Holiday Photo Tip: How To Take Great Outdoor, Night Holiday Photos c2014 by Al Willen Shown above: “Finally Home” c2013 by Al Willen. Do not distribute without prior written permission. All rights reserved. From a photographers point-of-view, this is one of the best seasons for taking photos: outdoor, night-time scenes involving lots of holiday lights. The obvious problem is that light is the “fuel” that drives great photographs. And while outdoor night-time scenes are bright, they may not be as bright as one would wish. This situation is exacerbated by our instinctual belief that “if its dark we need to use flash.” And this is absolutely not true. In fact, the use of a flash gun for outdoor night-time holiday photos would completely negate the resulting image/mood of the photo. So the first thing well need to do is forget about taking a photo with flash on. If something is “self illuminating” (i.e. a holiday light), we never use flash on it. (There are a few master-level exceptions, involving an advanced technique called “Low Intensity, Slow-Sync, Second Curtain Flash.”) * If possible, pick a prime lens (i.e. not a zoom lens) with a fixed focal length. Prime lenses produce clearer, sharper, and better exposed photos than variable-focal length lenses. Additionally, they almost always have a wider aperture (i.e. smaller f-stop number) than zoom lenses. (My best zoom lens has a maximum aperture of only f 3.4. My best prime lens has a maximum aperture of f 1.7, which means it is “fast” and can “see” in the dark a lot better.) * You should also use the shortest lens you have, such as a landscape lens, as these will have better low-light capabilities than your – lets say – 300mm telephone lens. Physically “move into” the scene to compose it. * Also, if at all possible, invest in and use a tripod. I am unusual in that I can perfectly hold my camera still at 1/15th of a second. (My personal record is 3 seconds!) But most people start shaking their cameras if hand-held for longer than 1/60th of a second. These types of shots require you have shutter speeds around 1/20th of a second, thus youll probably need a tripod/monopod … or you will incur blur. * When you get to an interesting holiday display, do a pre-composition to make sure that all the picture elements you wish to capture are framed properly. (And that no, or little of the things you dont want in the photo arent there.) * Then start with a “baseline” for shutter speed (i.e. 1/60th second), aperture (i.e. f 5), ISO (i.e. 200), White Balance (i.e. Average White Balance), Focus Mode (i.e. spot), and Metering (i.e. Matrix). The baseline settings are a good starting place, but now its time to “fine tune” your settings. You do this with your instinct … with the built-in tools incorporated into your camera (i.e. light meter, Depth-Of-Field meter), and by taking lots of “test shots” if necessary. There are three main culprits now challenging the photo: (1) because of the low light, itll be hard composing the photo, and getting a focus lock (2) the exposure will be too dark (3) and the exposure will have a narrow Depth-Of-Field. Photography is all about compromises. It is your job to discover the best optimal settings for that particular situation and scene, without compromising the artistry of the shot. * If available on your camera, use BOTH the viewfinder AND the LCD screen. (Toggle back and forth.) I almost always use the viewfinder, but in no or low light situations like this one, youll need to go into a “Live View” LCD mode to view the parameter variables and focus on the subject. (I have a small key-chain light with me which I use as a “modeling light.” It lights the scene enough so that I can auto-focus or manually focus, and then I “lock onto” that focus before taking the shot.) * Inevitably, the exposure will be too dark. So slowly make the shutter speed slower (i.e. from 1/60th second to 1/20th second) … and slowly open up the aperture (i.e. from f 5 to the maximum aperture of your lens f 1.7). * At this stage, chances are, youll still be significantly under exposed. So it is time to increase the ISO (aka sensor sensitivity). You dont want to just jack it up to the maximum ISO supported by your camera, because if you do, youll introduce noticeable background noise and artifacts into the photo. So, again, increase it slowly. * Finally, youll get to a point where your exposure is good. But, unfortunately, there is still a few more important things to consider. The main consideration is Depth-Of-Field (DOF). What is “Depth-Of-Field?” A simple answer is the distance before the object youre focusing on PLUS the distance after the object youre focusing on. You see when you focus on an object, youre really only focusing on a specific focal plane. Every object before and after this focal plane has its own focal plane. That means that your lens – the optics – and the electronic controls within your camera determine how much space before and after the object you are about to shot is in focus. That total amount is called “DOF.” If you are standing directly perpendicular to the front of a house all decked out in lights, the DOF can be set to a more narrow range because there isnt as much depth involved. But a much larger DOF will be needed if you are standing at the houses corner, and trying to shoot both sides of the house. To get both sides in perfect focus, youll need to increase the DOF. To see an example of this, lets use a Canon 7d camera with several different settings. If I use a 50mm lens, with an f 2 aperture, with me being 10 feet from the subject, the DOF is only .91 feet. Thats only 11 inches … or 5.5” before and 5.5” after the spot youre focusing on. Not enough DOF. But if physically back away from the subject and/or close down the aperture to a larger f-stop number and/or use a shorter focal-length lens, youll increase the DOF; absolutely necessary in outdoor shots. So, using the same example as above, a Canon 7d camera with a 30mm lens, a f4 setting, and you being 25 feet away from the object youre focusing on would increase the DOF to 54.4 feet; ensuring that both sides of the lit house will be in perfect focus. So how do you know which of these settings to change? For seasoned photographers, instinctually knowing how to juggle DOF variables becomes almost second nature. For the rest of us, we can rely on your cameras DOF calculator (for some higher-end cameras) or DOF apps on your cell phones. So, the procedure would be: * Get a preliminary frame composition. * Start with a baseline reading for your main variables. * Start juggling the aperture/shutter speed/ISO speed settings until you have a good exposure. * Get the bare minimum DOF needed for your particular situation. (You dont need an “Infinite” DOF if you only required that a few feet before and after your subject needs to be in focus.) * Juggle the aperture/shutter speed/ISO speed settings until they “work” with the DOF you need. * You may also want to giggle the white balance (i.e. average white balance to a different color tone.) * Focus on the subject … take the photo … review it in the camera to see if it meets your expectation. OK, this all sounds very complicated. It is. But after you start taking these types of photos, youll be able to set everything up in less than one minute per shot. And, more importantly, your shots will become spectacular. P.S. For the photo above, here were my settings: Canon 7d camera (1.6 crop ratio), Canon 28mm prime lens, 1/20th second, f 1.8, NO FLASH, average white balancing, no tripod; hand-held, spot focus, pattern metering mode, complete manual mode, distance to subject within 5 feet. NO POST PRODUCTION. (What you see is what came out of the camera.)
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 00:17:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015