shooting in the dark: I am shooting a Halloween event in a totally dark environment except for the scary scenes. I have to do shots of children in a wagon coming down a dark road. My...

issa2006.

I am shooting a Halloween event in a totally dark environment except for the scary scenes. I have to do shots of children in a wagon coming down a dark road. My zoom of course won't have anything to focus on so do I set it to a high f stop and use a little flash. There will be a lot of action that I will need to capture so I have to use the fastest shutter speed possible
Thanks for the help.

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

issa2006. wrote:

I am shooting a Halloween event in a totally dark environment except for the scary scenes. I have to do shots of children in a wagon coming down a dark road. My zoom of course won't have anything to focus on so do I set it to a high f stop and use a little flash. There will be a lot of action that I will need to capture so I have to use the fastest shutter speed possible
Thanks for the help.

A dark street and action, (yuck), but a great challendge!

Depending on the situation/distance, you will need an off camera flash. That will give you the needed light to stop action.

To keep the Halloween "feel", on the flash unit(s), I suggest using a colored gel of your choice. Probably a creepy red or midnight blue or another.

With this you might even want to put a unit directly on the wagon sort of as back or mood lighting.

You might want to practice first with other objects on another day/night and get things the way you want.

Good luck. It sounds like a lot of fun!

fosis Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Why don't you spend less than $50 and get a Cowboy Studio radio-signal transmitter and receiver for a remotely located flash that you could place down the road near where the kids walk? A side-lighted flash would stop the action and permit a constant focal location that you could preset. And the telephoto would bring you right to where you need to be. I'd recommend limiting the flash "spread" to the area above the ground, to preserve the darkness but light the figures.

BassmanBruce Loc: Middle of the Mitten

I hope to see you post some shots of this!

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

My best Halloween photography/videography effort came by attaching a small, strong Fenix E 12 LED flashlight on the bottom of my camera. I used velcro.

It never got very many views, so maybe I'm the only one that liked it!

You can watch it here:

https://vimeo.com/133766121

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Would help to know more about your equipment. But the idea of an off camera flash (or two or three) is good. It is also another scary item for the kids. You could also use a higher f-stop with a flash allowing for a greater DOF. You could pre-focus and lock it in. Set up on a tripod with a remote shutter release so you do not have to touch anything. Again, knowing a little about your available equipment would help.

issa2006.

Thanks for all the ideas-wish me luck.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

issa2006. wrote:

I am shooting a Halloween event in a totally dark environment except for the scary scenes. I have to do shots of children in a wagon coming down a dark road. My zoom of course won't have anything to focus on so do I set it to a high f stop and use a little flash. There will be a lot of action that I will need to capture so I have to use the fastest shutter speed possible
Thanks for the help.

I would strongly suggest a powerful LED softened flashlight, and use spot metering on your camera.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I have these links about focusing in the dark.
https://www.lightstalking.com/how-to-focus-in-low-light/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPBpOk_40lU
http://www.kadamsphoto.com/nightphotography/night-photography-tips-infinity-focusing-in-t...
http://starcircleacademy.com/2010/09/focussing-howto/

Take a picture in the dark.
http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2015/03/29/how-to-take-photos-in-the-dark1

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

jerryc41 wrote:

I have these links about focusing in the dark.
https://www.lightstalking.com/how-to-focus-in-low-light/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPBpOk_40lU
http://www.kadamsphoto.com/nightphotography/night-photography-tips-infinity-focusing-in-t...
http://starcircleacademy.com/2010/09/focussing-howto/

Take a picture in the dark.
http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2015/03/29/how-to-take-photos-in-the-dark1

Jerry, here's an addition that I have done.

A couple years back, I photographed a special 24 hour vigulance by County Police to honor the fallen five. This is where they shared standing at parade rest for those who died in a senseless killing of military people in Chattanooga, TN.

I photographed this at 2am without a flash and only a couple distant streetlights. Being there was so little light available, the auto would not work. In my favor was that there was no action.

What I did was to dial in the approximated distance on the marked footage on my lens, a Pentax 50mm f: 1.2.

Using f: 1.2 is very difficult to begin with do to the lack of dof. It sounds easy but was not. Eventually all worked but I had to find several ways to find distance. I ended up counting the equally spaced markings on the cement walkway from eight to 25 feet.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

issa2006. wrote:

I am shooting a Halloween event in a totally dark environment except for the scary scenes. I have to do shots of children in a wagon coming down a dark road. My zoom of course won't have anything to focus on so do I set it to a high f stop and use a little flash. There will be a lot of action that I will need to capture so I have to use the fastest shutter speed possible
Thanks for the help.

Radio-triggered off camera flash, preset location to focus on established when there is light. And lots of practice before the event. You will only get one chance at this. Shoot raw to maximize dynamic range, and use an aperture that will best handle the depth of the subject, or shoot from the side. The speedlight burst will be short enough to freeze a hummingbird's wings, so it should have no issues with kids. If you are well-rehearsed, you may be able to establish two points to focus on and mark them with tape on your lens. This will double your opportunities, but it will likely require two speedlights. It's a good challenge. Post the results.

Daryl New Loc: Wellington,New Zealand

If you are using Canon gear,set dial to M and use built in flash.

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

bsprague wrote:

My best Halloween photography/videography effort came by attaching a small, strong Fenix E 12 LED flashlight on the bottom of my camera. I used velcro.

It never got very many views, so maybe I'm the only one that liked it!

You can watch it here:

https://vimeo.com/133766121

I think the light worked very well. Lots of crazy people there, I'll say! That's the fun of Halloween!
Thanks for sharing the link.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

I think the OP is looking for an option which allows those coming in to be in the dark right up until the picture is taken. Which is why the pre-focus and off camera flash idea still seems closest to solving the problem.

craig.j.tucker

When I was a kit in the 60's our old fashioned hay rack rides ended with a big bon fire.

Trust me, fire is your best light for Halloween photos