Night Photography using DSLR Camera to take pictures of Cars?

Question

I've been trying to take some good pictures at night of cars with my camera and they are coming out DARK. Even when I'm in a well light parking lot they still come out dark. A regular digital camera does better than my DSLR camera at night.

I have a Canon Rebel xti 10megs; what can I do to get better pictures using this camera? I love my camera I just can't do what I need to do and I'm still learning how to use it. PLEASE HELP! =]

Answer 1

Does it have a "night" setting?  

That will open up the shutter longer for better exposure. Be sure to hold the camera very still - best if on a tripod.

Otherwise, use the flash.

Answer 2

change the ISO settings to 400 or 800 and take the pics as u took before.

Answer 3

There are a few options:

- Use a fast lens (low f), this will allow u get the job done in low light environment but at a high cost.

- Use tripod and exposure the image longer

- Use Exposure Compensation, maybe + 1 or 2 EV steps

- double check your White Balance setting to match the light there

- try use low ISO to get best result at the cost of longer exposure (but it's good if you have a tripod)

- DONT use flash night at dark if possible, u will lost the dynamic effect, and make the photo very hard.  (well, not always true if u know how to master it).

Tips:  Setup a tripod, shoot the same still obejct and try out all the setting combination, like blanket exposure from -3 EV to +3EV, different Aperture, different shutter speed, with/without Program, different White Balance setting, different ISO, etc.

Try them all out, keep shooting, then compare the results, and you will learn from those series of shooting and know how each affect the outcome.  That's the best about Digital camera, FREE to shoot.

Answer 4

A lot of good answers, so all I can do is add one. What I do on my Pentax dSLR (as opposed to a DSLR which doesn't use a mirror) is change the metering mode to spot from wide screen. Then the auto exposure will get set at the ambient light you point it at, rather then reading the whole darkness around it. In many cases, for night work, I use a trypod and my wireless remote.

Answer 5

Well cranking up the ISO will create alot of noise/ distortion in the picture.  Open you shutter speed to about 10 seconds...i would highly advise you to use a tripod other wise your picture will be very blury.  If the car is moving follow the car while the picture is being taken.  That will keep the car in focus but the background not.  If it is a still shot just let the camera do its thing.

Answer 6

Shoot in Raw, you will have to do the post processing, but you have ALL the data to work with, when the camera converts Jpeg it dumps half the data. With Raw you can adjust the exposure (within limits) and get a good picture from an underexposed shot.

If shutter speed is not important then Aperture Priority should work just fine. Use low ISO to keep the noise down and make sure the noise filter is turned on in the menu (this will take a blank exposure of the same duration with the shutter closed, the noise from this second picture will be subtracted from your original picture file). Shutter speeds will be quite long in low light so a tripod is best.

If fast shutter speeds are required then a fast lens (smallest f number e.g. f1.4 50mm) can give you a few more fractions of a second to work with. Crank up the ISO, up to 400 is no problem above that you'll get noise.

Another advanced technique, which actually works better when there is no light, is to have the camera on a tripod, leave the shutter open on the 'B' setting and just walk round the car with a flashgun and 'paint' light over all the subject. A lot of experimenting will be needed to get this right, but it can produce spectacular shots, I've 'floodlit' a building with this technique.

Chris