Night Shots

I enjoyed watching other peoples’ shot taken in late afternoon or night. I was reading a lot about this theme and I knew I did not have any chance to take nice shots without a tripod. I bought a tripod and there were nothing, what would stop me going to take photos.

In the articles, I found an often-mentioned phrase named as “blue hour”. Blue hour is the end of the afternoon or the beginning of the night, when the sky has wonderful blue color. According to other articles, the sky has many colors from the red to the blue color. Then what is the blue hour? Honestly, I have no idea. I do not know, but it does not have a real meaning. I will explain why a bit later.

Well, I grabbed my camera and went out to the street at about 7PM. I found an interesting subject, the building of the parliament and set up my tripod. There was nothing to do just to wait for the blue hour.

I decided to take shots during waiting. It was a very good decision, because while I was busy with settings of my camera, I realized the color of the sky was changing in every second. Some minutes later, I realized that car owners switched on headlights and the street lamps started to work.

I was taking photos, as many as I could, the lights and the colors was changing permanently. I do not know if the blue hour arrived or not. I was too busy to listen to it.

I can suggest you to take photos when you see the subject is beautiful and do not care of the blue hour. However, you must hurry because the lights and the colors of the sky changes very quickly. You do not have second chance. If you miss something, then you must come next day to compensate your failure.

It is worth to use small aperture (the biggest value), then the lights radiating from the lamps look like a stars. Usage of big aperture size convert sthe light of the lamps into a ball.

I mentioned in the previous post that I preferred AV mode of the camera. This case the AV mode is not the best solution. It worked well until it did not become very late. Later, my camera could not find the proper shutter time related to the selected aperture size. The capture remained very dark. The best solution for the night shots is the manual mode. You probably use tripod, so the settings can be done easy, as you can use both your hands.

On the first day, the sky was deep blue on my shots. Later, I can capture the sky having reddish and bluish tones. They were beautiful, also. As I mentioned the colors of the sky would change permanently. But, do not forget, any light is essential to take shots. If your photos remain hopelessly dark, then you have to find a lighter object with lamps. Alternatively, maybe, it is the time to finish taking shot for today. The black sky does not look nice on the photos, even with awesome floodlit building. You will know when the day will end. :)

I like some abstract photos. Playing with the lights and the part of the building makes excellent conditions to take such shots.

Shooting Modes

The real photographer never use automatic mode. The professional photographer takes shots only in manual mode. I often hear such sentences. It is interesting that I read many books written by professional photographers and I never met such sentences in their books. It is also worth wondering why the cameras have many shooting modes and why some of them are called creative.

I decided not to listen to people who demand other to use only manual mode. I admit the manual mode is extremely useful and it cannot be avoided in some situations. Furthermore, I admit taking photos in manual mode is cool and it has unique atmosphere.

In most of cases, I prefer aperture mode (AV). This mode gives me freedom over DOF and it help me in calculation the related shutter speed. I welcome this help. However, the calculation sometimes does not meet my requirement. In this case, the setting the exposure correction illuminates the problem.

I sometimes decided to capture in Program AE mode. For example, when I was too excited to waste time with camera settings or in case of landscape shots. A week ago, I found a fantastic scene. Imagine a large cornfield on a small hillside with a fresh green tree in its middle. I jumped out of my car and take some shots. I realized that the shots were not taken according my will only at home, some hours later. I wanted sharp spikes in the foreground and the sharp tree in the distance. The automatic module of my camera did not know it and only the spikes became sharp in the picture. So, I will remain in the aperture mode to avoid such problems.

Of course, there are cases, when the only solution is manual mode. In night photos, the camera settings will not be the best. I usually take macro shots in manual mode, too. Please, understand I am not against the manual mode. I sometimes like it. Just I like to use the features of my camera. It is big help for me. Usage of AV mode prohibits me to listen to other useful things, like the subject of the photo or the composition.

Moon

In January, Moon and the Venus stood very close to each other. It was very beautiful and I wanted to take a shot of them very much. That time, I had LC50, which has creative modes. The only problem was that I had never used any of creative modes and I had no idea how to do this. I was disappointed during taking photos. The moon looked very small and it looked like a white – yellow patch on the photos, without the detailed view I liked on other peoples’ captures. The only acceptable captures I could make were shots from the distance.

Therefore, I was very happy, when I received SX10 camera. I was sure that I would capture the Moon in its beauty. So, I grabbed the camera and went ahead. I took shots and I became disappointed again. I do not even paid attention on the size of Moon. It was not necessary, as there was only a white patch on the photos.

