dont really know how to take photos at night and not even sure i have the right camera for taking snaps at night, but i really like how some of the members night pics pop. heres two that i robbed hope you guys dont mind.the cars are just so clear and crisp, also not sure if they are cam. trick. by the way my cam is a digtal canon is a sd750.

 

Good looking pics. Nice perspective.

Check out photo.net to get some great ideas and tips on photography.

http://photo.net/photos/Jay Dog

 

im the driver in that one, i explained how the shot was taken. photograpy is a lot of trial and error, post processing, and a ton of pics that never get posted. i have 3 friends that are photographers, when we do shoots, only about 10% get posted cause all the rest are crap. get out there and practice a lot. for night shots, you HAVE to have a tripod and long shutter speeds. a timer is helpful. once the shutter opens, ANY movement of the lens will create blur and make it look like it isnt in focus.

 

c_mack9 is right!

Get a tripod, use "manual" mode and 10sec timer! You have a great cam believe it or not. Even pocket cameras pack enough of a punch in manual mode for most stuff. I have Canon 20D with multiple lenses, but I will never relinquish my Canon SD630. I did some great shots with it and even old Sony Mavica at night and even from a moving boat shooting Golden Gate.
To start at night keep your ISO at 200, F-stop between 4 and 5.6 and match shutter speed accordingly to get -2/3 to -1 2/3. Adjust toward 0 if images get too bright. Just keep changing the settings and keep shooting.
As c_mack9 stated only about 10% of shots are keepers! The more you shoot the more "good" shots you will end up with. Once you get hooked, you'll be taking photography classes and buying an DSLR! LOL! Then you will experiment with "light painting technique" and other good stuff. I am not big on PhotoShop tricks. I keep them at minimum. Photography is not a photography anymore once you start photobuchering images.
ANYBODY CAN LEARN TO SHOOT IN MANUAL MODE! Hard part is having talent to compose shots and developing an artistic eye to use natural conditions around you to your advantage.
Camera is as good as the photographer! I have seen people with over $2K in equipment that can't shoot a decent picture if their life depended on it!

My advice - switch to "manual" mode and never look back! You can find inspiration everywhere around you. To get your creative juices flowing check these out:
Picasa Web Albums - Ciburri - some photos
Once you click on individual image to open up, click for "more info" on the right of the image for camera and camera settings info. Some do not have it since I only recovered resized back ups from my old PC.

Start shooting!

Ivan

 

what they have said for the most part is right. If you REALLY want to get into photogrpahy you're going to have to ditch the point n shoot and get a [D]SLR. And not a single lens is best for all situations. I have 4 lense for my 400D and I still need 3 more to get what I feel it is that I "need". It's an expensive hobby with lense running from 300-1500/lens for the average hobbiest and once you're in you're hooked. I think it's an addiction haha.

 

looks great.
i'm going to try ciburri's tips on night shots. i have an SD450, but i'm looking for a new camera.

 

Digital SLRs. The first one I know is a Nikon. A D70 i believe... 2nd im not sure what camera. But anywhoo you must mess with ISO, WB, Shutterspeed.

 

i really just have a hard time snapping pics at night there always blurry or out of focus. the bright daylight pic seem to turn out ok, but you guys are right only about 10% are worth keeping. heres a few ive started out with just practicing. took about 20 to 25 of these pics and these are the best ones.

 

you HAVE to have a tripod to do night shots.

 

gonna try and pickup one tonite, what setting should i set it at.

 

