Shooting at Night?

[MariaJ]

1 hour ago, Ed Rooney said:

Maybe, but I don't think so, John. Both the files from the 100/6 and my a6000 come out as ARW . . . and both cameras say they don't support RAW in the Twilight setting. I don't know what to think, really.  

 

 

I checked my rx100 (mk1) and the files produced from the handheld twilight are only jpegs.  Just took a look them directly on the card.  Maybe you've lucked out somehow! 

[Ed Rooney]

I too see this as strange, John, but not so much as a problem. I will continue to inspect the final jpegs that I send to Alamy at 100%. 
 

Surely one of you far west Canadians can send me some of that fabulous wild Pacific salmon?  

Edited December 5, 2019 by Ed Rooney

[dlmphotog]

On 03/12/2019 at 23:59, Ed Rooney said:

It's winter, the days are short, and the holiday lighting is festive. I plan to do a lot of Night Photography in the next month or two. How about you?

 

When shooting film in the past, I always used a tripod at night. I preferred ASA 25 Kodachrome for the shadow detail and normally bracketed through a roll or two to make sure I got the best exposures. These days, with digital, I usually shoot handheld at night. I let the IS and higher ISO's do the work of the tripod for me. I can cover a lot more territory that way. Remember I'm shooting for Alamy editorial. I have 5 stars now, so I'm not in fear of failing QC.

 

I shoot RAW and reduce noise in LR and have my Sonys set at A or Night Auto or Twilight. Each works well but each gives a different look.

 

What do you do

 

 

It depends, I strive to use a tripod or found support with a low ISO if I can, if not high ISO hand held as needed.

 

IMHO... I find black sky in an image to be boring so I strive to to shoot the "Magic Hour" also known as dusk were there is still light/color in the sky. In a very large urban centers there is light in the sky all night but it is not as colorful as true dusk.

 

Here in the tropics the sun dives straight into the horizon and the "Magic Hour" is more like 10 minutes of ideal lighting. I was amazed to find that in Dublin Ireland in June the "Magic Hour" was not till 10:30am and lasted over 1/2 hour. An obvious fact... is dusk fades first in the East and last in the West so planning shots with this in mind helps extend your "Magic Hour" time.

 

This shot was done without a tripod but the camera was resting on a railing.

Edited December 8, 2019 by dlmphotog

[Marianne]

Ironically, while I can shoot handheld easily at twilight and into the blue hour, often even using a fairly low ISO thanks to lens/camera body stabilization, when I'm out in the woods at dusk, I often take a tripod since we have coyotes here in Westchester County NY - I've even seen one in my driveway - so I figure it doesn't hurt to have something to wave around if I need to scare one away, though they have thankfully ignored me. Took this on a tripod, low ISO at a state park near my house. It's close to where I saw another coyote even before dusk. 

 

 

Handheld ISO 2500 - Louisville Kentucky at night last January - night shots were the most colorful that time of year. Easily passed QC.

 

          

 

 

 

 

For shots like this, I need a tripod, and a black sky:

 

 

Edited December 8, 2019 by Marianne

[Marianne]

@dlmphotog

 

Love that tall ship photo!

[Malcolm Park]

I carry a compact tripod for night photography (Manfrotto MKBFR1A4R-BH), these shots taken using it with Nikon D850 and 24-70mm lens plus cable release. 100 & 200iso down to f10. Mix of 3 to 8 sec. exposures. The tripod will also take the heavier D5 and fits in a small rucksac.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Normspics]

When using the twilight mode on the Sony RX100 cameras at night what ISO do you generally use?

[MariaJ]

18 minutes ago, Normspics said:

When using the twilight mode on the Sony RX100 cameras at night what ISO do you generally use?

 

I thought that the camera chose the ISO when you were in the Handheld Twilight scene mode.   Or am I missing something?

[Ed Rooney]

 

If you're asking me, Norm, I have the ISO set at Auto with the range at 125 to 1250 . . . or sometimes a top of ISO 800. 