There was nothing to do but reading what I did wrong. Some articles later, I realized that I did nothing wrong and it was the problem. I had used automatic mode of the camera including autofocus.

I made a try again. At this time, I used manual mode, as the articles said. Moon looked nice!

Now, after taking dozen shots of Moon, I know that the most important thing is manual focus. Auto focus modes do not work properly and Moon looked like a patch nothing more. So, before taking shots, set your camera to manual focus mode and set the distance to infinity or beyond the infinity. You will realize the result at once. If you take shots late night, then setting the focus manually is enough to take good photo of Moon. Its size was a bit disappointing. But what to do. I have to accept the limits of the camera.

However, I recommend using spot metering mode and select the most wonderful colors changing the white balance. Finding the right aperture and the shutter speed makes your capture better.

If you want to capture great craters then you better to take shots of growing or decreasing Moon, when the light reaches its surface from the side and makes pretty shadows. Look at the moon pictures, you can see nice crates only on the inner side of Moon. Full Moon is also great but you hardly will find cool craters on it.

I like these photos. I wanted more. I wanted the background to be blue instead of dark. It seemed very easy. I just must go out afternoon when there is not night and Moon is on the sky. I met new problems taking shots of early Moon. In this case, settings of aperture and shutter speed are essential. Forget about the viewfinder; the LCD screen is your only friend now. It is worth verifying the captures after the shots. The lights are fragile and checks are indeed important.

The last advice is the most useful. Always use tripod unless you are a superman.

Viewfinder

I knew much of the theory of taking nice shots. It is good, but it means nothing if you do not have the proper practice and if you have poor knowledge of the camera you have. Believe me; it is my personal experiment.

I grabbed the camera and went out of the room to take photos. I shot some images. I was not content with the result. My camera drew nice pictures. Even so, the photos were not cool. My first wall picture was a simple wall, nothing more. At this time, I could not handle the focus settings of the camera. That was one of the reasons of failing.

It took much time until I found out the source of failure. There were unnecessary parts in the photos. Can you see the earth above the wall? I did not remember if I had realized it during taking the photo. After hundreds of shots, I learned that the problem was around the viewfinder. I did not like the use LCD screen of the camera. However, it has live view functionality. The resolution of the viewfinder is too small for my old eyes. :)

I suggest you to look your viewfinder or LCD screen very carefully if you do not want to waste part of the shot cropping out disturbing parts.

In my opinion, this wall looks better.

Taking Possession Of The Camera

Thus, I am a proud owner of the Canon PowerShot SX10 camera. I opened its box and admired my new beauty. When I was moving it, I could hear a soft clack from inside the camera. I turned it on and the disturbing noise stopped. I switched it off and turned the camera slowly. I heard clacks again. There was nothing to do but to call the call center of the shop. A lady with lovely voice told me that it sounded like a serious problem. She suggested returning the camera as soon as possible. It was evening, after the traffic jam time. I sat into my car and went back to the shop.

The shop assistant was moving the camera as I told to move and was looking at me with a question on his face. He could not hear the noise until I did not pay his attention on it. He started to smile and explained that this clack came from the auto focus system of the camera and it was in good order. Thus, do not worry of the clack if your camera is switched off. It was my first adventure with the auto focus system. :)

I took some shots to try if the main functionalities of the camera worked well. Then I continue reading the manual. I read almost all except the focus features, as this part was large and I was too lazy. Now, I know it was a mistake. I should have read the manual to save time and not to be nervous in the future.

Choosing The Camera

I was browsing the Internet and talking with my friends to learn as much as possible. It was the race against the time. I read more and I wanted to have a camera sooner. I decided to buy Canon camera instead of Nikon. Why? It is not simple. I did not care much of advertisement. It was clear that marketing of Nikon was far better than marketing of Canon. Having good marketing always makes me revisit my point of view. I felt that more people had Canon camera. But, I warn you; do not believe emotions. Choose your camera manufacturer alone. I did and I believe I mad a good choice.

I learned that there were 3 types of digital cameras:

• compact,
• bridge and
• DSLR.

I did not want a compact camera. The budget allowed by my wife made possible to buy Canon PowerShot SX10 or Canon 450D (Rebel XSi). The real answer was to buy a bridge or a DSLR camera. I knew that DSLR better. At this time, I knew about the better quality of drawing pictures. DSLR has changeable objective, which made this hobby more expensive.

