Night time photo. Beginner!!!!!!

[abigail k]

Hi There. I'm a 31yr old mother of two and i have started in a new course for photography. I own a cannon rebel xl 100od and i'm only getting uesd to some of settings. I love the class and as homework we were asked to take night shots of bulidings with out flash. I.ve set the camera on "p", and when i go to take a shot it just won.t fire. I waited for the beep to tell me it was in focous and i had it on a trypod and nothing. Then i put on the flash just to see and the flash just kept flashig very fast bot no shot taken. Then at one stage it took a shot but it took ages to fire. like the shutter opened but ages to close that i thought the camera was broken. The image came out all blurred. I'm going back to class 2 morrow night and i hope that i'm not the onlyone with this proplam. ...I'm going mad that i have no pictures.

[Gaurav Prabhu]

Why not try with MANUAL mode?

[shutterbud]

Were I a betting man, I'd bet a shiny nickel that there's not enough light for your camera to find a point to focus on.

If that's the case, I'd suggest two things:

Number A: Assuming your camera's metering system is in the center (where the red dot blips when you push the shutter release halfway), try to focus on a high-contrast area of the building you're shooting, such as the point where a light surface meets a dark surface — a window frame, light, etc.

Once your lens is happy and focused, switch your lens to manual focus (so your camera won't try to refocus when you press the shutter release halfway to take the shot), recompose, and fire away.

Second-like: If that doesn't work, and you're using a zoom lens, switch your lens to manual focus, zoom in on a high-contrast area of the building, manually focus until it looks crisp in your viewfinder, then zoom out, recompose, and fire at will.

If you get a workable shot, then start experimenting by, say, putting your camera in shutter priority (Tv) and trying some longer exposures or, like GP said, try messing around in manual (M) mode and see what kind of fun results you can get.

Good luck. Hope that helps! It'd be great to see your results.

[shiraq]

one suggestion. take the manual , read, and experience.

[Chip]

To follow up with what shutterbud said, can you find a building that's close to a street light or that's not in too dark of an area?

Doing so should (1) help your camera focus and (2) make for shorter exposures (since there's more light, the shutter doesn't have to be open for too long).

I'd also recommend either using a tripod or setting the camera down on something solid, like the ground, the roof of your car, a low wall, a bench, etc. This will help keep the camera still while the shutter is open, and you'll have less blur in your shots.

Also, as shiraq mentioned, reading the manual and getting to know all your camera's attributes and limitations will help a lot as well. (Good luck finding time to read the manual, though, with your 2 kids. )

Good luck.

[teaking]

Great tips about low walls and car roofs great places to rest your camera. Its all about longer shutter speeds so your going to want to be in TV shutter seed priority or manual mode. If your in TV mode get your focus point and try different speeds with your camera on a tripod or rested on something and see which gives you better results. The manual will help you understand your camera features better. Other than that there are some great tips ant tutorials on this site but a little more in depth and Manual mode is used.

Good luck

[eric.carson]

One of the thing a beginning photographer forgets about is ISO. I know, I'm a beginner and I forget about it all the time! I take pictures in broad daylight at ISO 1600 (EGADS!) and screw up shots at night on ISO 100! My woe with ISO has only become less with expirence and training myself to fully understand and cross-check the camera setting BEFORE shooting!

I seems like your ISO or the sentitivity of the camera to light was very low, resulting in the long exposure.

The "Strobing" of your on-camera flash was merely the camera trying to shed a little light on the situation so its auto-focus sensors could gauge the distance. Best to use manual focus at night!

I hope I helped!

[rhoraq]

eric.carson- what do you think the iso should be on if your shooting at night? I'm confused when it comes to iso. Should it be raised lowered?

[candleman]

lowest iso possible at night

make sure you dont hand hold the camera.. use a tripod or sturdy surface like a rock.
use the self timer to you dont "bump" the camera.

long periods of being open id normal.. it just means the camera needs to take in more light to get the image. (its called slow shutterspeed)

[BryanC]

Maybe it's just me, but I can't help from thinking that the helpful information you are getting from the previous posts should have been covered in the class before sending you out on that assignment.