How would you Photograph Lantern Festival (Page 2): We were there a couple weekends ago and to me the biggest challenge was working around the people. There were literally thousands of...

Jacks Fork Loc: Boonville MO

We were there a couple weekends ago and to me the biggest challenge was working around the people. There were literally thousands of people shuffling along the sidewalks so you will need to work around that.

hpcon Loc: Riverside, Ca

I agree as well.... awesome picture.
I looked up the LACF in Pomona and could not figure out when they had the Luminasia show... Can you give insight as to how to get to see this lantern show? What nights/dates is it offered?
Thanks... And how about a few more shots of those awesome colors...

ib_joe_59 Loc: St. Louis, Mo

Great news!
The summer exhibit's lights will be extended 1 week and on display from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Aug. 24-30. The acrobatic show will not be extended and will end Aug. 23.
Weather permitting this is a very colorful display.

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

Mogul wrote:

This may sound rather sophomoric, but keep your left hand UNDER the lense, keep your elbows in tight and keep the camera firmly braced against your head. Gently press the shutter. These basics can give you a 1 to 2 stop advantage in exposure. Also remember that a little noise resulting from a higher ISO is not always a bad thing.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

Skneemiller wrote:

Thanks Sherman A1, Someone else mentioned going earlier too, so I am going to try and do that. They did have a night where you could pay to walk around with a professional photographer and use your tripod and get his help with settings but I missed that.

If you can set up burst mode, sometimes in a situation like this you can get one or two out of 6 or 8 that are acceptable focus.

Primary issue is to PRACTICE taking pics in low-light and as slow speeds BEFORE you get there. Go out tonight and practice on street scenes in the downtown area WITHOUT flash to somewhat simulate your potential subject matter. This way you can refine your technique for holding the camera, take a deep breath and SLOWLY press the shutter button and HOLD it until the exposure finishes. It is amazing at how good you can get with a little practice. I used to just find dimly lit subjects in the downtown and practice. It has been quite a while since I have worked on this type of shot but used to be able to get 1/4 or 1/2 second shots hand-held with a 200mm or 300mm lens. My current digital allows me to get that slow also, especially with stationary subjects.

Bill Houghton Loc: New York area

You will Have a great time, Just keep your elbows in tight and shoot away. I have left the EXIF files intack, these are untouched, hand held taken with my Wifes Fuji and My old Nikon D40X.

Fuji

(Download)

twillsol Loc: St. Louis, MO

Skneemiller wrote:

The Missouri Botanical Garden has an event that has been here most of the Summer it is called the Lantern Festival and it is brought over here from China. They have multiple structures that light up. The Garden will not allow mono or tripods at the event. What type of camera settings would I need to use. in order to capture these beautiful structures.

Are you a member of the St. Louis Photography club?

They have a couple of meet-ups there every year and someone will be more than happy to assist you.

Skneemiller Loc: O'fallon, Mo

twillsol wrote:

Are you a member of the St. Louis Photography club?

They have a couple of meet-ups there every year and someone will be more than happy to assist you.

Twillso, I follow the meet up page for them but have not made it to an event yet. They are doing the City Museum on Sunday, unfortunately I am on call for work on Sunday.

Skneemiller Loc: O'fallon, Mo

Bill Houghton wrote:

You will Have a great time, Just keep your elbows in tight and shoot away. I have left the EXIF files intack, these are untouched, hand held taken with my Wifes Fuji and My old Nikon D40X.

Bill, thanks for your input. I am excited to go and try my hand at photographing the structures. Hopefully the weather cooperates!

Skneemiller Loc: O'fallon, Mo

Wahawk wrote:

If you can set up burst mode, sometimes in a situa... (show quote)

Wahawk, thanks for the advice. I will try to practice if time allows. Very excited to give this a try.

Toment Loc: FL, IL

SharpShooter wrote:

I would use a fast IS lens or a fast prime, like a 1.4
Also, do your shooting before it gets completely dark so the ambient light can help you. The lanterns themselves might be surprisingnly bright.
Also, you can use Tv +/- 100 on Auto-ISO, that way you're not always cranked way up.
On manual, the light intensities might be different everywhere you point your camera! Good luck. ;-)
SS

Good answer. The time just before dark after sunset is ripe to capture equivalent light!

Sherman A1 Loc: St. Louis, MO

Skneemiller wrote:

Thanks Sherman A1, Someone else mentioned going earlier too, so I am going to try and do that. They did have a night where you could pay to walk around with a professional photographer and use your tripod and get his help with settings but I missed that.

Best of luck, I hope the weather works out for you this week. We had great weather last Thursday evening & it was enjoyable. Be sure to take time and get the story of how all the displays were built from one of the volunteers and don't delay the festival is in it's last few days. Enjoy!

RAR_man Loc: stow, MA

i used to live in Singapore and their Lantern Festivals were outstanding. Never a problem photographing. Often photo'd using ambient light. A few were lost to the shakes so a tripod would be good. Generally their own light was enough for nice memories. Tripod would be nice but experiment and i think you will find that there is enough light with most of today's cameras. I've attached some pix.

Singapore Lantern Festival (1)

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Singapore Lantern Festival (2)

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Welder fabricating steel armature for "lantern"

(Download)

Skneemiller Loc: O'fallon, Mo

Jacks Fork wrote:

We were there a couple weekends ago and to me the biggest challenge was working around the people. There were literally thousands of people shuffling along the sidewalks so you will need to work around that.

Jacks Fork, I have heard the crowds can be hard to work around. I am hoping that since the show should be gone but they extended the stay that maybe crowds will die down a little.

Skneemiller Loc: O'fallon, Mo

RAR_man wrote:

i used to live in Singapore and their Lantern Festivals were outstanding. Never a problem photographing. Often photo'd using ambient light. A few were lost to the shakes so a tripod would be good. Generally their own light was enough for nice memories. Tripod would be nice but experiment and i think you will find that there is enough light with most of today's cameras. I've attached some pix.

RAR_man, I like your pictures, the Venue for the festival will not allow tripods or monopods, you have attend on a night reserved for photographers and pay more than a regular admission to get into those nights. I think I will go earlier than I was planning.