New Photography Enthusiast

Hi gang,

I just got myself a Pentax K20D, a gift from my wife. At this point, I've only been using a digital point and shoot which limited the controls that I could do. I'm planning on taking a few shots tomorow night of the '9/11 Beams of Light'. I'll be taking a tripod with me. Can you advise any settings that would let me capture those lights and give me a good image for night shooting? Thanks mates!

I'll be back with some shots...hopefully they turn out good Nooby here <------

congrats on your new toy!

it would be nice to capture the 'beams of light' at magical hour when the sky is bright bluish to purplish or crimson, or a little darker if the beams doesn't stand out, surrounding buildings already lit up, vivid colours coming from all directions. since you are bringing a tripod then shooting in slow shutter won't be a problem. so an aperture setting of f11 to f22(latter would give the sharpest depth of foreground to backround, even sharp light streaks, lowest ISO (50-100)--these would be a good base to start off with. with these settings you can adjust the shutter speed accordingly to balance your exposure (refer to your camera's TTL meter as a guide). although TTL serves only as a guide, it's good to take at least two-stops up and down then pick the best when uploaded on your computer. make sure you snap the images in RAW to benefit from bringing out at least two stops of exposure and colour informations during post. good luck and looking forward to your shots posted here!

hey aj congratulations on your new toy!

nothing spectacular in my shots, but may help: sharing some samples and their settings. all in manual or shutter priority:



Camera: Nikon D90
Exposure: 3
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 11 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: +1 EV
Flash: No Flash



Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 1400
Exposure Bias: -5/3 EV

(wouldve been nicer if the aperture was wider but this was handheld)

i agree with glenn's advice above, here is a sample using those settings:



Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: 10
Aperture: f/20.0
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: -2/3 EV
Flash: No Flash



Camera: Nikon D90
Exposure: 1.6
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 34 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: -1/3 EV
Flash: No Flash

looking forward to your shots man

Thanks for the advice gents! I'll be heading out soon, too bad the weather's bad...rain, rain, and wait...more rain. Maybe I get a nice effect out of it.

sir tutik and sir mushroom nice shots hehe newbie lng po ako.

welcome benj! hope to see ur shots too.

hopefully sir kaso ala p akong cam hehe nid all your tutorials and ideas hehe