Olympus EVOLT E-510 - Manual (Page 29)

EN
29
Improving your shooting skills
k
Shooting guides
2
Taking night scene pictures
There are different types of night scenes, from the afterglow of a sunset and city lights at
night to special light displays and firework displays.
Using a tripod
Because a slow shutter speed is needed to capture night
scenes, a tripod is required to prevent camera shake. If a
tripod is not available, you should place the camera on a
stable surface to prevent camera shake. Even if the camera
is secured, camera shake may occur when pressing the
shutter button. Therefore, it is recommended to use the
remote control or self timer.
Changing shooting mode
Night scenes have different levels of brightness, and the balance of the brightness in the
composition is not uniform. Start by using A (aperture priority shooting) mode to take the
picture. Set the aperture to the medium setting (about F8 or F11) and allow the camera to
automatically select the shutter speed. When shooting a night scene, because the camera
sets the exposure to match the dark areas which occupy a majority of the composition and
the image often turns out whitish (overexposed), adjust the exposure compensation to -1 or
-1.5. Use [REC VIEW] to check the image and adjust the aperture and exposure
compensation as necessary.
Image noise can easily occur when shooting at slow shutter speeds. In this case, set [NOISE
REDUCT.] to [ON] to reduce noise.
Using manual focus
In cases where you cannot use AF (auto focus) to focus on the
subject because the subject is too dark or you cannot focus in time to
take pictures, such as during a fireworks display, set the focus mode
to [MF] (manual focus) and focus manually. To take pictures of night
scenes, turn the focus ring of the lens and check whether you can
see the lights of the night scene clearly. To take pictures of a
fireworks display, adjust the focus of the lens to infinite unless you
are using a long focus lens. If you know the approximate distance to
the subject, it is recommended that you focus on something that is at
the same distance in advance.
g “P: Program shooting” (P. 31), “A: Aperture priority
shooting” (P. 32), “Sequential shooting/Self-timer/Remote
control” (P. 45), “Focus mode” (P. 49), “Noise reduction” (P. 62), “Rec view
k Checking the
picture immediately after shooting” (P. 82)
s0010_e_00_unified.book Page 29 Monday, April 9, 2007 6:12 PM