hi everyone. i realized i have a problem with shooting night photography.. im using canon 500d, with a kit lens.. i went to shoot in an area that has low light.. i crank up my iso to 3200 (highest), and even crank up my shutter speed to 30s.. but my camera still does not allow me to shoot off, as it cant find a focus point?
but when i try to shoot in manual mode, and ownself adjust the zoom lens, i will be able to take, but as its dark, i cant really determine whether the image is sharp or not before i shoot.. is there anyway i can do? i do not have an external flash
just set ur focus to manual focus and set to infinity...
also read this...
1) Focusing works by detecting contrast within your selected focus point, i.e. if you are using the centre focus point, then whatever you are pointing at has to have contrast. If you're pointing at a white wall or clear sky, the camera will not be able to figure out what is the distance between you and the object you are focusing at, and thus will not be able to focus.
Similarly, if it's dark, naturally the contrast between things is much lower. It then becomes difficult for the camera to pick out the contrast in order to focus.
The best thing to do is to (a) look for something with a high contrast to focus on (e.g. something lit by a lamppost) or (b) open your on camera flash and let the focus assist flash fire, then when it's focused, close the flash and take your photo
2) Metering: Metering works by taking an average luminance of the scene and expose the scene to neutral gray. When using any of the auto/semiauto modes (P/AV/TV), the camera assumes that what you are shooting is normally lit, and will adjust either the shutter speed, aperture or both to expose your scene 'correctly'.
But of course, if you're shooting a night scene, you wouldn't want to expose to neutral gray (cos obviously the scene isn't that bright). Using manual mode would be the best way to control how you want your scene to look like. If you're taking scenery you should have a lot of time to play around with, so what you can do is just (a) set ISO to 100, (b) set aperture at between F/8 and F/10 and an exposure of say 5 secs, (c) plant your camera on a tripod, (d) focus using the above focus-assist method or manually, and (e) set a 2-sec timer and fire away. If it's too bright, shorten your shutter speed; if it's too dark, do the opposite.
And usually when you shoot night scenery you'd be looking for a bit of colour in the sky, so the best time would be around 7.30 to 8.00 pm. Later than that, the sky just looks black and the scene wouldn't be as interesting.