Help on shooting the bright lights of NY and Vegas

[westy79]

I have finally purchased my first DSLR and the feel of the camera and the way it sounds makes me wonder how it took so long to buy one. Anyway my first big test with the Nikon D40 is our honeymoon in September to New York and Las Vegas. I really want to try some night trails and general photos which show the bright lights of both cities. I only have the standard lens and was wondering if this is ok. Also is a tripod essential as i dont want to take it everywhere with me.

Can anyone offer any advice to a DSLR novice to capture the vibrant feel of both cities.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Mate, September is so far off relax, you'll be very confident by them. Try a few shots around your area. You probably don't want to bother with a tripod on your trip unless you're going just for photography.

Try a few night combinations in your local area and see what works. Kick it into "A" mode and try the same shot with different settings. Try moving car lights at A=3.5, A=8, A=11, A=16 and A=22. See the affect.

Note A=22 will take perhaps a minute at night time so can only be done with a camera on a tripod or resting on a solid platform. You can't handhold.

Set the ISO to 200 and read the manual and find out how to turn on "long exposure noise reduction". And read what it does.

[westy79]

thanks for the advice, so whats the main difference with picking "A" mode over "S" mode. Sorry but im not too clued up, but i presumed it would be better to pick longer shutters and experiment that way. Again your help is appreciated and helpful for a larner like me.

[TheWengler]

3 things determine exposure: Aperture (A or Av), Shutter Speed (S or Tv) and ISO. In A mode you choose the aperture and the camera decides the other two. Same for S mode. I think you have the option of choosing the ISO or leaving it up to the camera in those modes.

For night photography I would definitely recommend a tripod. It may not be very practical for your trip though. Try getting by w/o one when you practice to see if you want a tripod or not.

Longer SS gets your longer trails. Smaller aperture (bigger number) gets you better starbursts.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

If you don't want to wait for the course (or books) you can also google "Photography aperture" or shutter speed and have a read. Thats how I learn't. But then when I read the books they were a bit boring as I knew a lot of it.