Trying Something New - Night Shots

St. Peter in front of the Basilica at Vatican City

Part of Finding Your Eye in photography, I need to explore some things that I don't normally do. Night shots - perfect. I tend to be a home body in the evenings, so getting out to take night photos is not my norm. However, I did cheat a little here because we were recently travelling in Rome and were out at night. No time to be a home body - just too much to experience.

View of Via Condoti from the Spanish Steps

Night shots were a little tricky for me to figure out at first. I found that I really didn't need to adjust the exposure as much as I would have thought. My initial reaction was to crank up the exposure to allow in more light. The above is taken at exposure 0 - normal with no adjustment either way. The same is for the first photo.

Merry-go-round near the Castle St. Angelo

Again, more surprises for me with night shots. The merry-go-round above was taken with exposure +.7 and shutter speed 1/30, f5.6. I was able to hold the camera and get a good photo without a tripod. I learned through this process with the lower f number I was still able to hold the camera in many cases.

View of St. Peters

The photo above of St. Peters is exposure is -1, f/5.6, 1/20. This one I did rest the camera on the railing of the bridge from where I took the shot.

Overall, I can say that I really loved trying night photography. I can see to do it really well, that I would like to invest in a tripod. It was interesting to push a little and find the limits when I could still hold the camera and get a good photo, versus needing a steady surface. Super fun to try something really new for me. I am anxious to learn more about getting great night shots and to keep practicing. I found I was in love with the lighting and reflections.