Tips, tutorials and discussion of photography, cameras and accessories.
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I am FAR from a professional photographer - I have a little Nikon Coolpix camera and used it to take pictures of the NHL All Star decorations in downtown Raleigh this weekend. It was windy and of course, they didn't come out that great. :( Do you have any advice for taking pics at night? I had it set to Night Portraits. Maybe i should have set it to sport, since the objects were moving?

Thanks!

Here is the gallery of images:

http://www.prestophoto.com/photos/gallery/80991

P.S. Any hockey fans here??
Amy,

Well, it might, but if you want to get the fastest shutter speed, I would use Av mode (aperture priority) and set the f-stop at wide open - this will vary with your lens zoom. So, whatever the max is - f2.8 or f3.5 - etc, set it, then your camera will use the fastest possible shutter speed.

As for hockey - the Ottawa Senators, but this year, they sick big time! Ah well, always next year.
John
I agree 100% with John. You have to use the highest shutter speed possible. I noticed you had light sources in some of your photos.....that is a very difficult situation for your camera's metering system. Shooting into the light also produces lens flare that can "wash out " your subject matter.
Chas
Chas's Gallery
f/16 on a sunny day.....:)
I would go further, and suggest that for best results, you should shoot manual - i.e. set both your shutter speed and f-stop. Leaving anything up to your camera will produce an image, but will not necessarily let you capture the mood of the scene.

Automatic exposure settings try and produce a perfectly exposed image - not necessarily what you want for night shots - or for sunrise or sunset images. Full manual gives you the most creativity.

And, what the heck, it is digital, so go out and shoot a few hundred shots, either take notes or read the exif data.

For my camera and lens (and these are both important) , I usually find that an ISO setting of 400, lens at minimum zoom (so 18 on my 18-200 lens) and f4 (max lens opening) and a shutter speed of about 1/15 or slower produces some pretty good results.

So, experiment!
John
Tripod (or monopod)!!! Night exposures also tend to be longer so you need something to brace the camera with.
GeneVH

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Well, living in Calgary, and being Canadian, my husband is a big hockey fan, for the Flames. They have been playing pretty poorly this season though.

Some of your night shots look good to me. Some have a lot of noise in the dark areas. If it's too dark, there really isn't much you can do about that. I think putting your camera in the night mode setting was a good idea. Chances are it raises the iso and opens the aperature for you in this setting. For the shots of the flags blowing in the wind, there is no way to get them sharp at night. There just wouldn't be enough light for a fast enough shutter speed. For the shots that were blurry everywhere, you need to use a tripod or brace your camera against a wall or railing or something else that will help you hold it still.

Courtney
Some of those look quite good, Amy. I think all they need is a levels adjustment to spiff up the colors and contrast ... try using the white eyedropper on appropriate places ... or, do your levels adjustments on each of the individual RGB Channels.

I don't know what kind of Coolpix you have. I have an older one (E7900) which gives me absolutely no control over shutter speed or aperture. I know some of the new Coolpix models have much, much more in the way of manual control options. (they also cost as much as an inexpensive DSLR)

Rusty
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness" - Dave Barry

If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough. - Robert Capa

www.prestophoto.com/photos/gallery/19932
Thanks, everyone for the suggestions! I will def be playing around with my camera this weekend during the All Star Game festivities. :)
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