Hopeless at video/photo's

Habbosrus

Habbosrus

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Joined
Dec 5, 2012
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758
Location
Swansea, NSW
I have read a couple of the tips regarding videoing my show, but I'm hopeless. All I get is a blurred mess. I've tried my iphone, ipad, a video camera and a still camera. All I seem to get is a blurry mess. I've tried earlier in the evening and it's clear but I can't capture the lights properly. When it's darker is when I get the blurry mess. I don't have a lot of lights or a big show, but I think they look pretty good for a first go and I want to share them with everybody. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
A tripod is 1 of the best things. With low light photos and videos it is almost impossible not to introduce a signicant amount of wobble into things especially as the exposure times need to be longer.
 
I have been playing with my camera over the last 2 nights, so far I managed to get a good recording the first night but the mega tree towards the top comes up white (instead of showing the true colours), due to the extreme brightness. The 2nd night, I changed the camera to night mode and dropped the exposure level, but forgot to change it to manual focus. I'll attempt it again on the weekend, because we are due for some rain tonight and the next couple of days.

I'm also using a tripod and have that on top of a dog grooming table (waist height) and am recording from across the road. Last year I only used the tripod, and its amazing to see how many 4wd's look at you recording while they turn into the street and still manage to plonk their car smack bang in front of the recording. With the extra height, I actually manage to get just about everything. I did think about getting up at 2am to do it, but can't be bothered.
 
Can't do anything about the 4WDs. Are you motivated by showing off to the public (live with the 4Wds issues) or motivated by your art (erect 'Road Closed' signs)?

Don't try using video from anything with an "i" in front of it. It's a pretend phone based on an audio player pretending to be everything else. If you want video get a proper video camera. You'll be able to adjust the aperture and exposure.
 
For still photographs I leave the camera on auto with the flash on and cover the flash. This reduces the exposure time, reducing the blur.
 
I will be trying this technique this year but apparently for filming your show dusk is the best time while you still have a bit of light in the background. Turn the exposure right down. What this does is dim your tree lights so they don't appear blury and it turns the half lit background dark.
 
Here is some help for using a video capable still camera.

You will need a tri pod, and time, (you may even need to practice over a few nights)

Setup early in the arvo well before dusk and frame your shot the way you want.

Set your aperture to around 5.6 or even 6.3, (or even higher if you have a camera that can handle the ISO increase you want a better depth of field) set your shutter speed to around 60 - 100.

Now focus your camera on the middle of your display, and by middle I mean if your house is 5 meters from the road, and you have elements on your lawn between the road and your house, focus on them (here is where your low ish aperture will help)

Now, turn your focus to manual, as it starts to get dark, increase your ISO, starting around 800, then increasing until you get the results your after.

Remember though higher ISO can introduce noise, so while the higher the better at night, you can go to high, and your video will turn out horriable.

MVI 9801 This is a video I took the other night, its still a little dark, but I set the aperture to 9 shutter to 60, and ISO to 1600, could probably go lower aperture, but from where I was shooting there is a lot of depth I need to cover.
 
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