First attempt at "night" pictures

[bjtindle]

I have uploaded 2 photos, the first time I have tried to take photos at night, period.

The first one is my niece, who volunteered. I converted to black and white to minimize the flash in her face. (And there is a lot of it!!)

The second one, is well, self-explanatory, she fell asleep, I would be dead if she saw this on here! Also converted, not because of flash, only to make the picture appear softer.

I am especially interested in tips on how to take night photos! I used my Concord Eye-Q Duo 2000 digital. Any suggestions, tips would be greatly appreciated!

Betty

P.S. Looked at post after posted, didn't realize the first one would come out so huge!! Sorry!

[gahspidy]

Hey Betty, I think your niece has a really interesting face and makes for a great subject. I like the first one. You framed this really well. I like the tight crop and the way you put her over to the right side of the frame with the black space on the left. Black and white works well here, but the image is not sharp. Also, I am assuming this was taken with the in camers flash, whaich makes it blow out too much. A better flash system, one where the head can swivel and bounce flash off the ceiling or wall and adjust its output for the situation, would have worked beteer here. butsomehow I like it anyway as it is, I think it just needs to be sharper.
The second one I think does not work too well as your point of view is not great. But still, she has an interesting look and makes the photo appealing. good efforts, keep experimenting and having fun!

[Elysian]

Gary said about everything I wanted to say about shot #1. It's a good shot, but the highlights are too bright (you'll lose details and it's distracting) and the shot is too blurry.

The reason why shot #2 doesn't work is because it's a "look at my lovely niece" shot, it's too personal.
The viewer has no personal connection with your niece, so the only thing he/she sees is someone sleeping, so you need to do more to draw the attention of the viewer. Try to focus a bit more on your body position. Climb onto something, bend your knees, go flat on your belly if you have to, because it can make an image so much more interesting. Now it's more of a snapshot, an "enter room, click, leave room" shot, that's how most viewers will look at it. Just experiment. It's always important to look around, observe the environment, move positions, analyze, before you look through your view finder, of course, only if you have the time to do that ;)

Thanks for sharing.

[bjtindle]

Hey Betty, I think your niece has a really interesting face and makes for a great subject. I like the first one. You framed this really well. I like the tight crop and the way you put her over to the right side of the frame with the black space on the left. Black and white works well here, but the image is not sharp. Also, I am assuming this was taken with the in camers flash, whaich makes it blow out too much. A better flash system, one where the head can swivel and bounce flash off the ceiling or wall and adjust its output for the situation, would have worked beteer here. butsomehow I like it anyway as it is, I think it just needs to be sharper.
The second one I think does not work too well as your point of view is not great. But still, she has an interesting look and makes the photo appealing. good efforts, keep experimenting and having fun!

Yes, it was an in camera flash, on the digital. In color parts of her face looked, gee, I don't even know how to describe the color. Her cheekbones and stuff were that color, most of the reason I changed it to b & w, hoping it would tone it down a little. The flash was literally seen!!! I don't think it is suppose to be. Plus, since she volunteered she pretty much stuck her face closer than I intended. I was still kind of pleased with it, considering.

Second one, I thought the same thing. When I saw that she had fallen asleep I thought of all those "angelic" photos of sleeping children and wanted to try. I think those are closer too aren't they?

I was having fun!!! How do you make the flash bounce off the ceiling or wall while trying to get the subject in the picture? Shoot, forgot, we were outside in my backyard on the first one too. Flash is still a BIG mystery to me.

Thanks for letting me post my experiments.

Betty

[bjtindle]

Any suggestions on how to become better with the flash? As I told gahspidy flash is a mystery to me, as are night pictures. I want to keep trying, and it is blurry, you are right. Now that I look at it closer. Out here when it is dark, it is dark, and I don't even know what to try to take pictures of!! There are no "city" lights or anything. Just porch lights and a few street lights. Town is about 4 streets wide by 4 streets long.

No personal connection, that does make sense. She's my sweetie, my "cornnut", her name totally dissected and re-arranged, Courtney. I do see what you mean and the position too. Makes sense. When I took the second picture I was afraid I would wake her, I should have kept trying, she didn't even flinch when the flash went off. Thanks for the tips, I will try to remember them and incorporate them. Thanks for the kind words.

Betty

[bjtindle]

I forgot... Gahspidy...she really is beautiful, the pictures do not do her justice at all. Not just the "crowing" aunt either. When we lived in Las Vegas I would take her places. People would stop me and comment on how pretty she is, a few times I noticed that after people would comment they would kinda follow. It would freak me out. (Did NOT happen with my other nieces, no offense to them, they are beautiful too). Courtney is exotic looking, especially to me, in my family we are all blondies, bald till three etc...she is/was none of those. "Stunning" "Gorgeous" "Beautiful" stunning was the most disconcerting word to me in relation to her because she was about 3-5 years old when this word was used, I am use to associating "stunning" to older women. If I can get her on photo and have it do her justice, then I will be doing good as a photographer! Just a side note.

