Urban Night Photography

[MantaMike]

I am fairly new to all this DSLR stuff, having just bought myself a Canon 350D i'm going to get my first opportunity to use it in anger this weekend and i'm looking for some good tips to help me get the best out of it.

I will be taking pictures of cars, both static and driving at night in an urban environment i.e. mostly street lit.

I only have the built in flash which might limit posibilities? and i have an 18-55 and 35-80 lenses.

What settings should i use to get the best shots? At this stage i don't really want to be using full manual settings.

Any help would be greatfully appreciated.

[SAM_R]

Use a tripod!!!

[iain_cam]

SAM_R said:

Use a tripod!!!

Probably your best bet, to be honest.

I personally like to avoid using the in-built flash, especially when photographing cars, as it can create streaks in the glass and paintwork, which can ruin the atmosphere of a night shot. So to combat flash use, you should use a low shutter speed on the shutter priority mode - but it will be difficult to get a blur-free image using slow shutter speeds with the camera in your hands - hence the use of a tripod. If a tripod is unavailable, try to find a support - be it a wall, kerb etc.

[imperialism2024]

The color of ambient light that shows up on the camera may not be what it actually looks like to you. So, if a car is under what seems to be a relatively white light, it may have a very strong yellow, blue, or even green tint to it. So be prepared to adjust the WB, or to adjust colors in PP.

[slartibartfast]

i have the 300D and love it, my advice when using flash is to set the white balance to flash instead of leaving it on auto (AWB) and also set the ISO to around 100 for night time photography to reduce the grain on the photo, you will of course need a tripod too.

i do a lot of astro imaging (connecting my 300D to a telescope) using the bulb setting, the high ISO settings are great for capturing images of dark objects but you definatly do increase the grain of the photo.

hope this helps

Paul