, and long exposures create noise just like high ISOs do. Point and shoot cameras do have the advantage of increased depth-of-field at the same aperture as a DSLR, but it'll still have more noise than the DSLR.
>> Anonymous
>>59384
4. Use a tripod. If you don't own a tripod, get a bunch of boxes and stack them up. If you need to adjust for the angle of a surface or want an angle for artistic reasons, cut wedges of wood and tape your camera to them.

But really, get a tripod. They're rather useful for all sorts of things.

5. Set your camera's self-timer. Simply touching the camera to press the shutter adds to camera shake; a two second timer (or more, if that's all your camera has) will let the shake subside before the shutter opens.

6. Use good shooting technique.

7. If you do use a tripod or some improvised one, turn image stabilization off if your camera has it. (I don't know if yours does or not.) The camera will try to adjust for movement that isn't happening and blur the shot more.


I just did a lot of shooting with some good results; if you'd like, I could show you the results after I process the raw files.
>> Anonymous
>>59384
>>59385
>>59382
>>59380

thank you VERY MUCH!! I'll try experimenting around with the exposure, iso, and histogram stuff either tonight or tomorrow night and I'll look into that RAW firmware hack/update thing. I love you anonymous.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>>59387
There's no live histogram on the A630, but there is one after you take the shot, in play mode, if you press the display button. That raw hack will give you a live histogram though. The hack is really easy to do if you have a sd card reader (even if you don't you can use an uploader app).

I borrowed a friend's A630 and thought it was a quality camera. I did take some night shots with it. pic related

Camera-Specific Properties:Equipment MakeCanonCamera ModelCanon PowerShot A630Maximum Lens Aperturef/2.8Sensing MethodOne-Chip Color AreaImage-Specific Properties:Horizontal Resolution90 dpiVertical Resolution90 dpiImage Created2007:06:08 22:25:45Exposure Time15 secF-Numberf/2.8Lens Aperturef/2.8Exposure Bias0 EVMetering ModeCenter Weighted AverageFlashNo Flash, CompulsoryFocal Length7.30 mmColor Space InformationsRGBImage Width1440Image Height1080RenderingNormalExposure ModeManualWhite BalanceAutoScene Capture TypeStandard
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
I also thought the detail and color was quite good for a camera of it's size and cost. Pic related

Don't be ashamed of your A630, of the point and shoots out there, it is one of the best. Just give it some time to get the hang of it and have fun.

Camera-Specific Properties:Equipment MakeCanonCamera ModelCanon PowerShot A630Maximum Lens Aperturef/3.5Sensing MethodOne-Chip Color AreaImage-Specific Properties:Horizontal Resolution90 dpiVertical Resolution90 dpiImage Created2007:06:04 22:10:34Exposure Time1/60 secF-Numberf/3.5Lens Aperturef/3.5Exposure Bias0 EVMetering ModeCenter Weighted AverageFlashFlash, CompulsoryFocal Length17.34 mmColor Space InformationsRGBImage Width1440Image Height1077RenderingNormalExposure ModeAutoWhite BalanceManualScene Capture TypeStandard