Taking night pictures: Wednesbury Christmas lights switch on

If you look carefully, you'll see the people in the foreground are in focus and then it goes out of focus farther away. Because it was so dark, I was using a wide aperture and a slow shutter speed (exposure time). The ISO was quite high at 900, but this year I'll go even higher. There is a risk of 'noise' with a higher ISO, but I think it will be OK to go much higher. The higher ISO will mean the sensor will be more sensitive to light and so give me the option of a narrower aperture for depth of field or a shorter exposure time for less blur.

At events like this, try to focus on a subject, in this case the singer on the left. If he is in focus, the rest doesn't matter so much. The wide aperture gets near subjects in focus.

This shot is more out of focus, but it captures the atmosphere of the night market and that's what I wanted. A narrower aperture would work better, but would make the image darker. I would have been better focusing on a subject in the foreground.

Here you can see the foreground in focus again, but it's a compromise. You can still see enough of the background to tell it's a street market. The Iceland sign is close enough that we can read it.

I was trying different settings last year and for this shot I increased the ISO to 3200, it seems better, so I'll go even higher this year. There is a little 'noise' in this image, but it's hardly noticeable. People moving quickly are blurred too, but that adds to the picture.

Last year I didn't even attempt to use a flash. This year I have a speedlight (external flash) that I could use to give extra light. It can make faces look very white and give too much light, especially out of doors. People do ask me to take their photo and so maybe the speedlight can be switched on for those shots.

This couple wanted their photo taken. Shots like this might be better with the flash. I could then use a wide aperture and a higher speed. Some of these shots were blurred, a high speed would fix that. Multiple shots using the flash wouldn't be so good though.

I shall probably use aperture priority and a high ISO and let the camera decide the shutter speed. I will change the settings as I go to make sure I get some good pictures.

I just have to make sure I can keep warm now, last year I couldn't press the shutter release, my hands were numb with the cold. I have thermal gear this time and fingerless gloves so I can operate the shutter release!

Read the original post and more like it on Mike's blog A Zillion Ideas.