Taking pictures at night

[saintsiner]

Hi All:

I leave for Disney in 24 hours ,and was thinking about this tonight. If I want to get pictures of the castle and the fireworks at night, what is the best settings to have on a digital camera? I know very little / nothing about cameras so try to keep it simple!

Also, what about the parade at night?

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give me!

[PirateLover]

Unless you have a very professional camera or a really steady hand, don't use the night shot for taking pictures of lighted objects at night because they will come out very blurry. For fireworks and lighting displays at night I've had the best results with keeping my flash turned off and the setting either on regular or action shot. However I too know very little about cameras so there could be better methods, but this has worked extremely well for me. Have fun!

[chrisb26]

Normally what I use for night time shots is the sport setting with the fast shutter speed that gets them a lot of the time. I also have a big memory card so can take many pictures of the same thing in case something doesn't look right.

[DizneyRox]

Turn off the flash... It's not good past 10 feet and will tell the camera to use a faster shutter speed than is required.

Many point and shoot digital camera's are not capable of taking great shots in low light conditions. You really need control over the shutter, aperature and the ISO settings. YOu CAN get some shots, but I'd bet that more often than not, what you get will not be what you expected.

[Itchy]

I am no expert by any means but I take crime scene photos. If you are using sports setting or any high speed settings for best results you need to use a tripod. I carry one all the time when I am at DW ( yea Right ).

Really try taking some practice photos. This is the best way to find out how well your camera is going to work in a given situation. The great thing about digital is you can see your results right away.

My camera is a Fuji S5100 digital camera and I take night photos with out using any special settings and get great results. Again I played with the camera to find out what it was able to do.

Good luck, I hope this was of some help.

Oh! I forgot to add as posted earlier do not use a flash.

Pop again the last of August.

[BMan62]

1) No flash
2) Sport setting for faster shutter speed
3) Be aware of what is in front of you - most basic autofocus digital cameras will focus on the nearest object, so if you are trying to get a good shot of the castle and someone walks in front, the autofocus will try to get the person, not the castle. Goofed me up this past Dec. when I was trying to get a good shot of the icicle lights on the castle - had focused on the castle then right as I was depressing the shutter release someone walked in front. The camera refocused on the back of the guys head!!!

[Lehman Family]

The only thing I have to add to what was posted before is to know your camera! - Get used to it's settings.

If you're adventurous try using manual settings. Set the tripod up ahead of time and take pictures of the castle, see how the settings change as it gets darker. Once you have your settings the way you want them you should be able to take some good shots of the fireworks.

Some camera's also have settings to adjust the exposure while in a mode such as sports/action. You should still take a few shots ahead of time and see if you want the exposure to be brighter or darker than what is being taken with the default. Adjust it accordingly and then have fun taking pictures.

[azcavalier]

Unless you have one of those big, fancy $300 flashes, turn it off. It's only good for 8-10 feet, and you're going to be farther than that from the parade.

The problem is that to get a good shot in low light, you'll need to keep the shutter open longer to allow the light in. You can raise the ISO settings (the higher the number, the less sensitive it is, or the less light you need, thus resulting in faster shutter speeds), but your picture will get increasingly more "grainy" as you raise it. I wouldn't go higher than ISO 800, and if you can swing it, ISO 400 would be even better. Also, the longer the shutter is open, the less sharp the picture is going to be. The floats and fireworks will be blurred. But, if you use a fast shutter speed, it may be too dark to see anything.

The best thing to do is to let the camera detect what settings it needs, and find somewhere to prop the camera up...a wall, table, fence, something to keep it steady as the shutter opens. Also, if you have a good place to set the camera, use the timer option instead of hitting the button yourself. That will guarantee a sharper picture.