Focusing problems on nite shots comes from camera's problem to find something decent to focus on in near total darkness! It will keep "hunting" endlessly! Even during daylight automatic focus will have hard time focusing on reflective surfaces(metallic paint, windows glare, headlights), white & yellow (light colored) or black surfaces.
For cars, focus on tires thread or sidewalls and then raise the camera to proper image framing. On moving shots, focus camera on the road surface at the point where the shot will be made (track shots) or if possible have a friend stop on the road and focus the camera. For moving shots you need to practice swing motion following the car as well as shoot in Tv (shutter priority mode) at 1/125 to start. Trick is to get the car itself to be in focus and sharp while wheels need to be blurred to convey motion and sense of drama. Frozen wheels at full speed make the car look as if it is parked on track! Shot image zoomed out a bit. You can crop it latter. My rule of thumb is to keep zoom as if I am trying to leave additional half of the car length in front and behind the car.
You need to take the camera out of automatic focus mode and adjust it manually! I use strong LED flashlight to manually focus on the object if I must. My wife wears glasses, so she has tough time at night.
Also, you must use camera timer! 2 sec might not be enough, but 5 to 10 will be (what ever your camera allows you) even on a tripod. Wind is your enemy. Pick a tripod based on stability, not price! In store, extend them fully, grab the camera mount on it and try moving it in all directions. Try few different ones in the store and you will realize the difference. Pick the one that has a hook underneath. If it is too windy you can hang your camera bag with all the extra lenses or other ballast to steady it up.
Take your time to set up at location! Adjust ISO and white balance manually first and then play with aperture and shutter speed. Shot rather a bit underexposed (darker) than overexposed (too bright). It is possible to lighten up underexposed shot a bit, but you can't darken, overexposed, washed up image!
I prefer to do it right during a shoot rather than spend time on the computer fixing it. There is only so much you can do to fix a bad shot IMO!
For daytime, avoid mid day shoots. Sun is the strongest and contrast and shadows will be extreme. Go either first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon. Invest in a "circular polarizer" filter! It is under $50 for most cameras and under $35 for pocket cameras. That will soften the extreme sunlight as well as reduce or entirely eliminate glare and reflections of the glass. My Arlen Ness shots were done at night, but I used polarizing filter since I was shooting through the glass showroom window. It helped big time.
15 minutes before sundown are awesome, but you will need to compensate with white balance and/or color saturation for "orange glow".
Just after sundown is great for night-shots, since minor (required) underexposure will create gorgeous gradient dark blue night skies. Latter on they will just be black.

Check local photography stores or ebay for DVD instructional videos specific to your camera. It will get you going with tips and trick specific to your equipment. Sometimes local stores have classes that last one or more nights. Take that opportunity to learn from a pro.

As far as spending money on equipment, IMO, first learn the basics with what you got. Develop preference to what you like to shoot, practice, take some classes, read on the subject and do some research.
With time you will learn what works and what does not for your preferences and you will be able to make educated purchases.
Once item costs more than $300.00 look for on-line, out of state purchases from B&H Photo in NY, Amazon (from Amazon as a vendor!) and other reputable companies. Item will cost 10-30% less than in local retail, you will pay no sales tax and frequently shipping is free! That will save you $50-200+ ! Believe me, I do it all the time!
As far as brands go, Canon and Nikon are above the rest. Sony is too proprietary and you will spend 20-30+% more for the same things. For DSLR lenses stick to Canon for Canon, Nikon for Nikon. There are some really good 3rd party lenses, but unless you know what you are doing - do not experiment! My best man bought a Quantaray lens and focusing/zoom servos are way slower than Canon's Ultrasonic! Lens is un-usable at lower light daytime conditions in Auto mode because of it!
Once you pick a brand, stick with it! All the lenses you buy will be usable on any new DSLR bodies from the same brand! Money is in the lenses, not bodies.
Many will argue to death, but on extreme professional level , at the moment, Canon has a very slight edge over Nikon thanks to their DigicII image chip. Nothing any of us will be able to notice! This is on extreme top level. You really can't go wrong with either brand.

BTW, I am not a professional nor do I have a single photography class unlike my wife that went to school for it! I tried having her teach me, but it did not go too well. Just like trying to learn how to drive a stick from your father! I hate reading manuals as well! I simply started experimenting on my own, by shooting same shot over and over again with different settings and lighting conditions. I spent three consecutive days doing it.
If I could do it, you can do it!
If you get stuck - ask! There are some serious professionals here that can help you get really good.

Just start and keep shooting!

Ivan

 

any advise on shooting moving targets eg. cars, kids

 

sorry but what is the f stop?the settings i have is long shutter, (exp), evaluative and iso. ehat are these setting and are they what you are referring too?