 

Malcolm, I have a very light but steady Slik Pro 804 Carbon Fiber tripod with a Leitz ball socket head that fits into a rifle sling and hangs almost weightless over a shoulder. I would have liked it to unwrap to a few inches taller. I abandoned several heavier tripods and other supports at my flat on Mulberry Street. 

 

Marianne, coyotes have really made themselves at home on the East Coast. Dogs and cats cannot be left on their own. Let me tell you what a woman who lived on Kodiak Island did when taking a walk near those giant brown bears: she carried a small can filled with tiny stones, which she would shake. Bears don't like that sound. My guess is that coyotes wouldn't either. Maybe Paulette has an opinion? 

 

This post has turned into a photo exhibit of people's night work. Very impressive. 😀

 

Edo

[Normspics]

Thanks Ed, I had mine set for 125 to 1600 on a Sony RX100V, I have noticed sometimes it only takes one photo and not three even though it’s on twilight handheld mode and other times it does the three shots. Maybe I’ll try setting the upper limit to 3200.

[NYCat]

2 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Marianne, coyotes have really made themselves at home on the East Coast. Dogs and cats cannot be left on their own. Let me tell you what a woman who lived on Kodiak Island did when taking a walk near those giant brown bears: she carried a small can filled with tiny stones, which she would shake. Bears don't like that sound. My guess is that coyotes wouldn't either. Maybe Paulette has an opinion? 

 

Edo

 

The usual advice in bear country is to be making noise to let them know you are around because if you don't startle them they have no interest in bothering you. I don't know about coyotes but probably any wild animal is going to be leery of us strange clothed creatures. The worst thing you can do is run. The saying is, "Only food runs."

 

Paulette

[Ed Rooney]

 

. . . or run a bit faster than the people you're with.

[Betty LaRue]

It’s said one doesn’t have to be able to run faster than the predator, but like Ed said, only be able to run faster than who your with. 😁.

 

That doesn’t apply to children, says the mother who once left her small daughter on the woods path when a large snake (humongous) crossed 12 inches away. I screamed, “SNAKE!” and the whole family group (15 women and children) I was with turned as one and ran the other way. I never knew my little 5’2” mother could run so fast.  The snake only frightened me because it was so close, and so suddenly appearing, that I nearly stepped on it.

 

To my credit, after three strides, I remembered my child, turned and grabbed her hand. And....awaaay...we went. That’s probably why, to this day, she has a phobia about snakes. I had to take my small grandsons into the herpatorium (sp) at the zoo while she sat on a bench outside.

 

See how easy it is to mark your children forever? Inject never-to-be-forgotten fear deep into their bones.  One mistake you can’t erase. 🥺

Betty

[jodyko]

3 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

That’s probably why, to this day, she has a phobia about snakes

 

3 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

 

See how easy it is to mark your children forever? Inject never-to-be-forgotten fear deep into their bones.  One mistake you can’t erase. 🥺

 

Maybe, but my daughter has an intense fear of snakes having had no such experience. Don't be too hard on yourself.

[Ed Rooney]

"Over 200 People Die From Snakebites Every Day. Snakebites, a hidden health crisis that kills up to 200 people around the world every day, is finally getting more widespread attention."

 

Why would anyone NOT have a fear of snakes? 

 

Paulette's furry friends? 

 

"Stephen Herrero, a Canadian biologist, reports that during the 1990s bears killed around three people a year in the U.S. and Canada, as compared to the 15 people killed every year by dogs."

[The Blinking Eye]

Great topic, thank you. I am very drawn toward shooting at night but not good at it. So this helps.

[The Blinking Eye]

On 08/12/2019 at 01:07, Malcolm Park said:

I carry a compact tripod for night photography (Manfrotto MKBFR1A4R-BH), these shots taken using it with Nikon D850 and 24-70mm lens plus cable release. 100 & 200iso down to f10. Mix of 3 to 8 sec. exposures. The tripod will also take the heavier D5 and fits in a small rucksac.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are gorgeous. Thank you.

[Betty LaRue]

13 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

"Over 200 People Die From Snakebites Every Day. Snakebites, a hidden health crisis that kills up to 200 people around the world every day, is finally getting more widespread attention."

