Taking pictures at dusk/night

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Bhoody

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Sep 5, 2003
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Location
Penfield, NY
Ok - I love to take pictures of the mountains, but know NOTHING about the art of photography. I typically use a cheap 35 mm or an Advantex camera. Question is, can cheapy camera's like this take any sort of dusk or night pics?? I have tried some dusk/sunset shots with the Advantex, but they did not come out so well. Or do I have to invest in something a bit more techy when it comes to shooting pics in the darK??

Thanks for any suggestions.
 
You need a tripod (or reasonable facsimilie), an autotimer, and if possible, the ability to set the shutter speed.

You won't get the last one in most Point-n-Shoot cameras but you can make do with the other two. Your camera probably has an autotimer, you know, the thing that lets you set the camera then run around an get into the picture. What you do is set the camera up on a tripod or on a stable surface, like a rock or picnic table. Frame the shot, set the autotimer, and wait.

There isn't much light available at dusk and dawn, and the shutter will need to remain open long enough to gather enough light. This means shutter speeds of a second or more, and there is no way you can hold the camera steady for anything more than about 1/60th of a second. The autotimer allows vibrations and motion from your finger on the button to quiet down, and the tripod allows things to stay steady for the length of the shot.

Night shot of Greenleaf Hut
Self-portrait at the Quay

-dave-
 
nice pics - thats what I'm talking about!

Thanks for the tips Dave - now those photos you posted - thats what I'm talking about!

None of my camera's have shutter speed controls - so I probably will be looking at buying something a bit more high end. Any suggestions for a newbie??

Also, what about digital?? Just got a digital and have just started to explore its functionality a bit...

Thanks!
 
Some digital cameras let you have full control over the aperture and shutter speed. Others even have a "night mode" which basically does the same thing.

You still need a small tripod. I use this one:

http://www2.sakar.com/modules.php?name=Nav&level=2&row_id=218&start=0

It is basically three wire-frame legs that you can bed to fit (good for rocks) and a universally tripod mount. I use it for a Canon G3 that I take along hiking.

Jay
 
The Greenleaf photo is film, the Quay shot is digital. Both work under the same principle, neither camera had shutter speed control. Simply getting the camera stable and using the autotimer will allow you to get excellent photos, even on a basic P&S.

Digital is added benefit since you can review the shots right there and make sure you captured the image you wanted, but film works just fine. If you want full controls in a reasonable sized and priced digital camera, the Canon A80, A90, A95 are excellent choices.

I also have a small tripod, similar to the one Jay linked to, that I sometimes bring. But the two shots I linked to were taked by proping the camera on a rock. One nice thing about the OmniPod that I have is that you can strap it to a small tree to get the camera up off the ground. This can be important for framing shots.

-dave-
 
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