5

CHAPTER
NIGHT AND LOW-LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY / Weddings, Concerts, and
Other Events

It is a good thing that the San Diego fair lasts for

18 days. This enabled me to make several visits —

getting the exposures perfect takes a lot of prac-

tice and experimentation.

Those great rides

The best part of the fair for many is those great

rides, the ones that flip you upside down and spin

you around. However, when I say that the rides are

great, I mean to photograph, not to actually ride.

The most iconic ride at the fair is the big Ferris

wheel, and part of what makes it so great to pho-

tograph is the pattern of lights on the spokes. As

the Ferris wheel slowly rotates, these lights create

was a little more of a challenge as the amount of
light and bright areas had the camera underex-
posing the image as it tried to counteract the
bright parts. I purposely wanted to overexpose the
image to get an accurate representation of how
bright it appeared to me. To do this, I started by
adjusting to a +1 for the exposure compensation
and then checking the results on the LCD on the
back of the camera. I looked to see that the areas
of solid light were rendering pure white. After
checking the exposure and making sure it was
correct, I could focus on the composition. In
Figure 5-21, I pushed the exposure to +2 to get
the lights right, and then I focused on the horse
right in front of me.

ABOUT THIS PHOTO The carousel is a great subject, with the bright, white lights and the expressive wooden horses. For this photo, I over-
exposed the image by two full stops to get the look I wanted. Taken at 1/60 second, f/2.8, and ISO 800.

5-21