Photography?

[darren9]

I've just bought tickets for asi.

I've also bought a dslr camera this year but have no idea how to use it properly. I tend to have it on an automatic setting and point and click.

I know the lighting in the nec is terrible for photos. Does anyone have any tips on how to get a decent result?

Or should I just take my phone?

[Rockey]

Not the best place to learn a new camera but following this advice may help.
Of course you're right to use it on auto until you get familiar with it.
Make sure you have 'ISO' set to auto also
If the camera is fitted with 'SteadyShot' or similar make sure you have it turned on
Use auto white balance which will help with the harsh lighting
Make sure you shoot in Raw format then you can get the best possible result with the light temperature when you edit the photos, you won't be able to do this if you just shoot in JPEG
When shooting get down level with the car for the best wide angle shots.
Good luck and don't forget to take extra storage cards and a spare battery if you have one, it's amazing how many shots we take now that we no longer have to buy film lol

[darren9]

Thanks. I'll give that a try.

[GrantB5]

Go on youtube and learn your exposure triangle.

Once you get your head around that it will become second nature to you, then watch videos understanding depth of field. That will give you a solid base to work with.

Of course practice always help, but as mentioned, NEC won't be your best place to learn although it will give you harder situations to work with.

Also turn auto off once you get your head around the exposure triangle.

[Drumroll]

I would stick to my camera phone and enjoy the show. Never a great place for photography IMHO.

[Chops45]

My method that I have used for a number of years is, for car photography use a wide angel zoom lens set iso to 640 and aperture priority stop down one stop from widest aperture (3.5 use 4.5) use steady shot if available work at low angles and you might also be able to use video as well and get there early to avoid the crowds

Edited by Chops45 on Wednesday 11th January 12:31

Edited by Chops45 on Wednesday 11th January 12:32

[DiscoColin]

Shoot in RAW format as it preserves more of the original image information and will get you better results when you do post production of the images. The NEC is mostly lit by sodium lighting which puts a fairly nasty orange colour cast on your pictures. For small subjects (up to person sized) you can just get a big flash gun, lowish ISO and narrow aperture and just make the ambient lighting largely irrelevant to the shot, but for things like cars then you will have to change the white balance of the image. The lights are inconsistent depending upon where you are standing and the ideal temperature can be anywhere between 3000k and 5800k (mostly at the top end of that range), which is why for best results it is easier to just take the shot in RAW and fix the WB afterwards rather than setting it in camera on a picture by picture basis.

[peter8171]

I was there yesterday. As already stated, lighting at the NEC is not good for photography and so many of the cars this year were white which makes it even more difficult. Ended up using a flash gun for most pics. Agree with shooting Raw files, these are just the additional Jpg files my camera makes alongside the raw files. These haven't been edited at all: https://www.flickr.com/gp/peter8171/v6Vztb

[big dub]

Drumroll said:

I would stick to my camera phone and enjoy the show. Never a great place for photography IMHO.

Same. I've taken my kit before, but way too many people to get a decent shot and quite cumbersome to carry round, I'd stick to the camera on your phone if it's good enough. You can download Photoshop or Lightroom apps to adjust afterwards if you need to.