Competition; Nightscape.
Low light scenes; slow shutter speeds and open apertures (small F-number). Often allow a higher ISO, but remember it’s easy to detect the greater digital noise in darker areas. Anything longer than 1/60th and, unless you are spot-welded to a lamppost, you will need a tripod. It’s one of those genres where shooting in RAW and doing some post-processing recovery will make a better picture (sorry purists).
Take your white balance off auto and cycle through the options. It is amazing at the differences possible following this simple change. Experiment with the shutter speed; you may be into seconds or even minutes.
You will often need to manually focus - it’s a rare camera that can focus well in low light. If you want streetlights to be starbursts then use F/11 or greater. Storms, lightning and menacing clouds can all add impact (unless you are photographing stars, in which case they are a total pain!). Water, and the accompanying reflections, add interest to images. Look for puddles and still water if possible.
How did our members do? Remember these are out-of-camera still so a real challenge. See the images on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PenrynCC/
This week’s winner, from 17 entries, was Wendy with Evening in Paris. Next week’s category is Hobbies. What would you submit from your images? Join us to join in.
