Fabulous Las Vegas, tips for shooting after dark…

People watching was a lot of fun in Las Vegas! I couldn’t resist taking a shot of the crowds watching the fountains dance at the Bellagio. Everyone was taking pictures to bring home great memories. The crowds gather around the fountain each hour to watch the show! We arranged for a private tour at the Neon Museum. Our photography group was able to get some fantastic photos at night. Below is the Sassy Sally’s sign from the Neon Museum where we arranged a private tour for our workshop participants. The signs were great fun to photograph, we stayed until midnight taking picture after picture, no two photos alike!

For travel and nighttime shots like these, a sturdy tripod is a must, along with a cable release and mirror lockup. I’m trying out the new Induro Grand Turismo travel tripod CGT114 which is compact for travel, lightweight but very strong. It was easy to carry with me to all destinations in and around Las Vegas, making shots like these easy and fun! Thanks to Hunts Photo & Video for offering a special 15% off for a limited time,  Induro Grand Turismo Kit 15% off and the Induro BHD2 Ballhead.

Here are a couple of tips for nighttime photography..

• Use a sturdy tripod, cable/remote release and mirror lockup (self timer also works)
• Stop down for starbursts for beautiful points of light in an image
• Set your white balance for the most dramatic color, or use a color enhancing filter such as the Singh-Ray Color Enhancing filter or FLW filter (use Live View to scroll through the various white balance settings to get started)
• Turn off vibration reduction/image stabilization while the camera is mounted to the tripod
• Bring a flashlight, it comes in handy to check settings, and for any impromptu light painting (use Rogue gels for a punch of color with Fenix LD 22 flashlight) A flashlight will help establish a point of focus in the dark too.

I’ll keep you posted on future workshops, upcoming presentations, and seminars are listed here… Workshops/Seminars I hope to see you at the NECCC Conference  in Amherst this summer where I’ll be giving a presentation on creative techniques and also infrared photography, and later this fall I’ll be a guest speaker for Nature Visions. I hope to see you at a workshop or seminar!