Low Light Pictures

[James Wilson]

I have a Nikon D40 and have had problems getting good pictures just as it's turning dark. What settings do i need to have have to make the pictures show up?

Also what about pics of lightening at night?

Thanks

 

[Brandon Goforth]

It's pretty simple really. You're going to have to go wide open with the aperture and use a tripod as your shutter speed is going to be really slow to allow more light to brighten things up. I really never crank up the ISO because it gets too noisy. Go out some evenings and play around with it.

 

[Jim Saueressig]

Also what about pics of lightening at night?

I created this some time back in a hurry, see if this answers your question.


How to Take Photos of Lightning with a Digital Camera

Lemme know if you see something I missed.

 

[James Wilson]

Thanks so much Jim that was very helpfull.

 

[PFranklin]

Jim, thanks for the link to your lightning photography page. I am also in Kansas and have seen a number of your lightning shots on Flickr. It is very helpful to learn tips from some one so skilled.

 

[Eian Greene]

I have a Nikon D40 and have had problems getting good pictures just as it's turning dark. What settings do i need to have have to make the pictures show up?

Also what about pics of lightening at night?

Thanks

On my Canon Powershot A530 point n shoot, I've found that having the F/Stop at 2.8 and exposure time at about a second gives good results. Definitely use a tripod for any photos shot @ slower than 1/60 sec. Leaving the ISO alone reduces image 'noise' to an acceptable level.The beauty of digital cameras is this: you can experiment 'till you get the photos right.

 

[Brandon Goforth]

On my Canon Powershot A530 point n shoot, I've found that having the F/Stop at 2.8 and exposure time at about a second gives good results. Definitely use a tripod for any photos shot @ slower than 1/60 sec. Leaving the ISO alone reduces image 'noise' to an acceptable level.The beauty of digital cameras is this: you can experiment 'till you get the photos right.

IMO, for best results, I wouldn't hand hold anything slower than 1/125.

 

[Eian Greene]

IMO, for best results, I wouldn't hand hold anything slower than 1/125.

Very true Brandon. In "dummy" mode, you have auto image stabilization. When I'm shooting in manual mode, i normally free-hand with 1/250 and faster. Anything slower, is tripoded or otherwise kept stable and still. Because nobody likes ghost images in their photos!