Re: Taking Pictures in Las Vegas

> (try to make sure all messages in thread cross-post)

If you don't mind, I'm replying in the vacation newsgroup only. Since I
only use film cameras I don't wanna start yet another film/digital war
thread. :)

Yes, I'm admittedly a film snob. :) However, when you look at how the
digital sensors respond to light, with respect to the various types of
film ...

> They come out either very dim &
> clear or bright & washed out. I'm talking about the neon and jumbotron
> signs on the strip.

The consensus among both film and digital fans is that most digital
sensors (the "film" in the digital camera) behaves more like slide film
than like negative film, in that the dynamic range is smaller. If you
ever shoot Kodachrome (yes, it's still available and a lot of people
do, including me) you know what I mean.

Night scenes, like those in Las Vegas, almost require a color negative
film to get some detail in the lowlights (shadows and most of the scene
with prominent bright lights) without washing out the highlights.

I've had the best luck with off the shelf Fuji 400 and 800. I've found
that intentionally underexposing one stop (shooting 400 as if it were
800) gives good results, showing enough lowlight detail without totally
ruining the highlights.

All of the night shots at this page were done just a few days ago with
Fuji 400 exposed at 800:

http://www.letis.com/dmr/pics/vegas/vegas7/

Color negative film, and to some extent, color slide film, will wash
out highlights gracefully. There will be some detail recorded as the
brighness approaches the total white saturation point. Digital sensors
(many of them, anyway) tend to "blow out" totally, one big totally
white spot, often surrounded by artifact.

I would recommend a camera that has a manual mode, or at least the
ability to tweak the auto mode. Think of the auto-exposure as a
"sugestion" of what the camera (which is quite stupid, actually) thinks
you should do.

Since you wanted settings, those of the partly lit Westward Ho on the
page above were done mostly at 1/30 with the Canon f1.7 lens close to
wide open with Fuji 400. I would let the auto exposure tell me what it
thought first, sometimes I would just shoot on that, sometimes I would
shift, set the exposure, recompose, and shoot, and sometimes I would
take it off auto, tweak the exposure, and then shoot.

Those of the South Coast were done some at 1/30, some at 1/60, with
anywhere from maybe f4 to wide open at 1.7.

> I've also had problems in some of larger low-light casinos. I try not
> to advertise the fact that I'm taking pics by using the flash so I get
> a lot of motion blur. I've found its like taking a pic in a cathedral
> with people jumping up and down...

For indoors in the casinos it's tricky. The subject of what casinos let
you shoot is another thing. I'll repost the list I keep in another
thread. I think that shooting inside casinos is more tricky than the
Strip and downtown at night.

For "available-darkness" shots, you need 3 things, really ...

1. A fast film (or higher ISO on digital).
2. A fast lens.
3. A very steady hand.

1/60 is about as fast as you will ever be able to shoot in a casino,
and that will be with the lens close to wide open with fast film. This
will be able to stop most walk-speed action coming toward or away from
you, but not laterally or vertically. Most people can also hand-hold
1/60 with a normal lens easily.

You may notice that I don't have many casino interiors. They are hard
to shoot plus many casinos forbid or restrict it. I keep a list of the
answers I get when I ask and I'll repost that as another item.

Hope this helps. :)

.

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