Advice Needed on How To Take Animal Photos at Night

[LynnDA]

The town near me is being used in a film (not a major one, a french low budget one) and next Saturday, according to my daughter, they will be using wolves. I'm planning on going there to see if I can get any shots of the wolves going through the centre but I haven't done much night photography let alone trying to get moving animals. Can anyone give me any suggestions on what settings etc to use to get the best results.

[Doug Sundseth]

It will all depend on the light. With the sort of hot lights that filmmakers often use, you might be able to shoot with normal settings. I would try to hold at least 1/125 second shutter speed, or shorter if you're trying to catch running animals.

If the light is dim, open as wide as you can, set your shutter speed to stop as much motion as you want, then push your ISO as high as you need to. You can (to some extent) fix high-ISO noise; you can't fix motion blur in post.

[LynnDA]

It will all depend on the light. With the sort of hot lights that filmmakers often use, you might be able to shoot with normal settings. I would try to hold at least 1/125 second shutter speed, or shorter if you're trying to catch running animals.

If the light is dim, open as wide as you can, set your shutter speed to stop as much motion as you want, then push your ISO as high as you need to. You can (to some extent) fix high-ISO noise; you can't fix motion blur in post.

Thanks Doug, I'll see what the lightings like. Hopefully I'll be able to get fairly near and get some good shots and if I do I'll post them.

[nkd26889]

The town near me is being used in a film (not a major one, a french low budget one) and next Saturday, according to my daughter, they will be using wolves. I'm planning on going there to see if I can get any shots of the wolves going through the centre but I haven't done much night photography let alone trying to get moving animals. Can anyone give me any suggestions on what settings etc to use to get the best results.

I bet it was an awesome experience, wasn't it I wish I could see the wolves for real just once. I like that animal