My choice was the bridge camera, Canon PowerShot SX10. After 3 months of photography, I can tell you that my decision was right. I could try landscape, portrait, macro, bird and everything I wanted photography. To try these all with DSLR I had to spend dozens of money to buy objectives. If I had bought DSLR kit, then I would have had a break. Because, having only one objective is very hard limit.

Comparing SX10 with my old LC50, I have to admit that a new world opened for me. I had to admit also that I would buy DSLR camera, now. I still do not know how to explain it to my wife.

Taking shots with SX10, I sometimes thought that I reached the limit of this camera. Then I learned that it was not too, I just had to improve my skills. However, it is possible that I indeed reached the limit of SX10, now. :)

Beginnings

I always liked to take pictures. However, I never did. When I was a child, I had a Smena 8 M camera. I bet only few of you are familiar with this type. It was made in the USSR for children. I remember how much trouble I had with its settings. I usually set the distance and the force of the light. If you became interested in reading more of this retro camera, then follow one of the next links: on www.rus-camera.com, www.sovietcams.com.

I gave up taking picture. I do not know why. Probably, the difficulties with the settings without knowledge and the long time of development soured a child like me. I forgot the photography for many years.

Next time I met photography was about 15 years later, when I work, after graduating. I beheld a digital camera Kodak DC20. It was not very expensive; my wife allowed me to buy it. :)

This camera was more interesting than useful. From one hand, I liked IT, from other hand it was a point and shoot camera and there was not need to develop captures. I enjoyed this camera. It was great technical achievement at that time, but it was only a toy. Time to time, I took pictures, but there were more important things in my life. I put aside the photography again.

Some years later, I received Panasonic DMC-LC50 camera. This compact camera is a good one, it was especially great in some years ago. I took pictures occasionally of my friends. I did not love photography; it was just a hobby on holidays.

I captured nature, too, but very rarely and I did not think of the art of the shots.

I always wanted to capture people. My wife does not like to be my model. Once, her sister arrived to us and I learned that she was a born model.

The holiday elapsed and forgot about the photography until I behold an advertisement on the Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd camera. It was very cheap and my love to photography resuscitated. My wife and I were on the shop. When my wife read the name of the manufacturer, she started to protest. She demanded me to buy a Nikon camera. I was not sure, because the price of the cheapest Nikon camera was about 3 times higher then the FinePix. I adjourned buying a camera. I had to gather more information before saying goodbye to dozens of money.

The Goal Of The Blog

I am a newcomer hobby photographer. I started with simple aiming and clicking the exposure button. Then I descended deeper in the world of photography and I realized how difficult to take good shots.

Reading about the photography and taking pictures are very different. I often forget something during capturing. Practice is very important; I strongly believe in it. Almost every book, article of photography is very theoretical. I have only one book giving practical advices.

Trying to have more practical suggestion, I joined some photographer society web sites. I am from Hungary, so it was obvious that I registered in Hungarian web sites. It was not the best idea. I found 2 good society sites, but I became disappointed. On the first site, there was a requirement to write criticism to some photos to gain the right to upload one. How many comments should you do before uploading? I do not know. Maybe 50 or 100. It was very uncomfortable to write criticism a photo made by a photographer better me. I was newbie and I joined to get knowledge. I was unable to write good comments. Do not forget such comments like “Great shot” or “It could be better” are ignored.

The other site was a nightmare. According the rules every people can upload one shot per day. It sounds good, does not it? Unfortunately, registered users are envy. I am sure some of the self-appointed leaders enjoy to laugh at newbies instead of help. Looking some very good shots and reading the rating the shot receive, I thought that these people just did not want any competitors. The system of comments allows to give rating without any word.

I left this community, when one of my pictures received 2 of 10 and when I asked about the problems with my shot, nobody could tell a single problem. Now, I know that this shot is far from perfect. But, I know why. Giving poor rating and being unable to say the reason is very common in this site, especially if the photographer is not one of the self-appointed leaders. It is not very good to say but this is a typical pattern of behavior among us, Hungarians.

Then, I found the flickr. It is a great site and great community. I am very happy because I joined. However, there is a problem. People on flickr are very gentle; you will not receive much criticism. Development is very difficult without criticism.

In this blog, I would like to share my experiment gained in practice. I will not give advices; I will not tell the right way how to take perfect pictures. The reason is simple. I do not know the right way; I am searching for it now. I just share with you what I did and how I did. You can decide to follow my methods or you can improve them.

I will be very thankful for your comments, suggestion. :)