Can anyone with a digital camera help me?

[d43boy]

Hi everyone,

Heading to WDW in a few months and this will be our second time with our new Canon Powershot digital camera.

My question: How in the world do you get those gorgeous clear night shots of say, Cinderella Castle or the ears at MGM?

Every time we took pics of cindy's castle or spaceship earth or whatever at night, the pic looked like the object was barely lit! What setting do I need to have the camera on to let more light in the pic? Any tricks?

Also, does anyone know anything about the fireworks setting? When I used this during Wishes, the pic was blurred. I think I am doing something wrong.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Still kind of new to digital cameras!

Thanks!:wave:

 

[T0TFan]

Tripod!!!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Tripod or rest your camera on a solid (brick wall) surface.

Then use a shutter priority setting - say between 1 or 2 seconds and experiment that way.

 

[Skylinecar1982]

it also helps alot not having a compact camera. Most compacts lack the features to capture great night pics.

And also what T0TFan said about a Tripod. When taking night pictures your shutter speed on your camera should be really slow. So the camera has to be really still. Maybe your camera has a setting for night shots. Maybe its a half moon or something. Look in the manual. If you dont have it do a search on google. Or just search how to get good night shoots on google.

Good luck

 

[Gorjus]

See if your camera has night mode and night portrait mode. Night portrait will be a picture of a guy with a moon/star next to his head. Night mode will usually be a moon. Some cameras call it firework setting or twighlight as well.

For those settings, the camera has to be on something solid like a trash can or fence or a tripod. The lens is going to stay open longer, so hand holding the camera will only make it blurry.

If you just leave the camera on auto, the flash will go off because it is dark, but that is not enough time to light the castle up. That is why your photos don't show the castle.

Night portrait mode uses a flash so the people are lit up, but also leaves the lens open long enough for the castle to be lit as well. This is for taking photos of the family with the castle or hat or ball behind them.

For night photos without people in it, you want to be sure the flash is OFF. Night/twighlight/fireworks setting is good for this. That will allow the lens to stay open and capture the castle or the fireworks, or both. However, as stated before, the camera needs to be on a trash can, fence, tripod, or something solid.

I hope this helps.

 

[righttrack]

Tripod and Photoshop the pics later to brighten them.

 

[bgraham34]

I neve like to edit my pics. I feel like If it was not perfect when I took the shot it wont be perfect and that I really did not take the shot.

 

[d43boy]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!

Seems as though I need to invest in a good tripod!

Thanks everyone :wave:

 

[nibblesandbits]

also...if you really want to play...see if you can get your camera to do some manual settings...this is something I can't wait to play with the next time I head down to the World!

Have a great trips and hope you get some awesome shots!

 

[raven]

I neve like to edit my pics. I feel like If it was not perfect when I took the shot it wont be perfect and that I really did not take the shot.

As amazing as some of my own pictures turned out, I still adjust them only a little bit to either get rid of red-eye, or to brighten up a dark picture a bit. If I don't like the way it looks I just reverse it and leave it alone.

 

[durangojim]

You also might want to invest in a digital slr. Canon Rebel Xti is good for the price and has a high quality/low noise high iso which will let you take pictures in less light without using a tripod. This is especially helpful if you have a lens with image stabilization.

 

[JDM]

I have a Kodak Easy Share digital and had the same problem at first. But all I did was change it to the "landscape" mode rather than the automatic mode.
The flash was deactivated and the night pics turned out terrific!

 

[ele]

tripod.
also Im not sure w the power shot I'm a nikon slr guy. but if you have the abilty too slower shutter speed and higher aperture also may need to up the iso for desired effect

 

[goofy0101]

Hi everyone,

Heading to WDW in a few months and this will be our second time with our new Canon Powershot digital camera.

My question: How in the world do you get those gorgeous clear night shots of say, Cinderella Castle or the ears at MGM?

Every time we took pics of cindy's castle or spaceship earth or whatever at night, the pic looked like the object was barely lit! What setting do I need to have the camera on to let more light in the pic? Any tricks?

Also, does anyone know anything about the fireworks setting? When I used this during Wishes, the pic was blurred. I think I am doing something wrong.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Still kind of new to digital cameras!

Thanks!:wave:

I have the same type of camera as you and as others have already mentioned just make sure your flash is turned off. I have some fantastic night shots simply by doing that. I'm sure a more expensive camera will do some wonderful things but if you're not a camera freak (and I am not) your Canon will do some great work for you!

 

[CBOMB]

The most important thing to find out is what kind of Canon Poweshot you have. Could it possibly be the S-3?

 

[frankd1962]

First off, what type of camera do you have? I have a Kodak EasyShare Z700 and it has a setting for fireworks.

What it does is shut off the flash and leaves the shutter open for a little bit longer than normal. I used it last year during the 4th of July to test it for my trip.:drevil: And it took great pictures. I didn't use a tripod or anything just tried to stay as steady as I could when I snapped them.

Just go through the manual for it and see what features it has before you go on the trip. You'll find some great things that they can do. I know. I sell digital cameras also. And before you ask, I am a Kodak fan and point that out to customers before we start talking about them.

 

[T0TFan]

Great pictures Frankd, but they would have been a bit better with a tripod.

Just remember to turn your flash off. I always have a good chuckle when seeing people use a flash to photograph an object hundreds of feet away.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

It may be a really really good flash though. Besides given the intensity of a firework why would a tripod be required, you are able to use shutter speeds that would eliminate camera shake.


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