Jim practices handheld night photography shots using a 50mm f/1.8 lens in downtown St. Petersburg FloridaIt has been nearly two years since I first had a 1-on-1 Photography Lesson with Jim. That one was out in Sawgrass Lake Park. Our second lesson was very different. We met in downtown St. Petersburg in the late evening for a specialized night photography lesson, focusing on handheld shots using a 50mm f/1.8 lens. Jim is a great fan of theme parks and often visits them at night when all the attractions are colorfully lit up. Downtown St. Pete makes for a passable substitute as many of the restaurants and buildings along beach drive use their fare share of vibrant LED lighting.
Once the sun went down and it was truly night, the settings used for hand holding such shots get pretty set in stone, though not without some room for tweaking. Basically I instructed Jim to use f/1.8 ISO 800 and 1/60th most of the night. As some buildings and signs had varying levels of brightness, he could sometimes use ISO 400 and even a few times ISO 200. Still, without a tripod, night photography even at f/1.8 is going to require high ISOs.
I look forward to seeing what colorful and creative night theme park shots Jim makes on his next trip over to Orlando.
