# Halloween pictures



## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

I've seen alot of the pictures that were taken this year and I'm in awe of all your work. Everyone here did a great job. I took daytime shots that turned out pretty good, but my night time shots turned out so blurry you can't see anything. I tried adjusting the setting on my digital but still no luck. What am I doing wrong? Do I need a tripod or something? I really want to be able to get some great night shots next year so I'm asking this early and hope to be able to practice between now and next Halloween. Any suggestions? Thanks.


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

My night shots aren't good either. From what I'm reading, you need to turn off the flash, which washes out all of the color and makes the shot too bright. A tripod seems to be a must, or at least something to steady the camera on. I'll be following along on this as I'm in the same boat.


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## spideranne (Jul 17, 2006)

See if your digital camera has a manual setting for the ISO. The higher the ISO the more sensitive it is to light, so you can actually pick up something without the flash. The trade off is you have to be very still or use a tripod. I think the higher ISO actually keeps the shutter open that millisecond more to absorb the light, but if it moves at all it will be blurred.


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

I found a tripod is a must for any decent night shots. Turning off the flash alone is not enough, the pictures will be too dark. You need to adjust the setting for the time that the shutter stays open so it can absorb all of the light.

Also, if you have any constant motion animated props such as a FCG, shut off the motor before taking the picture or it will blur the prop.

There's also a new technique called High Dynamic Range (HDR) which consists of taking the same picture under different lighting conditions and compositing them together for the best image. Usually its one image with the flash on, another with it off, and another with a long shutter exposure. My camera kinda does this automatically for me (I have an Olympus 820) in the astronomy preset mode.

There's a good article on HDR at wiki: 




-TM


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## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

Thanks for the suggestions. I just hope I can remember them by next year! Shoot, with the way my brain is lately, I'll be lucky to remember them by tonight! Guess I have to hit the lottery and hire someone to photograph it for me LOL!


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## turtle2778 (Jul 9, 2006)

TA, Im in the same boat as you. I took some shots that look like crap. They just didnt turn out like others did. I will be looking into getting a tripod next year. I think biglots had one for like 20 bucks thats a universal one. Im gunna check this weekend.


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## hollyberry (Aug 24, 2005)

want me to come take pics for ya love? hee hee


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## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

I'd LOVE for you to come take pics. Even if it's just for the party. Yes, I said party. We had what was supposed to be our last party this year. However, forces have worked against us and we're having another one next year. Date......October 11, 2008. What have we gotten ourselves into!!! :googly:


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## NecroBones (Feb 10, 2006)

Most inexpensive digital cameras these days have a "night shot" mode. Really all this does is adjust the camera's exposure to bring out the details in the darker to medium areas of the shot, instead of the lighter areas.

Basically, select night-shot, turn off the flash, put the camera on a tripod, and try not to move it much when pressing the button. You'll get great pictures!

That's all I do with my little Canon camera, to get these pictures: 2007 pictures, 2006 pictures


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

YOu still have to have enough light though. IMy shots were crap with the nighttime on, the exposure set for 4 sec and flash off!


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## Lagrousome (Apr 12, 2007)

Sometimes we'll set the timer on the camera so it will take the picture without having to press the button and risk moving the camera. However, a tripod or a something to set the camera on is a must. I don't have a tripod, so I use whatever I have available (ladder, garbage can, etc)


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

Sickie Ickie said:


> YOu still have to have enough light though. IMy shots were crap with the nighttime on, the exposure set for 4 sec and flash off!


@SI - Thats where HDR techniques and a good stable tripod come in handy - check out the wiki link earlier in the thread. Well you also need Photoshop (or The Gimp which is freeware - but any paint program that lets you work in layers should do) to composite the layers.

-TM


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## Hawks Hill Haunter (Apr 1, 2007)

From experience I've learned that older cameras with lower megapixels blur MUCH easier and more often than newer cameras. Most newer cameras come with a built in "internal stabilizer" which means it helps to steady the camera even if you move slightly. Older cameras (even a couple years older) you have to remain absolutely motionless but with the stabilizer it's not as critical. If your camera is more than a couple-few years old, the stabilizer could be your main issue in which a tripod is your best bet - or a new camera.

Plus there are also settings for motion (great for moving props), backlighting, landscape, up-close, low-lighting and nighttime shots which help.


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

hawkshillhaunter said:


> From experience I've learned that older cameras with lower megapixels blur MUCH easier and more often than newer cameras. Most newer cameras come with a built in "internal stabilizer" which means it helps to steady the camera even if you move slightly. Older cameras (even a couple years older) you have to remain absolutely motionless but with the stabilizer it's not as critical. If your camera is more than a couple-few years old, the stabilizer could be your main issue in which a tripod is your best bet - or a new camera.
> 
> Plus there are also settings for motion (great for moving props), backlighting, landscape, up-close, low-lighting and nighttime shots which help.


Yes/No - I have a pretty decent modern camera (Olympus Stylus 820), 8MP with all those features you mentioned. Yet it's still not only possible but quite easy to end up with blurs when there's stuff in motion. For an example, head over to my site (link in my signature) and look at my pictures from this Halloween. Look at all the ones where I used one of the preset night-time settings. My camera was on a tripod for all those shots (I even took several shots with various settings and picked the best of the bunch) and yet my FCG and Grave Grabber still blurred because they were in motion.

Heck, when I was in the hospital visiting my sister-in-law with her new born, I took several shots (with the normal default camera settings) of the baby and my daughter and STILL got blur because she (my daughter) is too much of a busy body and didn't stay still (thats with an 8MP camera mind you).

Using extended shutter times just makes things trickier. It becomes VERY difficult to avoid motion blur that way, even with a high end camera such as a Canon Rebel.

-TM


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