Showing Portraits and Back Ground

[ShyanL]

Hi Guys,

I would like to ask you guys in tips of shoot people at night along with capture the background.
I was trying to capture these type of shots and tried different method and would like to ask seniors here about the best method.

1) I tried a longer shutter, Tv priority about 1-2 secs. The problem is the subjects must be reminded not to move till the shutter is closed. This method the subjects and the background is capture rather beautifully in my opinion

2) I tried with a external flash. The problem is that the foreground becomes too bright and the background disappear and the lighting on the subjects becomes too harsh

3) I tried with external flash again, but this time with 1st curtain flash, a slightly longer shutter 1/20 and reduction but 1/3 or 1/3 step for flash compensation. This time the picture turn out a little better,lighting are less harsh, background is better capture and the subjects do not have to hold still for too long

4) I did a test shot with a compact digital camera, using its night mode together with its auto flash. Sad to say, the shot turns out as nice or even nicer than those I taken with my SLR..

I am still not really sure what is the best way of doing these night shots, therefore would like if any seniors can share their expertise. Thanks a million! :dunno:

 

[ShyanL]

Oh sorry

I am using a 450D with speedlite 580EXII with the 24-105mm F4 lens.

 

[m3lv1nh0]

Read this : http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/3-dragging-the-shutter/

 

[issic]

Hi Guys,

4) I did a test shot with a compact digital camera, using its night mode together with its auto flash. Sad to say, the shot turns out as nice or even nicer than those I taken with my SLR..

Really? Hmm.. I usually get very noisy picture when using pns cam in night mode. I think the camera pumps up the ISO to achieve reasonable shutter and aperture for the shot.

Maybe you can try pumping up the ISO a bit as well.

Did you try using 2nd sync on the external flash? I remember reading some articles saying it might be better cos it will only trigger the flash at the instant when the shutter is about to close hence freezing the subject even though you are dragging the shutter.

 

[ShyanL]

The PNS was mounted on the tripod and fully auto.
On the 3" screen, both foreground and background are really nicely captured.
Noise wasn't a bit issue surprisingly :dunno:

 

[m3lv1nh0]

The PNS was mounted on the tripod and fully auto.
On the 3" screen, both foreground and background are really nicely captured.
Noise wasn't a bit issue surprisingly :dunno:

Did you actually open up the picture in your computer to view? The noise level of a P&S will never be comparable to a DSLR. You can't really judge the IQ by looking at the small LCD screen.

 

[Flashbulb]

Hi Guys,

I would like to ask you guys in tips of shoot people at night along with capture the background.
I was trying to capture these type of shots and tried different method and would like to ask seniors here about the best method.

1) I tried a longer shutter, Tv priority about 1-2 secs. The problem is the subjects must be reminded not to move till the shutter is closed. This method the subjects and the background is capture rather beautifully in my opinion

2) I tried with a external flash. The problem is that the foreground becomes too bright and the background disappear and the lighting on the subjects becomes too harsh

3) I tried with external flash again, but this time with 1st curtain flash, a slightly longer shutter 1/20 and reduction but 1/3 or 1/3 step for flash compensation. This time the picture turn out a little better,lighting are less harsh, background is better capture and the subjects do not have to hold still for too long

4) I did a test shot with a compact digital camera, using its night mode together with its auto flash. Sad to say, the shot turns out as nice or even nicer than those I taken with my SLR..

I am still not really sure what is the best way of doing these night shots, therefore would like if any seniors can share their expertise. Thanks a million! :dunno:

possible to show us what you`ve got so far with the exif data intact?

 

[king2penn]

Did you actually open up the picture in your computer to view? The noise level of a P&S will never be comparable to a DSLR. You can't really judge the IQ by looking at the small LCD screen.

This is also true for DSLRs

 

[king2penn]

Hi Guys,

I would like to ask you guys in tips of shoot people at night along with capture the background.
I was trying to capture these type of shots and tried different method and would like to ask seniors here about the best method.

1) I tried a longer shutter, Tv priority about 1-2 secs. The problem is the subjects must be reminded not to move till the shutter is closed. This method the subjects and the background is capture rather beautifully in my opinion

2) I tried with a external flash. The problem is that the foreground becomes too bright and the background disappear and the lighting on the subjects becomes too harsh

3) I tried with external flash again, but this time with 1st curtain flash, a slightly longer shutter 1/20 and reduction but 1/3 or 1/3 step for flash compensation. This time the picture turn out a little better,lighting are less harsh, background is better capture and the subjects do not have to hold still for too long

4) I did a test shot with a compact digital camera, using its night mode together with its auto flash. Sad to say, the shot turns out as nice or even nicer than those I taken with my SLR..

I am still not really sure what is the best way of doing these night shots, therefore would like if any seniors can share their expertise. Thanks a million! :dunno:

The first method is called long exposure. It captures all ambiant light in the vicinity for the set shutter time. Even if your subjects are reminded not to move, the picture will not turn out pin-sharp.

 

[phan_vinh_nguyen]

Why don't you try method 3 with longer exposure, let say 1/8s. Because with 1s, you can get correct exposure of the front subject using ambient light (as you said), with 1/8s (3 stops down) I believe we can eliminate the effect of ambient light on the front subject, hence the flash can be used to freeze the front subject motion.