Night photo questions

[lashboy]

Hi All,

Right next to where I work, there is a lovely old ruined castle that tends to be beautifully floodlit this time of year, and with the crisp clear evenings of late, I'd like to take a nice nighttime photo.

Questions I have though, are where should I set the focus? Bearing in mind it would be about 9pm should I focus manually on the castle, "two thirds into the scene", or even AF on the castle?

Not overly concerned about getting the foreground absolutely sharp as the trees etc will be in darkness or silhouette. The whole "art" of where to focus in landscape type shots still has me perplexed despite reading lots on the topic!

Im using my 550d with just the 17-85mm kit lens, but also on a tripod with a shutter release, mirror locked up, IS off, etc etc.

Thanks for the advice as alway,

Nick

[Muscat]

Re: Night photo questions

I am not an expert but this is what I have been doing recently on some night shots, where i have been using a 50D with the 17-85 kit lens.

I set the camera and lens up on a tripod, yes turn the IS off. I the have been choosing either M or AV modes, typically AV and deciding on the f# that I want depending on the DOF, typically I have been using f11 - f16 as I wanted a good DOF. I have been travelling so not had the luxury of my remote release therefore have checked the scene via live view using the 10x magnification to check focus if the manual focus has not been able to lock on I have frequently turned to manual focus and used the magnified live view, depending on what I wanted i focused on the nearest part of the main subject and used the 2 second time delay shutter release to reduce the amount of shake from pressing the shutter release.

Depending on the amount of illumination I have reduced the exposure by either bracketting or using the wheel on the back of the camera to reduce the exposure by up to 2/3 stop. I use the histogram mainly to check on the exposure and sometimes review the image after taking it to decide if I want to change a setting.

If I am setting the tripod up on grass and it is windy I will try and tie the tripod down often using a rubber roof-rack bungy clipped to a tent peg that I drive into the ground with the heal of my shoe.

this was taken using the above process


I hope that this helps a litte, if the castle is close to you can I duggest that you go and experiment.

[briansquibb]

Re: Night photo questions

What a stunning picture

[lashboy]

Re: Night photo questions

Thanks very much for all that guidance, and I will use the tips youve listed. Think Im on the right track by all accounts but as you say, time for a few experimental shots after finishing work on an evening.

I agree with the above poster, that youve managed to capture a stunning picture of that castle, very impressive!

Will try to post my attempts soon.

Cheers,

Nick

[Mark]

Re: Night photo questions

Some good advice and the photo is superb.