Betty

[gahspidy]

Well, you may have a good team then. Being you are ready and willing, and have a good eye and lots of potential behind the camera. And she having extraordinary features and character making her an ideal subject, you have a good combo there.
As for the flash thing, I'm no expert either. the type of flash I'm refering to is a Speedlite type system that is also mounted on the camera Hotshoe but has the abilty to swivel its head allowing you to direct the flash up down or sideways to bounce off wall or ceiling which takes away that "flash" look and appears more natural lighting. I'm not sure if your camera has a hotshoe or not. I'm fairly sure that your slr does though.. But being you were ouitside in pitch blask darkness, would be difficult anyway. You could try standing in front of the window of the house where the light from the house inside might highlight her face, and have her be still and snap some shots in that more soft lighting. Experiment and have fun.

[bjtindle]

As for the flash thing, I'm no expert either. the type of flash I'm refering to is a Speedlite type system that is also mounted on the camera Hotshoe but has the abilty to swivel its head allowing you to direct the flash up down or sideways to bounce off wall or ceiling which takes away that "flash" look and appears more natural lighting. I'm not sure if your camera has a hotshoe or not. I'm fairly sure that your slr does though.. But being you were ouitside in pitch blask darkness, would be difficult anyway. You could try standing in front of the window of the house where the light from the house inside might highlight her face, and have her be still and snap some shots in that more soft lighting. Experiment and have fun.

I am ashamed to say I have not purchased a flash for my SLR. On my way to San Diego I am stopping in Salt Lake City and a friend of mine is going to give me one of hers that she doesn't use anymore because of some new-fangled thingamabob she bought to replace it. If I take pics in front of the window would I still need to have the flash go off? (I think so.....right??) Anwyay, thank you very much for your help. I do appreciate it.

Betty

[bjtindle]

Gary said about everything I wanted to say about shot #1. It's a good shot, but the highlights are too bright (you'll lose details and it's distracting) and the shot is too blurry.
Thanks for sharing.

I did attempt to sharpen the photo, it looks much better, can't get rid of the highlights tho unless there is some magic in Paint Shop Pro that I do not know how to use yet which is entirely possible. It did help the photo quite a bit.

Betty

[gahspidy]

I would try it with and without. Also, make sure the flash your friend gives you is compatible with your camera. Lighting and use of flash is such a complicated area, you could find and ask for help with this in the Help forum. Look forward to seeing more shots of yours . . .

[Chunk]

I did attempt to sharpen the photo, it looks much better, can't get rid of the highlights tho unless there is some magic in Paint Shop Pro that I do not know how to use yet which is entirely possible. It did help the photo quite a bit.

Betty

The sharpness here has to come with the exposure, not in the software afterwords.
You may have been inside the camera's minimum focusing distance in which case you would want to switch to a macro setting if it has one of those.
Another thing to do is to stand further away and zoom your lens to fill the frame. This might also give a less blown out flash exposure. Also - the longer focal length can generally give a better, less distorted facial image. The portrait experts can tell you what focal length to use, but I think that 80-110 (35mm equiv) is good for portraits.

[bjtindle]

The sharpness here has to come with the exposure, not in the software afterwords.
You may have been inside the camera's minimum focusing distance in which case you would want to switch to a macro setting if it has one of those.
Another thing to do is to stand further away and zoom your lens to fill the frame. This might also give a less blown out flash exposure. Also - the longer focal length can generally give a better, less distorted facial image. The portrait experts can tell you what focal length to use, but I think that 80-110 (35mm equiv) is good for portraits.

My niece was VERY close, she couldn't resist! I had no choice in the matter. She was there before I knew it, thereby helping my photo become blurry. The 80-110, I will have to read my manual on my digital again to become more familiar to the f-stops and exposures. Haven't tried to figure them out on the digital yet as I am still learning them on my Chinon. I had a feeling that if she were further away the flash affect might not have been so bad. That is ok, one thing about digitals, can try over and over without developing and can erase the booboos. I especially like that feature!

[bjtindle]

I would try it with and without. Also, make sure the flash your friend gives you is compatible with your camera. Lighting and use of flash is such a complicated area, you could find and ask for help with this in the Help forum. Look forward to seeing more shots of yours . . .

I will make sure the flash is the right one for my camera. I hadn't bought one yet because I wasn't taking many night pictures, I have since found it would be nice, for example the pictures I took of nieces and nephew at spring concert. Icky yellow lighting and a bit dark to boot. Live and learn. Thanks for the pointers!

Betty

[gahspidy]

I will make sure the flash is the right one for my camera. I hadn't bought one yet because I wasn't taking many night pictures, I have since found it would be nice, for example the pictures I took of nieces and nephew at spring concert. Icky yellow lighting and a bit dark to boot. Live and learn. Thanks for the pointers!

Betty

Betty,
Flash is a great thing to have at most times of the day. Especially in the middle of the day with bright sunlight , the flash is used to fill in the shadows and avoid avoiding a shot with too much contrast and shadows caused by such strong harsh sunlight.

[bjtindle]

Betty,
Flash is a great thing to have at most times of the day. Especially in the middle of the day with bright sunlight , the flash is used to fill in the shadows and avoid avoiding a shot with too much contrast and shadows caused by such strong harsh sunlight.

Oh. I don't know what to say. I had no idea. During the middle of the day? I need to find a good, good book. Thanks for the BIG tip!

Betty