Lowl light photography-OR- how to take pix of a tiki bar

THought I would open this topic up.

Tiki bars are dark, right? Right. So, being a novice photographer, I'm curious how some of you are getting such wonderful pictures of tiki bars. I cannot seem to get the exposure settings right. So I thought I would start this topic as a way for myself and others who are interested to hear how best to photograph in low light conditions. I am particularly impressed with Frank Tiki's photos from the Tiki Magazine release party at Tonga Hut. If anyone has tips, I would love to hear them.

[ Edited by: Digitiki 2006-12-04 09:15 ]

I know with 35mm cameras if you have an adjustment which will vary the shutter speed (slower to admit more light onto the film, and tripod), and you use high speed film (more silver), you can get better images. But hey who uses 35mm cameras anymore? As far as digital, I'm still scratching my head on that one.

Low light photography is difficult, film or digital. Your eyes have such a dynamic range, and adjust so quickly, that normal scenes appear... well, normal.

To the film, a single light in a dark room will either end up making the room look dark with the light exposed properly, or the room exposed properly, with that single light over exposed. You can play with this during printing or editing, but you can only do so much with what you have captured.

Here's an older shot of our home bar
Note that the bar itself appears ok to under exposed, but the neon lights and lcd tv are over exposed. This was taken on a tripod, and I could have followed this with a second shot but at a faster shutter speed, so that the lights would be exposed properly. Then, edit both photos together to get all of the image to look nicer.

Here's a shot I took of the las vegas strip from the roof of an off-strip hotel... a 15 second exposure at f/13.

Here's one with a 2 second exposure at f/8.

For me, when photographing in low light, I really take the time to look at the scene, see what's going to "pop" and possibly make it difficult to capture what I want. If you can adjust the scene by moving a light, or masking it with something in front, or even shooting multiple pictures and editing together afterwards, you'll probably end up with a better picture.

You'll want to use a camera that does well in lower light. Some digitals are good at it, some are not as good and cause more noise (similar to a grainy older picture). You'll want something still to shoot from, either a tripod, table, railing, something. You'll also want to take the picture without touching the camera, such as using the self-timer or a cable. Even the motion of pressing the button can cause an image to look blurry.

Hope this helps! I'm sure others will chime in with other ideas too.

-adrian

Mobile,
Your Vegas pix are great! Forgive me for sounding like a total novice, but the F speed, the lower the number the smaller tha apeture-is that right?

MARK

On 2006-12-07 10:26, Digitiki wrote:
Mobile,
Your Vegas pix are great! Forgive me for sounding like a total novice, but the F speed, the lower the number the smaller tha apeture-is that right?

MARK

Opposite actually. The higher the f-stop number, the less light that comes in, meaning the smaller the aperture.

So a properly exposed photo taken at:
ISO 100 (speed of film or sensor)
F5.6 (size of aperature, bigger number = smaller hole)
1/500 second (amount of time light permitted through the camera)

Would also be properly exposed at:
ISO 100
F8
1/250 second
The aperature change from f5.6 to f8 means 1/2 as much light gets in. The shutter speed change from 1/500 of a second to 1/250 of a second means twice as much light gets in.

-a

Ahhh, I'm beginning to see the light...so to speak. That is VERY helpful! THANKS!

No problem. Try it out and post some pictures!!

Here are a few more low-light ones:

WWII monument:

WWII monument:

Washington memorial:

WWII and Washington:

Lincoln:

Las Vegas - Mandalay Bay - Red Square:

Las Vegas - Mandalay Bay - Rum Jungle (I'm the one in the middle, camera sitting on the counter with timed exposure):

Las Vegas - Paris:

bump

Hey Slacks, was this bumped because of my crappy pic's??? :(

Yeh, I wouldn't mind a bit more info. on the topic. Could use a little updating.
Thanks for the bump even though I feel it was direct attack!! :wink:

TabooDan

I am a terrible novice when taking pictures and doubt I will ever be any good at it. For some reason (user error I am sure) my digital camera is not moving back into picture taking mode so I have to use my cell. Not a great option @ 3.2 pixels, but any helpful hints on how to get the best picture out of it would be appreciated?

Also, can anyone re-post on the broken picture links above? Having the accompanying pictures helps make sense of the explanations.

On 2011-01-02 14:01, TabooDan wrote:
Hey Slacks, was this bumped because of my crappy pic's??? :(

Yeh, I wouldn't mind a bit more info. on the topic. Could use a little updating.
Thanks for the bump even though I feel it was direct attack!! :wink:

TabooDan

Nah. Not intended as an attack. A helpful nudge perhaps. I just saw your post and wished I could see your changes/updates as you see them...

I struggle with low-light photography too. I remember getting real helpful suggestions from TC'ers when I was at the Waldorf in 2005. Thing that helped the most was to choose the "P" setting on your digital camera (at least that's what it is on a Canon)increase the aperture (or ISO? am I saying that right?), turn off the flash and hold that sucker real steady (or better yet, use a tripod)...

...mind you that's all the way I do it...I'm sure there's better ideas out there.

I'd love to see further discussion on this topic. I just received a new digital camera for Christmas and am just starting to use it. I tried taking pictures in my basement tiki bar, and some came out okay but most didn't. Obviously I have to play with light settings and learn how to frame my subject properly. What you see is not always what the camera sees. :P

Me too! Somebody here must know the secret.

I have read that Canon cameras are good at low light imaging. Our Panasonic Lumix has a "Starry Sky" setting that will keep the shutter open for 15, 30, or 60 seconds. Have only tried it for that purpose.

I shot this with a Panasonic Lumix with the setting just set for "Intelligent Auto".

Here are some pics taken with a Canon 50D. Sigma 30mm 1.4 lens.

Hapa Haole Hideaway

Jungalero Lounge

This one was taken at 14mm. f4.0. +1/3EV.

Molokai Bar. 10mm F3.5

Mai Kai

If I have access to a tripod (or something I can rest the camera on) and not much movement in the area I'm shooting, I shoot at as low an ISO as I feel comfortable, and depending on what I'm trying to do, I either crank my f-stop up so that I have great depth of field, or I lower it so that I can get shallow DOF. I tend to shoot on Aperture Priority, but find myself oftentimes going to full manual. I also find that in some situations, bumping the exposure value up a third or two thirds gives me a little better light so that I can see the darker details. My 1.4 prime lens does a great job of gathering light, and at 3200 ISO I can handhold the camera up to 1/30 and sometime 1/15 depending on how much I've had to drink. :) The new Trader Scott's is going to be a challenge to shoot, because of the blue lights, but I have plenty of time since all I have to do is go downstairs.

BIG PANIC!!!!!1! BUY BATTERIES!!!

[ Edited by: phinz 2011-01-08 08:56 ]

[ Edited by: phinz 2011-01-08 09:02 ]

On 2011-01-08 08:55, phinz wrote:
Here are some pics taken with a Canon 50D. Sigma 30mm 1.4 lens.

$1,400 camera, $500 lens. Behold! The secret to low light photography :D

Seriously though, great shots. Now how do I make my iphone take pictures like that?

Seriously though, great shots. Now how do I make my iphone take pictures like that?

Get a tripod for your iphone!

On 2014-06-26 11:33, MaukaHale wrote:

Seriously though, great shots. Now how do I make my iphone take pictures like that?

Get a tripod for your iphone!

Exactly it is not just helpful but required to have no movement at all, and that's with any camera, movement = blur.

The iPhone 6 is rumored to have an image stabilized lens, which should help cut down on motion blur.