Taking my camera out this weekend and need some advice (Page 3): Your best shooting will be just after sundown. You want enough light in the sky so that it is not blacked out, but not...

DrPhrogg Loc: NJ

brenz wrote:

I'm going out this weekend to Dana Point Harbor to see the lights.
I have a Canon 6D and will be using my 24-105 lens. Could I please get some advice on what my settings should be and should I use my flash. Thanks

Your best shooting will be just after sundown. You want enough light in the sky so that it is not blacked out, but not enough to overwhelm the lights you want. You should get between 20-40 minuted of ideal light.
go to the search feature at the top of this page and enter "shooting Christmas lights" If you are shooting other lights, the advice will me about the same.

smith934 Loc: Huntsville, Alabama

DrPhrogg wrote:

Your best shooting will be just after sundown. You want enough light in the sky so that it is not blacked out, but not enough to overwhelm the lights you want. You should get between 20-40 minuted of ideal light.
go to the search feature at the top of this page and enter "shooting Christmas lights" If you are shooting other lights, the advice will me about the same.

I've shot them well after the blue hour with good results in years past.

jfn007 Loc: Close to the middle of nowhere.

Mr. PC, that is great advice you posted. I shall have to try it. never thought of using one of the auto settings as a starting point.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

I did a Google search before I went out and got the following for starters:
Tripod
Manual mode
Manual focus
ISO 800
F5.6
1/8 sec
AV off
Live view

Got some great pictures last night. If I did it over I'd stop down more for greater DOF. I also used zoom in Live view to focus, that really helped. Had to vary the shutter speed once in a while depending on how far away my main subject was. Reviewed each shot before moving on.

2nefoto

your question clearly implies you are a new to photography. in that light, it is probably best for you to trust the camera. set you ISO to 800, put the camera in auto or program, push the shutter have fun.

in the future, your questions need to be a clearer e.g. describe you lens fully e.g 24-70mm 2.8 or 18-105mm 3.5/5.6

this allows us to know your equipment parameters. a bit more detail on what you intend to photograph also helps

IShootEverything Loc: TN

Never use manual focus in low light or dark shoots. I was told to use MF in a once in a life time shoot and I blew it because I used MF. Trust me your camera will do a better job at focus in the dark than you.

I know MF was the problem and here is why.
I did a set of shots with AF then MF then AF again.
So the first and last set of shots were great but I missed the best part of the shoot because the camera was not in focus. Please don't loose out on great photos like i did. Use AF
Hope this helps

Iron Mike Loc: Phoenix, Arizona Metro Area

Ishootcanon wrote:

Never use manual focus in low light or dark shoots... (show quote)

Yes all that. Plus practice wouldn't hurt. Trial run. Experiment with settings. These new fangled cameras have "trash" buttons that can delete all unwanted trial shots from memory - not like you have to invest in film and processing - and throw it all away.
I think one should practice, if possible, before once before shooting once-in-a-lifetime events.

IShootEverything Loc: TN

Iron Mike wrote:

Yes all that. Plus practice wouldn't hurt. Trial run. Experiment with settings. These new fangled cameras have "trash" buttons that can delete all unwanted trial shots from memory - not like you have to invest in film and processing - and throw it all away.
I think one should practice, if possible, before once before shooting once-in-a-lifetime events.

I will agree with you. But I (in my case) couldn't practice because it was on short notice.