Advice needed, night time shot of a church

[jezza l]

Hi guys

I’m after some advice for getting a good photo of a church at night time. The church has many lights coming from the ground and shining up on it’s walls and it looks amazing. I’ve brought my tripod and Eos 400d to work so after work tonight I can try and get a great photo of it. Never tried taking a photo like this before so just thought I’d post to see if there is anything I should do. I will play about with the settings while I’m there to see what works best. Thanks

[David_G]

Stick it on Aperture Priority mode and select a small aperture - like f12 or something.

ISO100 for low noise.

Let the camera choose the shutter speed. Put it in timer mode as well, so you don't shake the camera as you press the shutter release. Does the 400D do mirror lock up? If so, use that.

[megy]

Might be worth, if possible getting to the church around dusk time, so that you get the oppertunity for getting it with a dark blue sky(if lucky, maybe even a hint of red) rather than just a black sky.

[spitfire-ian]

David_G said:

Stick it on Aperture Priority mode and select a small aperture - like f12 or something.

ISO100 for low noise.

Let the camera choose the shutter speed. Put it in timer mode as well, so you don't shake the camera as you press the shutter release. Does the 400D do mirror lock up? If so, use that.

Ah so that's the key to it. I've been trying to take some night/dusk shots recently and have no idea what I'm doing with aperture/shutter speed.

[David_G]

the priority modes work well if you want a long exposure.

[TonyHetherington]

When you put it in aperture priority and set it to f12, for example, it will then keep the shutter open for as long as is necessary to use the metering you have on the camera. Works very well, and should get you some good shots. HOWEVER, this is using the metering on the camera, which at night time might not be exactly what you are after; so, don't be scared to put it into manual, leave it at around f12, and have a play with the shutter speed. Normally slightly longer will get you some suprisingly nice results.

Agree with also using the timer; you will have shutter open a long time so any shake will be noticeable. So if you don't have a remote switch then put the camera on the 10-second timer. It is slightly frustrating 10-seconds but it means at the point of the shutter opening you have not touched (and therefore moved) the camera, introducing shake.

ISO200 or even 400 will be fine too without enough added noise to introduce frustration!

[jezza l]

Thanks for the replies.

I had'nt thought about the the timer but that makes perfect sense and i shall certainly do that (need to get a remote switch!!). I believe the 400d does have mirror lock but i'll be dammed if i can find out where it's set!

Megy: Sadly i can't get there before dark, although i may visit it again at the weekend around dusk depending on how well these photos come out.

If tonights photos come out well i shall share them on here.

[megy]

Mirror lock up is, if yours is the same as the 10/30D, in the custom functions, accessed through the menu screen.

[UKBob]

I thought mirror lock up was helpful for sensor cleaning, why would anyone want to lock up the mirror, when the mirror moves for the exact/correct amount of time during a long shutter release? (sorry, I know its been mentioned before, I still dont have the foggiest)

[TonyHetherington]

jezza l said:

(need to get a remote switch!!)

Check out this thread;

www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=109&t=320157

which I asked the same question a couple of weeks ago. I bought the ebay one referenced and it did the job perfectly for my fireworks shots

Regarding mirror lock up- I understand that to be the equivalent of 'bulb' mode. i.e. you hold it open for as long as you want? Bulb mode can be found at the extreme of the shutter speeds (i.e. just keep going!!)

[UKBob]

TonyHetherington said:

Regarding mirror lock up- I understand that to be the equivalent of 'bulb' mode. i.e. you hold it open for as long as you want? Bulb mode can be found at the extreme of the shutter speeds (i.e. just keep going!!)

Why would you want to do that though, or is it for specialist situations? I imagine the precision timing of an exposure would be suitable, and when it isnt the camera could be set to over or under expose by as many stops as necessary, though, right?

[David_G]

UKBob said:

I thought mirror lock up was helpful for sensor cleaning, why would anyone want to lock up the mirror, when the mirror moves for the exact/correct amount of time during a long shutter release? (sorry, I know its been mentioned before, I still dont have the foggiest)

apparently the action of the mirror flipping up can cause vibration - not what you need with a long exposure when using a tripod.

[TonyHetherington]

I used bulb mode for all of those fireworks shots I took - it gives you good flexibility (the remote switch was essential and also had a handy locking device on it so you didn't actually have the button pushed down the whole time).

So, in the case of extreme light/dark situations like that you can open the shutter, keep it open, keep it open, keep it open, birhgt light happens (like lightning) then close it. Otherwise if you open the shutter at the time you see the event it's too late.

[megy]

Mirror lock up works to reduce vibration, and when used with the timer works well.

the mirror will move up before the shutter process starts, therefore is locked up for the whole time that the important image capture is happening.

when used in normal press to take mode, you will compose the shot, then the mirror will move up, then the camera will take the shot, when the shutter is closed again, the mirror will then move back, like a 3 step process, as oppose to the single fluid process of all working at the same time. As has been mentioned, this will reduce the ammount of vibration when taking a long exposure shot.

You can also set it, although i dont knwo how, so that as soon as you turn mirror lock up on, the mirror is locked up from that point.

[UKBob]

Ahh, that explains it, thanks guys

I was envisioning a shutter release function which was operated manually through the menu, without regard to correct exposure

[megy]

Have thought of a better way to explain it, mirror lock up on the menu splits the process into 3 distinct stages:

mirror moves and is locked up
image capture happens
mirror lock is released

Even with the smallest of time durations between stage 1 and 2, will reduce the ammount of vibration.

[TonyHetherington]

Anyone have an idea where that is in the menu of a 20D? I don't recall that function, and I did spend a rather unecessary amount of a Sunday afternoon reading through the whole manual

[UKBob]

TonyHetherington said:

Anyone have an idea where that is in the menu of a 20D? I don't recall that function, and I did spend a rather unecessary amount of a Sunday afternoon reading through the whole manual

It 'might' be labelled mirror lock up, and might be at the very bottom of the scrollie thingy, which is roughly where it is on the 30D.

[TonyHetherington]

Hmmm. Ok maybe it's me being dumb I'll look more tonight! I'm going to do some long-exposure shots tonight at a local power station and so this is exactly something I would use.

Thanks

[megy]

If its the same as on the 30D, which i am assuming it is, and working totally off memory here, its in the custom functions facility of the menu screen, CF 13 seems to ring a bell.