What the heck am I doing wrong? Low light photography

[Expo_Seeker40]

Yes I love photoshop.....:lookaroun....who doesn't.....to enhance my RAW images, I hope that isn't cheating? :shrug:

I'm getting CS5 soon and I hear photoshop CS5 has an HDR tool on it. Otherwise I have no HDR programs as of right now.

I have a Canon T1i....I feel this is a good camera, and I do have a tripod to take longer exposures in the parks at night and for fireworks....but where am I failing when it comes to taking low light photos on rides or of the electrical parade?

My ISO can go as high as 3200.....lots of noise. I have a EF 50mm 1.8 lens great for portraits, flowers, etc..and then a regular old 18-55 4.5 lens.

I want to try and get better interior of shots of spaceship earth, etc....what lens should I get? I also am looking forward to entering the magical land of HDR.

 

[KeithVH]

Cheating? I'm sorry - is there some set of rules we are contractually bound to follow when taking pictures? Unless you're shooting for some serious contest where PP is not allowed, don't even think twice about it. You're shot is what you decide it is, not anyone else.

That being said, what are you unhappy with in your lowlight shots? Ride shots are tough no matter what. It's just as much the focus in the dark as anything else. I've gotten a few but I went old school using pre-focus techniques learned before AF came along. To me, the biggest issue is that some rides are just so jerky, you can't easily anticipate when you'll have a smooth stretch to reduce cam shake.

The 1.8, in several cases, while fast enough, isn't wide enough. You're just too close in most dark rides for the 1.6x crop. If you really want another lens, I would say the Tokina 11-16/2.8. Much wider but only a little slower. Just a thought.

 

[CP_alum08]

I know Sigma makes a pretty nice 30mm f/1.4, maybe try that. Honestly, there isn't much more you can do besides a high ISO, large f-stop, and a steady hand. Some of the higher end cameras let you go to much higher ISO's, yes they will be noisy but at least you can get the shot.

Photoshop, cheating? Not a chance. Like the post before, unless you are doing something where PS specifically isn't allowed there is no reason NOT to use PS (or something similar.) As far as HDR, be careful, it's a slippery slope. It has became a major trend in photography and programs have made it even easier. For me, I can't stand the over-processed stuff. The stuff that looks like it's been painted or like it should be on a science fiction novel cover. There is some great stuff that can be done with layer masks and other techniques that would be what I consider GDR (good dynamic range) where it still looks like a photograph, just an enhanced one.

There are quite a few people on this board who know a lot about photography and are usually eager to help, but there are specific webs sites dedicated to all aspects of photography that can be a ton of help too.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[wdwmagic]

How about posting some of your photos so we can take a look?

 

[WDWFigment]

I know Sigma makes a pretty nice 30mm f/1.4, maybe try that. Honestly, there isn't much more you can do besides a high ISO, large f-stop, and a steady hand. Some of the higher end cameras let you go to much higher ISO's, yes they will be noisy but at least you can get the shot.

Photoshop, cheating? Not a chance. Like the post before, unless you are doing something where PS specifically isn't allowed there is no reason NOT to use PS (or something similar.) As far as HDR, be careful, it's a slippery slope. It has became a major trend in photography and programs have made it even easier. For me, I can't stand the over-processed stuff. The stuff that looks like it's been painted or like it should be on a science fiction novel cover. There is some great stuff that can be done with layer masks and other techniques that would be what I consider GDR (good dynamic range) where it still looks like a photograph, just an enhanced one.

There are quite a few people on this board who know a lot about photography and are usually eager to help, but there are specific webs sites dedicated to all aspects of photography that can be a ton of help too.

Good luck and have fun!

"GDR (good dynamic range)" - I like that. Maybe I'll refer to it as that or "EDR" (enhanced dynamic range)" - this is usually how I do expand my dynamic range. I take multiple shots and just mask some areas. I like the look better than full-fledged HDR, which very very few people pull off successfully, in my opinion.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Yes I love photoshop.....:lookaroun....who doesn't.....to enhance my RAW images, I hope that isn't cheating? :shrug:

I'm getting CS5 soon and I hear photoshop CS5 has an HDR tool on it. Otherwise I have no HDR programs as of right now.

I have a Canon T1i....I feel this is a good camera, and I do have a tripod to take longer exposures in the parks at night and for fireworks....but where am I failing when it comes to taking low light photos on rides or of the electrical parade?