 

I use an auto setting, because Im awesome.

 

[ C A M E R A S I N T E R A C T I V E ]

a shot apart: tutorials

 

Kelmar, that is a pure gold!

I dug up couple more sites:
Andylim.com Photography Basics :: Andy Lim, designer, creative director, Malaysian, web design, print design, corporate identity, Flash
Digital Photography Tutorials

I tried finding tutorials that are also visual in nature rather than dry reading.

AtticusFit, think about camera as a contraption that captures images by allowing light to pass through an opening that can vary in size of the opening (F-stops, which is Aperture) as well as the speed at which it can open to capture that light (shutter speed). ISO value adjustment is the overall sensitivity of the image chip to light. By balancing individual settings of these three in respect to each other under a given lighting condition good image gets produced.
Look in your camera manual how to access "M"-manual mode, set your camera on a tripod facing out the window. Set an object in the foreground. Start shooting the same image under different white balance, aperture and shutter speed settings. It is a good idea to keep a notepad and jot down image number and each one of the values you set. You will be able to review your photos with that data in your hand. Also as the night falls, you will be forced to keep overexposing your images.
You can also go through "function" options and change preset camera settings for sunny, cloudy and nighttime shots in automatic mode and review what settings camera ended up with in each mode through image viewing software camera came with (Zoom Browser EX) or Windows Picture Viewer. That will give you some idea where to start from.
It is really trial and error learning process.

I touched on moving car shoots in the earlier post. Kids and animals are totally unpredictable unlike cars! Zoom out and keep shutter speed hight (1/500+, light permitting).

I am sorry if I can't be of more help. I know how to set it up, but translating that into words is hard. It is much easier to show all this to somebody standing next to me. LOL! That is why I keep encouraging everybody to set a stage and keep shooting under different settings and conditions. You will notice a pattern and stick to it.
Once you get a hang of it, make yourself a little check list so you do not forget to set any parameters. I blew one or two shoots because I got overwhelmed trying to remember everything. Sucks ending up with sharp nice images that have entirely wrong color overtones because of forgetting to adjust white balance!
Before you know it, professional photographers will start praising your work - an amateur enthusiast.

Ivan

 

hey man thanks all your info has really helped and im starting to understand a little better. the visual thing really helps. im pretty hands on so i understand the whole words thing. i pick up on someone actually showing me vs telling me,but you've done a good job at explaining alot of questions i have had.
thanks ill post some of the shots as i get them.

 

For shooting moving targets there are several different things you can do. It depends on the effect you want. If you want it to look like the kid or car is still moving then you need to take the picture while moving yourself as well. Focus on them then follow them at a steady speed that keeps them in about the same spot in the view finder. Then when you got them where you want them push the shutter but still continue to follow the person as you were doing before. This can be done just by pivoting yourself or using a tripod. Usually a shutter speed around 1/20th of a second to up to 1/60th of a second has worked for me. If you go below 1/20th you really need to use a tripod and be very smooth with your movement.

If you want it to look like the kid or car has stopped then you simple need to follow them through the view finder make sure your focused and take the picture. You just have to make sure you have a higher shutter speed probably around 500 mabey 250 all depends. The higher the shutter speed the better chance you will have to completely stop them the only thing about going to high of a shutter speed then you have to be careful and make sure you camera has a big enough aperture to compensate for the lack of light due to the shutter speed.

As far as night shots you probably should practice on manually focusing your point and shoot if it has that option. Also you definitely need to pick up a tripod. You thing you need to decide on is whether or not you want to use flash. Flash can be affective in creating a bright subject in a dark area which may sometime look good but it is harder to use with a car because you have a reflective surface that will show you and the flash there will be a big bright spot on the car somewhere. As far as not using he flash you would either have to let the camera come up with your exposure settings or manually set them yourself. One way to help with that is if it gives you an automatic exposure but you feel your shutter speed is to low and you can manually adjust it you can bump up your shutter speed by a couple but you have to make sure to bump down your expsoure by a couple too.

 

dude you hand fed a freakin squirrel. haha thats awesome. OK now back on topic...