Shooting in the dark?

Any tips on setting up my camera for shooting in the pitch black a Floodlit Rugby Ground from above & a quarter of a mile away, im using a 350D? I have a Telephoto lens etc....

Shoot in Nightmode, or use bulb etc???

If the scene is lit, it's not pitch dark. Your actual position isn't relevant to the scene, it's the scene itself that matters.

Do you plan to take action pictures, or still scenes? The answer will be very different. For action, increase your ISO (up to 1600, the camera can take that) and use Av mode. Select the largest aperture. Use the burst mode. Pre-focus and if shooting JPEG set the white balance adequately.

If you're photographing a still scene, then use a tripod, a decent ISO value (400 should do it, no noise to speak of and still good speed), use the self-timer (2 seconds to avoid shaking the camera) and use a mid-range aperture to get sharper results.

I hope it helps.
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bdery

Québec city, Canada
C A N O N S 2
C O O L P I X S Q
http://www.aperturehead.com/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=54

You will need it, in order to be able to adjust the settings on your camera.
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bdery said:

For action, increase your ISO (up to 1600,
the camera can take that) and use Av mode. Select the largest
aperture. Use the burst mode. Pre-focus and if shooting JPEG set
the white balance adequately.

Click to expand...

Just curious, for action, why would you not select Tv mode since Tv controls light and motion? I would think that for proper exposure in Av mode the shutter speed may drop to a lower speed than required for a clear action shot. By selecting Tv you can determine the desired minimum speed for action.
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Regards,
Hank

Hank3152 said:

Just curious, for action, why would you not select Tv mode since Tv
controls light and motion? I would think that for proper exposure
in Av mode the shutter speed may drop to a lower speed than
required for a clear action shot. By selecting Tv you can determine
the desired minimum speed for action.

Click to expand...

The camera will meter the scene in the same way regardless of the choice of shooting mode. So the combination of speed and aperture will be the same in either mode, and if you widen the aperture, you will increase the speed. So using Av mode garantees that the camera will use the fastest shutter speed possible for your scene. If you use Tv and set what you think is the correct speed, you might be slightly off and in that case the camera will either expose incorrectly or correct your mistake (if safety shift is on) which is the same as using Av with a wide aperture and letting the camera decide on the speed.

Of course if you use auto ISO the camerawill have another parameter to deal with, but I never do that, I don't trust it to stay away from ISO 400...

It's a matter of opinion, of course, but to me it makes more sense to proceed that way. Else I'm never sure if I'm actually using the correct shutter speed. Of course if you want complete control you can just use M mode and select everything yourself, but that's risky for action shots, you risk many missed occasions.

Hank3152 said:

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Regards,
Hank

Click to expand...

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bdery

Québec city, Canada
C A N O N S 2
C O O L P I X S Q
http://www.aperturehead.com/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=54

The shot sounds interesting. I hope you plan on posting it when you do take the shot
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bdery said:

Hank3152 said:

Just curious, for action, why would you not select Tv mode since Tv
controls light and motion? I would think that for proper exposure
in Av mode the shutter speed may drop to a lower speed than
required for a clear action shot. By selecting Tv you can determine
the desired minimum speed for action.

Click to expand...

The camera will meter the scene in the same way regardless of the
choice of shooting mode. So the combination of speed and aperture
will be the same in either mode, and if you widen the aperture, you
will increase the speed.

Click to expand...

Of course........

bdery said:

So using Av mode garantees that the camera
will use the fastest shutter speed possible for your scene. If you
use Tv and set what you think is the correct speed, you might be
slightly off and in that case the camera will either expose
incorrectly or correct your mistake (if safety shift is on) which
is the same as using Av with a wide aperture and letting the camera
decide on the speed.

Click to expand...

........a good tip........

bdery said:

Of course if you use auto ISO the camerawill have another parameter
to deal with, but I never do that, I don't trust it to stay away
from ISO 400...

Click to expand...

.......also agree.....

bdery said:

It's a matter of opinion, of course, but to me it makes more sense
to proceed that way. Else I'm never sure if I'm actually using the
correct shutter speed. Of course if you want complete control you
can just use M mode and select everything yourself, but that's
risky for action shots, you risk many missed occasions.

Click to expand...

bdery said:

bdery

Click to expand...

Under those lighting conditions your suggestions make excellent sense to use Av, and I'll be sure to try that in the future. I've always used Tv in action shots, but the conditions were usually bright daylight so there was no concern of underexposure even at higher shutter speeds.
Thanks for your detailed response...........
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Regards,
Hank

Many thanks for all the advice and tips, and as one reply said, you have to be out there!!

The scene may have a rugby match playing which will make it a little tricky, but trial and error!!