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02-16-2011, 06:41 PM   #1
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It's night time and I'd like to take my little girl out for some night photography

I never did any night photography, what can I shoot at night? Stars? I only have my K-7 & kit lens with me, I have another one which I left in Paris... I can't see any stars at the moment and it is 2AM... Any advice will be much appreciated. No unfortunately my tripod is also in Paris. I suck, I know.

02-16-2011, 06:48 PM   #2
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Well, there are street scenes, lighted buildings, moving vehicles head light / tail light trails. No tripod makes long time exposures a bit hard.
02-16-2011, 06:52 PM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by blackcloudbrew Quote
Well, there are street scenes, lighted buildings, moving vehicles head light / tail light trails. No tripod makes long time exposures a bit hard.
Ah, I'm on campus, town is a 1 hour walk
02-16-2011, 07:43 PM   #4
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Silhouettes: and just have your girl pose.

02-16-2011, 08:19 PM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by psychdoc Quote
Silhouettes: and just have your girl pose.
Another reason why I need a girlfriend!
02-16-2011, 08:24 PM   #6
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Okay, I got one shot, it is noisy and sucks. Haha, there it is.



I did my best with a kit lens and no tripod. Well, well, there were no stars tonight. Just this Blue Moon.

Yes, I am a fan of the Marcels.

[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzG7bPRZvMk[/YT]
02-16-2011, 08:55 PM   #7
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You do not necessarily need a tripod. What you need to do is to....
  • Find something that you want to shoot.
  • Find something solid to place your camera on so as to help hold it steady. You might want to use a bag of rice from the store to sit the camera on.
  • Placing the camera, aiming it, and then gently push the shutter.
  • Take a look at the image, and adjust the shutter time, ISO and aperture to get the best picture you can.
A tripod would help, and an external shutter release, along the lines of this...
Also, you can just take a picture of whatever at night. It does not really need to be lit up. If you need to go over 30 seconds, there is always the bulb mode for what ever duration you wish. The kit lens is just fine. You really do not need a fast lens, just extend the shutter time. I too have a K20 - it works just fine and most of my shots are in the evening - low ambient light.



02-16-2011, 09:08 PM - 1 Like   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by interested_observer Quote
Find something solid to place your camera on so as to help hold it steady. You might want to use a bag of rice from the store to sit the camera on.
How many lbs? White? Brown? Parboiled? Basmati?
02-16-2011, 10:04 PM   #9
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You could buy a cheap flash and use multiple off-camera bursts during a long exposure to "paint" with light on buildings or whatever. Expect to be questioned about it :-)
02-17-2011, 12:20 AM   #10
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I use rocks, railings, fences, lamp posts, cars, walls, the ground, and anything else that's handy to steady or support my camera when I'm too lazy to carry a tripod on walks at night. The self timer is a handy way to keep the camera from moving when you want to trigger long exposures.
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