The light of the night!

[ekimeno]

The night creatures were out and I was there to capture them... though doing so proved to be something of a disaster! As per my previous thread (http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=58594), I tried resurrecting shots that were suffering from under exposure by turning them into B&W... not sure how successful that was, but I think they were an improvement from the colour versions.

Anyway, the last half of the photos I took last night were actually the better ones, providing a bit more interest with the more colourful light illuminating the street folk a little better. I've tried these in B&W, and they definitely don't work as well as the colour ones.

C&C please, and thanks for looking.

ps - excuse the abundance of charming young ladies - the camera is strangely drawn to them for some unknown reason! :thinking:

1
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2142/2443561041_031641d626_o.jpg

2
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3222/2443561171_ea2e066ccd_o.jpg

3
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3284/2443561345_f2daa4e322_o.jpg

4
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2128/2444387864_58a7e064a9_o.jpg

5
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2329/2443561863_beb41d1d2e_o.jpg

6
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2262/2443562021_869dfd9b89_o.jpg

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http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2179/2444388340_72a9c7625d_o.jpg

8
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3133/2444388620_d7a17f99d3_o.jpg

[ekimeno]

9
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2038/2443562865_558ae74dbb_o.jpg

10
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2015/2443563023_5d6db14544_o.jpg

11
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3045/2443563413_bfe8475c25_o.jpg

12
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2149/2443563563_1b2bcaf454_o.jpg

13
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2220/2444389852_200ff8d956_o.jpg

14
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2056/2444390138_aab0127e38_o.jpg

15
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2396/2444390454_e7ac6eed72_o.jpg

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http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2279/2444390768_ed2ab30c41_o.jpg

[Theo Moore]

The problem is that night street photography is hard. There is simply not enough light for sharp pictures taken without a tripod. If you HAD to, you would need steady hands, a very fast lens (f/2.8 or lower), and preferably IS. And that's referring to not-completely pitch black sky (only an hour after sundown, say). An off-camera flash would help, but then you attract a lot of unwanted attention and flash photography is hard enough in usual conditions -- I've no idea how it would be done well at night.

If you're still intent on night street photography, I suppose you will need a fast lens (the 50 f/1.8 might do), and a monopod. Shoot at ISO 1600 and clean it up with noise reduction later. The rule of thumb is that you're shutter should be 1/focal length. So if you're shooting at 50mm, you need at least 1/50. Any slower and you'll get blurry shots. My advice, however, is stick to photos at or right after sundown.

(BTW: While f/1.8 sounds appealing at first, remember that the DOF is really shallow and night shots means you're camera will usually struggle to auto focus).

[King_Boru]

Just a quick note about the white balance. When I used to wonder off into the night with my old Nikon F80 I made sure I had some tungsten film in the camera. Those street lights produce a very strong nasty orange cast. You need to set your camera to counter strike this cast. This can be done manually or by setting one of the cameras automatic white balance modes. If set manually I would use anything below 3200k. Alternatively you can shoot RAW because this way you can change it in post processing but if you shoot 1000 shots it becomes a bit of a chore.

You will need a low light lens too. The 50mm f/1.8 primes are dead cheap or the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 for a little more money is worth the pop. Alternatively the newly released Sigma 50mm f/1.4 would suffice. Or if you prefer to stand further away an 85mm f/1.8 or f/1.4 would do the job. You can sometimes get away with shooting at ISO400 with some careful spot metering.

[ekimeno]

The problem is that night street photography is hard. There is simply not enough light for sharp pictures taken without a tripod. If you HAD to, you would need steady hands, a very fast lens (f/2.8 or lower), and preferably IS. And that's referring to not-completely pitch black sky (only an hour after sundown, say). An off-camera flash would help, but then you attract a lot of unwanted attention and flash photography is hard enough in usual conditions -- I've no idea how it would be done well at night.

If you're still intent on night street photography, I suppose you will need a fast lens (the 50 f/1.8 might do), and a monopod. Shoot at ISO 1600 and clean it up with noise reduction later. The rule of thumb is that you're shutter should be 1/focal length. So if you're shooting at 50mm, you need at least 1/50. Any slower and you'll get blurry shots. My advice, however, is stick to photos at or right after sundown.

(BTW: While f/1.8 sounds appealing at first, remember that the DOF is really shallow and night shots means you're camera will usually struggle to auto focus).

Thanks for this honest advice - it is well received. My street togging last week (http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=57473) was done at sunset, so there was still good light about, and was a lot more successful than last night's. Still, I ultimately would prefer night shooting and need to find the right lens and, of course, the right conditions to do this successfully.

Just a quick note about the white balance. When I used to wonder off into the night with my old Nikon F80 I made sure I had some tungsten film in the camera. Those street lights produce a very strong nasty orange cast. You need to set your camera to counter strike this cast. This can be done manually or by setting one of the cameras automatic white balance modes. If set manually I would use anything below 3200k. Alternatively you can shoot RAW because this way you can change it in post processing but if you shoot 1000 shots it becomes a bit of a chore.

You will need a low light lens too. The 50mm f/1.8 primes are dead cheap or the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 for a little more money is worth the pop. Alternatively the newly released Sigma 50mm f/1.4 would suffice. Or if you prefer to stand further away an 85mm f/1.8 or f/1.4 would do the job. You can sometimes get away with shooting at ISO400 with some careful spot metering.

Thanks for the advice on the white balancing - I usually just set it to 'Cloudy' and off I go. I'm sure to get my hands on a nifty fifty pretty soon, and the 85mm is already on my hit list.

[DiddyDave]

WB is easily the biggest problem with these shots - orange is NOT a good skin colour

DD

[Theo Moore]

I'm sure to get my hands on a nifty fifty pretty soon, and the 85mm is already on my hit list.

BTW, you WILL have trouble focusing the 50 f/1.8 in dark conditions.

Just a word of advice.

[Duckydoodle]

No advice from me just wanted to let you know I like the 2nd one of the old man smoking and the last one of the guitarist. They're not too bad focus wise but they have an honesty and intensity about them I really like :thumbs:
BTW wish I was as brave as you. Would love to do some street togging but too fearful :(