Another newbie Question

[MissJezabelle]

1st off thank y'all so much for guiding me so much.

OK We are taking my son to the starlight parade tonight. It is an illuminated night time parade. I have a canon D-rebel. I want to take pictures of the floats and such. I can use a flash if needed, or not, doesn't matter. Question is. What settings should I use to get good pics? and how do I set them lol. Yes I still don't know how to do anything on this camera that isn't auto pilot lol.

[eagle17]

I hope the parade went ok. anyway I will post even though it may be to late for the event you were asking about..

I would crank the ISO all the way up to 1600. also if you are using a flash is it e-ttl? if so then use manual mode and set the exposure to a low a setting as you are comfortable with. remember the rule of thumb if you are using a 50mm lens then use a exposure setting of 1/80 or if you have steady hands you might get away with 1/60. If the flash you have is E-TTL than you can turn it on to add some fill light and just let it compensate on its own. some times you have to even bracket this with your Flash exposure bracketing. you can usually move this 1/3 stop in either direction depending what you are looking for.


this is just the basics as I do not know what lens you are using or what flash.

[jamison55]

Don't know if I caught you in time, but for a nighttime event try shooting in "P" mode and bumping the ISO up to 800 (or even 1600 if you absolutely have to). I wouldn't use a flash. It is not powerful enough to illuminate the floats and would interfere with the ambeint lighting...

[aparmley]

I agree with Jamison, do not use flash. What will end up happening is your camera will up the shutter speed as to not overexpose the area in focus which will be illuminated with the flash, so the background and other areas that will not be lit up well with the flash will range from barely being able to be distinguished to completely shadowed and black... allowing no detail to be captured. This is why I hate the flash... Maybe external flashes ala hot shoe can do a better job IDK ... Good luck in future events.

[MissJezabelle]

thanks alot. It was to late for last night, but at least I have the info for down the road. I actually didn't even get the chance to get my camera out of the bad, as it took both me and my hubby to keep our 17 month old under control.