My ISO can go as high as 3200.....lots of noise. I have a EF 50mm 1.8 lens great for portraits, flowers, etc..and then a regular old 18-55 4.5 lens.

I want to try and get better interior of shots of spaceship earth, etc....what lens should I get? I also am looking forward to entering the magical land of HDR.

It isn't the camera that is keeping you from getting good results. It is the settings you are using. I've used an older DSLR with a stock 18-55 lens and gotten very good results... The main question is what setting are you using to get the photos. If you are using auto mode then that is your first problem.

Go outside on a overcast day and use the auto mode.. see what setting its has picked... now use those settings as a starting point in manual mode to get the pictures you want at night... I'm guessing your using auto mode and that causes the camera to over expose at night because it is trying to get light results for what you would actually want to be dark or black.

Go outside and through as few strands of christmas lights on a bush and take some pictures of it at night... You'll quickly find that auto mode doesn't give you the results you want and can experiment with the manual settings to find the ones you find most pleasing.

Also, I don't know if you need to spend money on CS5... if you have the prior version I would spend more of your time trying to master CS4 before spending more money on Photoshops latest and greatest.... you can do HDR with ANY photoshop version or paintshop or about any other software package, granted you don't get it done with one click but the results can be better if you do it the old fashioned way... or if you want only HDR software you could spend a lot less just buying Photomatix which is available as a standalone or plugin for any version of photoshop.

 

[BAD311]

Yes I love photoshop.....:lookaroun....who doesn't.....to enhance my RAW images, I hope that isn't cheating? :shrug:

I'm getting CS5 soon and I hear photoshop CS5 has an HDR tool on it. Otherwise I have no HDR programs as of right now.

I have a Canon T1i....I feel this is a good camera, and I do have a tripod to take longer exposures in the parks at night and for fireworks....but where am I failing when it comes to taking low light photos on rides or of the electrical parade?

My ISO can go as high as 3200.....lots of noise. I have a EF 50mm 1.8 lens great for portraits, flowers, etc..and then a regular old 18-55 4.5 lens.

I want to try and get better interior of shots of spaceship earth, etc....what lens should I get? I also am looking forward to entering the magical land of HDR.

The Canon T1i will produce a very heavy amount of noise above 800 ISO. Even with a high quality lens lens you'll get noise.

A good combination of lens and camera is a must. I'm a professional motor sports photographer who shoots in low-light. My kit consist of a Canon 7D and all of my lenses are pro lenses with f/stop of 2.8 or better.

Now I'm not going to say you cannot achieve great shots, but you'll need to really work with your camera to produce something amazing AND without noise. Folks produce amazing photos constantly, but noise kills a majority of amazing shots.

Sounds to me you got a good lens, just need a better camera.

I highly recommend the Canon 7D. I'm able to shoot at ISO 3200 with very little noise and ISO 1600 with no noise. ISO 800 is like shooting ISO 100-200.

Also if you're shooting I highly recommend a heavy duty beefed up tripod. Another great tip is to set your shutter to 2 seconds so when you hit the trigger the camera doesn't shoot for 2 seconds. You can also set it to 10 seconds, OR buy a wired trigger switch. You want your photos to be clear and crisp with the least amount of blur which will help in reducing the amount of noise slightly. Hope some of these tips helped.

 

[wdwmagic]

I highly recommend the Canon 7D. I'm able to shoot at ISO 3200 with very little noise and ISO 1600 with no noise. ISO 800 is like shooting ISO 100-200.

No noise! OK, you've done it now. Gotta back that up with samples. Let's have a look

 

[CP_alum08]

I highly recommend the Canon 7D. I'm able to shoot at ISO 3200 with very little noise and ISO 1600 with no noise. ISO 800 is like shooting ISO 100-200.

I agree, the 7D is a nice camera, however it is also about 3x more $$ than the OP's T1i.

With the vast array of noise reducing software out there, I would start with that instead of dropping $1500+ for a new camera JUST to take low-light photos.

 

[thecompman]

When shooting noisy High ISOs Photoshop or Lightroom is a must for reducing the noise. You should also shoot RAW, much easier to process the noise that way.

Both Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3 use the new Adobe Camera Raw processor which has a completely redesigned noise reducing system. It does a really great job on eliminating all that extra grain.

For the very rare times when the Adobe processor doesn't do such a great job at the noise I employ NoiseWare, it's a plugin. The only downside to that is they have not made it 64bit compatible in CS5 on a Mac only on the Windows version.