 

Why would anyone NOT have a fear of snakes? 

 

Paulette's furry friends? 

 

"Stephen Herrero, a Canadian biologist, reports that during the 1990s bears killed around three people a year in the U.S. and Canada, as compared to the 15 people killed every year by dogs."

I believe it, Ed.  A dog is the only thing that has ever leapt for my throat. And it was my sister’s dog that I had petted and saved my meat scraps/bones for. It barked at me so loud my sister and I couldn’t hear each other. I lightly clapped my hands and said, “hush, Rebel” and it went for my throat. A German Shepherd. A chain stopped it inches to a foot short.  I was too busy turning white to measure.

[Allan Bell]

9 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I believe it, Ed.  A dog is the only thing that has ever leapt for my throat. And it was my sister’s dog that I had petted and saved my meat scraps/bones for. It barked at me so loud my sister and I couldn’t hear each other. I lightly clapped my hands and said, “hush, Rebel” and it went for my throat. A German Shepherd. A chain stopped it inches to a foot short.  I was too busy turning white to measure.

 

That should have been a warning not to get too near if it was chained up.

 

Allan

 

[dunstun365]

I shot a photo just after sundown handheld of my town centre & even painted out all logos etc. It was at a higher ISO but still looks very good at 100%. I.Couldn't use a tripod because there were some moving cars in the schene. Do alamy accept higher ISO shots if there's little noise / grain in the photo? 

[jodyko]

25 minutes ago, dunstun365 said:

Do alamy accept higher ISO shots if there's little noise / grain in the photo? 

Alamy accepts higher ISO shots provided the images passes QC. In the end its whether the technical quality meets their standards. If in doubt and seeing as you're just starting here I would recommend holding off and submitting images that you are very comfortable with. In time you'll get a feel for what's acceptable and the going will get easier. What you don't want are QC fails early on, (or ever really.) If you care to post a link to your pic in a way that forum members can view it at 100% you may get some opinions. 

[dunstun365]

2 minutes ago, jodyko said:

Alamy accepts higher ISO shots provided the images passes QC. In the end its whether the technical quality meets their standards. If in doubt and seeing as you're just starting here I would recommend holding off and submitting images that you are very comfortable with. In time you'll get a feel for what's acceptable and the going will get easier. What you don't want are QC fails early on, (or ever really.) If you care to post a link to your pic in a way that forum members can view it at 100% you may get some opinions. 

this QC thing is realy hard for me because my eyesight is not so good.  Still I'm getting realy good votes on photos on a competition site starting with 'Gu & people (other photographers) like my photos on another website (500)  but  their QC

is very tough (they lisense with getty images) & have hardly accepted any of my photos including one I just submitted here which I spent time painting out logos on a street picture. (I used to work in design many yrs ago) but had o learn digital design on my own.

The amazing thing is though Alamy is the Only site that has accepted any of my old slide film photos from the 1980s which have grain at 100% and less detail than most of my digital photos taken even with my old cheap sansung / Olympus point & shoot cameras

[Betty LaRue]

3 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

 

That should have been a warning not to get too near if it was chained up.

 

Allan

 

The dog was chained only to keep its poop out of the rest of the yard because of small children playing. He had free running and playtime every day in a fenced yard for a while after he did his business. He ended up biting my 5 year old nephew in the face during playtime and they gave him away. Should have done so after he went for me. I warned them no good would come but I was ignored. 

[Allan Bell]

3 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

The dog was chained only to keep its poop out of the rest of the yard because of small children playing. He had free running and playtime every day in a fenced yard for a while after he did his business. He ended up biting my 5 year old nephew in the face during playtime and they gave him away. Should have done so after he went for me. I warned them no good would come but I was ignored. 

 

That is the trouble with "doggy people" their pets can do no wrong.😖

 

Allan

 

[Betty LaRue]

2 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

 

That is the trouble with "doggy people" their pets can do no wrong.😖

 

Allan

 

I was a doggy person for years, but they were small dogs that only bit a flea! 😂