P3D Christmas lights etc.

[markaren@xxxxxxxxx (Karen Obusek)]

Let the "low light" man make it simple for the Realist users. Forget the
meter! 18% gray is not desirable and besides most meters (unless
digital) will barely move in low light situations and It's difficult to
read anyway. If the "lights" themselves are the main subject and you
want to saturate color without alot of flair, start at 1/2 sec at F8
(100 ISO) and bracket a couple at 1 ,2 and even 3 sec. (of course use a
tripod) This will give you alot of options to choose for the "keeper"
shot. To fill in foreground detail, set the flash to a moderate setting
(depends on the scene but lets say a guide of 7-10 ft) tripod the shot,
use cable release and "BULB" setting, allow the flash to fire and
continue to hold the shutter open for 2-3 sec to "neutralize" the
exposure. This will give the shot great foreground detail and allow the
light/dark spots to burn in and create a very natural scene with great
detail. Experiment with 1/2 sec to 3 sec exposures. Use a star filter or
colored gels to get some interesting effects. I don't believe double
exposure is necessary, in fact double exposure would be very difficult
to obtain consistant results as cocking the shutter on a Realist is
enough to move the camera causing out of focus results. I can take 3
shots of any low light scene and result in one "keeper" but it takes
practice to recognize what will work for each scene. Summarize...1sec
intervals at F8 with ISO 50-100.      MARK DOTTLE


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