Good shots in pants weather?! Advice please please please!

[Miss McT]

Currently down in Cornwall (took 9 hours to get here by train, ugg!) Some totally stunning scenery - went up to the Beacon in St Agnes today - massive storm clouds and very windy...but still soooo very pretty. Don't have a tripod with me...

Just wondering if anyone can suggest any tips for getting some good pics despite the poor conditions - any particular settings I should be using on my Nikon D40? Mostly concerned about camera shake seeing as it is soo windy (!) but is there any thing else I should be trying...

Thanks

 

[Messiah Khan]

Hope your having a good time down there Sarah. Just make sure that shutter speed is up to avoid camera shake. This might be a bit harder if its dark and stormy, so you might have to increase the ISO a bit as well. Also if there is rain in the air, make sure you don't get any on the front of the lens, as raindrops can really screw a shot up. Storms are great though. Keep an eye out for the sun trying to break through the clouds as this can create some great conditions. Have fun though.

 

[Ewan]

Remember a tripod isn't the only thing that will steady your camera. A car roof or a brick wall works too

I find noise levels acceptable up to ISO 400 on my camera - fuji s5600 - I don't know how the D40 handles noise compared to this but it is probably a lot better

 

[Shorn]

Miss McT if you would like the use of a tripod, let me know by pm and I can arrange for you to borrow mine whilst you are in Cornwall.
I live in Newquay so as I said if you want one let me know

 

[RobertP]

Very generous offer there!

Only tip I can suggest is if you aren't already... shoot RAW as it will give you more tweaking ability afterwards.

 

[Miss McT]

Thankyou to all I've quickly noticed how friendly 'photographing' people (?!) are. Everytime I've been out and about with my camera so far, people have offered me tips or just stopped for a chat. Aww, tis lovely

 

[photostar_1]

Just beware slippy wet grass and cliff edges

Easy to forget where you are if you get carried away with the moment of fantastic light/clouds/sea...whatever! Looking forward to seeing pics....I love Cornwall so am deeply envious. Will be having withdrawl symptoms soon as I'm not getting my annual fix this year.

 

[Phil T]

Make sure the White Balance is set correctly (Cloudy) or shoot raw as Robert said. Manual focus defeats heavy rain!

 

[nigelcampbell]

I would say crank up the ISO as high as you can until you get shutter speeds of around 1/100sec.

I often shoot in these conditions and find that even if your camera adds noise to the shot, this mostly comes across as atmospherics in a stormy shot and can even add something to the drama. Here are a couple with high ISO settings:

Helena in the Mist

Storm at Loch Linnhe

OH and take a raincoat and something to keep your kit dry.

 

[Messiah Khan]

Hopefully you won't need any of this advice now Sarah, as its going to be nice weather from now on isn't it

I would say crank up the ISO as high as you can until you get shutter speeds of around 1/100sec.

I often shoot in these conditions and find that even if your camera adds noise to the shot, this mostly comes across as atmospherics in a stormy shot and can even add something to the drama. Here are a couple with high ISO settings:

Helena in the Mist

Storm at Loch Linnhe

OH and take a raincoat and something to keep your kit dry.

Those links don't seem to work for me, they just take my to a search page.:shrug:

 

[nigelcampbell]

Doh, I seem to have been especially stupid with my link code there. Links fixed now!

 

[EOS_JD]

I would say crank up the ISO as high as you can until you get shutter speeds of around 1/100sec..

Just a point regards this. I'd say keep ISO as low as you can but high enough to get the shutter speed you need for the lens you are using.

1/100th aint much good if you're shooting with a 300mm lens!

I often shoot in these conditions and find that even if your camera adds noise to the shot, this mostly comes across as atmospherics in a stormy shot and can even add something to the drama. Here are a couple with high ISO settings:

Helena in the Mist

Storm at Loch Linnhe

OH and take a raincoat and something to keep your kit dry.

I'd still rather add grain/noise myself to images in post processing to achieve the look I want rather than have noisy originals.

PS I must say though that both the images there are crackers.

 

[jhob]

If it's a choice between getting the shot or not then raise the ISO as high as you need to go. You can always delete the photo if it doesn't work out, you can't re-take it. But in general it's best to stay at as low an ISO as possible.

I do sometimes find that the lack of clarity and extra noise in higher ISO images inspires me in a different ways to cleaner photographs and end up producing far more graphic results. I know I could do all this post-production with a cleaner image it's just that I don't always think of it. I'm even contemplating shooting some stuff at higher ISO even when I don't need to just to achieve this effect

 

[Miss McT]

Just beware slippy wet grass and cliff edges

Easy to forget where you are if you get carried away with the moment of fantastic light/clouds/sea...whatever! Looking forward to seeing pics....I love Cornwall so am deeply envious. Will be having withdrawl symptoms soon as I'm not getting my annual fix this year.

Thanks, hehe, I know what you mean - I'm not the greatest fan of heights but I've been pretty close to 'the edge' on a few occassions this week! It is beautiful here and the lighting has been gorgeous over the last few days

Make sure the White Balance is set correctly (Cloudy) or shoot raw as Robert said. Manual focus defeats heavy rain!

Thank you I attempted to play with the White Balance - you can change it from -3 to +3 but not quite sure 'how' to use it

I would say crank up the ISO as high as you can until you get shutter speeds of around 1/100sec.

I often shoot in these conditions and find that even if your camera adds noise to the shot, this mostly comes across as atmospherics in a stormy shot and can even add something to the drama. Here are a couple with high ISO settings:

Helena in the Mist

Storm at Loch Linnhe

OH and take a raincoat and something to keep your kit dry.

Thanks for the tips - trying to store them all up Great pics too

Just a point regards this. I'd say keep ISO as low as you can but high enough to get the shutter speed you need for the lens you are using.

1/100th aint much good if you're shooting with a 300mm lens!

Thanks

If it's a choice between getting the shot or not then raise the ISO as high as you need to go. You can always delete the photo if it doesn't work out, you can't re-take it. But in general it's best to stay at as low an ISO as possible.

I do sometimes find that the lack of clarity and extra noise in higher ISO images inspires me in a different ways to cleaner photographs and end up producing far more graphic results. I know I could do all this post-production with a cleaner image it's just that I don't always think of it. I'm even contemplating shooting some stuff at higher ISO even when I don't need to just to achieve this effect

Thankyou I think sometimes you get the best shots from 'playing' around with things - can make it more interesting.

THANKS EVERYONE