Cricket,
I saw your blog/article about low light photography on your website. I thought you might be interested in these pics I did. I took them on September 24, 2005. That was the day I got my Nikon D70… I was itching to go out and play with it but sadly it was getting dark but hubby and I took a walk anyway.
I didn’t know my camera, lighting conditions were poor at best – but the sky was awesome. It was a perfect Indian Summer evening in Washington, DC. I played with the settings to no avail so I decided to just let the camera do the work and I set it to auto everything. When I got home and downloaded the pics I was not a happy camper, they were so dark. I used Paint Shop Pro 5 to play with it and you can see what a difference it made.
Anyway, EXIF info was very helpful and I’ve used this technique a couple of other times. It was the ISO that made all the difference; the camera dropped it to 100. The problem with using such a low ISO is the pic is grainy. Another method you can use is a tripod (or stable surface) and a very slow shutter speed. You need to use your delay timer or a cable, the slight movement from hitting the shutter button will blur your photo (I know from experience) this will give you a higher quality print. If you try that method take several pictures using different speeds getting the right exposure is a bit tricky – especially if you have a bright object. The pic of the Washington monument was taken a couple of days later. I took the pic laying on the ground and used the delay to make sure it was steady. I believe the ISO on that one is 320 and the lighting conditions were almost identical.
I had to remove the monument from the photo to get the sky right and then I put it back… (that line on the monument is the result of them “fixing” it… drives me nuts but that is what it looks like from across the Potomac) I had upgraded to PSP9 by the time I played with that pic, that made it pretty easy to do.
So, a couple of tricks for low light conditions and a big thank you for the tricks I’m learning from your website and this one, too. Good grief! Posting this message with pics in it was a lesson all in itself! I now understand why you limited the pix's in the contest.
Lively