Nighttime "Carnival" Photo Tips ?

[jcvalenti]

We're not doing another Disney trip until next summer ... but between now and then, I'm working on developing some techniques that I sorely lack - one of which is adequate nighttime shooting. This week, a local carnival comes to town, with all the requiste colours, lights and festive sights. Since we're taking the kids and a bunch of cousins, I figure it will present a good opportunity for some nighttime photos - particularly of the rides and lights. Consider this some early practice for shooting the Main Street parade, or taking some shots of Hollywood Boulevard on a warm July night on the way to Phantasmic.

Any techniques and tips or good reference sights I should be looking at ?

I have the following gear to choose from:

Canon Digital Rebel XT
Canon 50mm f/1.8 (the plastic one)
Tamron Autofocus 28-75mm f2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical
Canon 70-200 f/4 L
Speedlight 580EX

I've had trouble getting good results at night, and these will be night shots with motion ... so any tips re: ISO, shooting modes on the Canon, apertures, etc. will be appreciated.

I may bring the tripod for a shot or two when we go tomorrow night, but maybe just a monopod ... it's a little crowded to be setting up tripods and all that.

 

[Roger]

I guess it will depend on what kind of shots you want.

A tripod would be necessary if you want of a timed shot of the wheel so it has circular lights. If you just want shots like the DEP/Spectro, you really can't go wrong with the 50/1.8. A monopod would only be necessary if you want to rest the camera on something - you should be able to handhold the shots with no problems. My Spectro pics from Feb were at f/2.8, ISO 1600, 1/60 sec mostly. You may want to increase the shutter speed a bit to help stop action if that is what you are looking for, and could then shoot the 1.8 between 2 and 2.8 so it isn't wide open. Or you could try the Tamron, but I would probably use a monopod for support, I'll bet that lens is a little heavier than the 50/1.8. I used a monopod for the DEP the first time, but I was also using a 28-70/2.8, which is very heavy. Plus I was using film, so a monopod makes it easier to change film on the fly.

I doubt you would want the flash unless you were trying some special effects, like stopping something in motion but long exposure on the background, or rear curtain sync (which I have no idea if the XT can do).

If you use a tripod: lowest ISO you can go, probably stop down to f/8, f/11 - I wouldn't go farther than that unless you needed to for the exposure length, and see what the light meter is telling you. If it says 1" - try taking pics of 1", 2", 1/2 sec, etc. and see how the results look.