Theme Parks: Night Photography

[UK-Trigg]

Class is finished, wow where did 5 weeks go? Off to London and am hoping to shoot the London eye at night with a slow shutter speed to get a continuous light circle.
Thinking along these lines....

100 ISO
1-2 min Shutter speed as I believe it moves pretty slow
Not sure on the Fstop though, any thoughts ? other tips gratefully received too:thumbs:

 

[maxairmike]

Might want to boost that f-stop up to 11 or higher if you're leaving it open for that long, and/or use a fairly strong ND filter. I've never actually been there, but I would imagine the lighting on most of the buildings would blow out at that long of an exposure without some light control like a ND filter.

 

[Hockeyman55]

Class is finished, wow where did 5 weeks go? Off to London and am hoping to shoot the London eye at night with a slow shutter speed to get a continuous light circle.
Thinking along these lines....

100 ISO
1-2 min Shutter speed as I believe it moves pretty slow
Not sure on the Fstop though, any thoughts ? other tips gratefully received too:thumbs:

Start with

100 ISO

Shutter you will have to use BULB if you want longer than a 30 second exposure. If the wheel is really slow you may need to keep it open for a few min so really depends on how much motion, if any, you want to capture with the wheel.

I try to keep my aperture as low as possible at night especially if there are a lot of bright lights. Id start around f/17 or f/25 and see how that works out. Plus that low you will get some night little star burst with any lights around :thumbs:

Also if you have a Nikon turn off the vibration control thingy you have. I heard you will get a better picture with it off in this situation when on a tripod

Take plenty of test shots and mess with the shutter length and aperture until you nail the shot! And have fun :smiley:

 

[UK-Trigg]

Sweet tips matey, You are correct on the Nikon VR, it should be off when using a tripod :thumbs:

Bulb mode :idea2: will give me chance to try out my new wireless remote shutter.

Looking forward to shooting round London

 

[Hockeyman55]

Really the only times I have shot in bulb is during firework and star trial shots. Should give you plenty of practice hanging out in London :thumbs:

 

[Felipe]

Can't wait to see your shots, Roodles! :thumbs: Make sure to try different settings, too, to compare results.

 

[Hockeyman55]

Tie Dye Castle by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

 

[Hockeyman55]

Fireworks Friday by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

 

[UK-Trigg]

Might want to boost that f-stop up to 11 or higher if you're leaving it open for that long, and/or use a fairly strong ND filter. I've never actually been there, but I would imagine the lighting on most of the buildings would blow out at that long of an exposure without some light control like a ND filter.

Does an ND filter allow you to shoot longer exposures in bright situations? eg, if I wanted to take a long exposure of a water fall at MK in the mid day sunshine.

2 cracking shots of the castle Mike, I always like the silhouette Walt gives off.

 

[Hockeyman55]

Does an ND filter allow you to shoot longer exposures in bright situations? eg, if I wanted to take a long exposure of a water fall at MK in the mid day sunshine.

2 cracking shots of the castle Mike, I always like the silhouette Walt gives off.

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/neutral-density-filters.htm

Neutral density (ND) filters reduce the amount of light entering the camera, enabling a longer exposure time than otherwise possible. This can emphasize motion, or make an otherwise tumultuous scene appear surreal and quiescent. Alternatively, an ND filter also enables larger apertures, which can produce a shallower depth of field, or achieve a sharper photo. Either way, this is a useful and often under-appreciated filter that deserves a deeper look. ND filters are also one of the easiest filters to use, and their effect cannot be replicated digitally — at least not with a single shot.

 

[JungleSkip]

I'm headed to the parks again in May, and this time I'm bringing my tripod. Tired of getting crappy nighttime pictures because I'm too lazy to lug the thing around.

 

[Hockeyman55]

I'm headed to the parks again in May, and this time I'm bringing my tripod. Tired of getting crappy nighttime pictures because I'm too lazy to lug the thing around.

Its totally worth lugging around once you get back and see the shots you got using the tripod :thumbs:

FYI, the family lockers at Universal are ginormous and was able to fit everything in there during the day ant come back for it at night.

 

[JungleSkip]

Its totally worth lugging around once you get back and see the shots you got using the tripod :thumbs:

FYI, the family lockers at Universal are ginormous and was able to fit everything in there during the day ant come back for it at night.

That'll probably by my plan of attack. I'm mostly bringing the pod for my day at MK. It's open 9AM-1AM the day I'm going, and I'm planning a 9PM-1AM photo barrage haha

 

[Hockeyman55]

That'll probably by my plan of attack. I'm mostly bringing the pod for my day at MK. It's open 9AM-1AM the day I'm going, and I'm planning a 9PM-1AM photo barrage haha

Im not sure about Mk's lockers, I usually head back for an afternoon break and come back in the evening and carry around with me at that point. I could spend hours and hours there at night just taking pictures

 

[JungleSkip]

Im not sure about Mk's lockers, I usually head back for an afternoon break and come back in the evening and carry around with me at that point. I could spend hours and hours there at night just taking pictures

I'm not overly worried about the locker that day, just because I don't have a problem carrying it around with me in the MK. The problem is Uni where I have to continuously put the stuff in/out of a locker to ride rides.

 

[Hockeyman55]

I'm not overly worried about the locker that day, just because I don't have a problem carrying it around with me in the MK. The problem is Uni where I have to continuously put the stuff in/out of a locker to ride rides.

Yeah its a big pain and sucks the lockers at the rides aren't that large, that is my problem with a larger tripod. I had no choice but to rent one all day at Uni

 

[Andy]

Yeah its a big pain and sucks the lockers at the rides aren't that large, that is my problem with a larger tripod. I had no choice but to rent one all day at Uni

Or sit out in the ass whooping I delivered at MIB.

 

[Hockeyman55]

Or sit out in the ass whooping I delivered at MIB.

Haha, I was better off then, I was the smart one out of the rest of them ound:

 

[Octobers Fade]

I just got my 72'' monopod ($14 shipped) and will be trying it out soon, breaks down to 22" so it should be easy to carry around.

 

[bobwadd]

Haha, I was better off then, I was the smart one out of the rest of them ound:

Hey now, watch yourself. :rofl: