Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Trying Something New - Night Shots

St. Peter in front of the Basilica at Vatican City

Part of Finding Your Eye in photography, I need to explore some things that I don't normally do. Night shots - perfect. I tend to be a home body in the evenings, so getting out to take night photos is not my norm. However, I did cheat a little here because we were recently travelling in Rome and were out at night. No time to be a home body - just too much to experience.

View of Via Condoti from the Spanish Steps

Night shots were a little tricky for me to figure out at first. I found that I really didn't need to adjust the exposure as much as I would have thought. My initial reaction was to crank up the exposure to allow in more light. The above is taken at exposure 0 - normal with no adjustment either way. The same is for the first photo.

Merry-go-round near the Castle St. Angelo

Again, more surprises for me with night shots. The merry-go-round above was taken with exposure +.7 and shutter speed 1/30, f5.6. I was able to hold the camera and get a good photo without a tripod. I learned through this process with the lower f number I was still able to hold the camera in many cases.

View of St. Peters
The photo above of St. Peters is exposure is -1, f/5.6, 1/20. This one I did rest the camera on the railing of the bridge from where I took the shot.
Overall, I can say that I really loved trying night photography. I can see to do it really well, that I would like to invest in a tripod. It was interesting to push a little and find the limits when I could still hold the camera and get a good photo, versus needing a steady surface. Super fun to try something really new for me. I am anxious to learn more about getting great night shots and to keep practicing. I found I was in love with the lighting and reflections.

2 comments:

  1. Gorgeous photos! I love the light and the reflections too. You did a great job with these shots. It looks like you were able to put the lessons of the course to the test during your trip. Were you happy with the result?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think you have learned your lessons very well.Wonderful photos! The St Peters is my favorite.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...