Night Entertainment

[Jack McMullen]

Just looking for some tips when trying to get better flaming affects at night.

[Sahil]

Hi Jack,

I understand how difficult it is to take a shot with flames in it. The first image is a potential picture. If I may, I would suggest a tighter crop along with brightening up the area minus the flames. The flames are 'very well' exposed.

PS:- Hope you took care of your eyes. Avoid looking at scenes like these through viewfinder. Very harmful they are.
PPS:- I hope you shot this in RAW.

[Jack McMullen]

Thanks Sahil,

This has helped me a lot, since I am new to the technical side of photography, haha, I normally just take a million photos of something and change the settings as I go. One question however, what program would suggest for editing?

[Rasbury]

You have some fine images here with great possibilities Jack.If your not looking into spending any money on software for post processing then I would suggest trying Gimp on for size as it is a free software that you can download off the internet.If money is not an issue then Photoshop Elements is a good starting program that is not to expensive.
Along with Sahil's info I would think about using a tripod or some simular type of base for your camera as to avoid camera shake on these long exposure shots.I do like the last image though.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Jack,

I'd also recommend a tripod, or, to make a large difference witha bit more flexibility, a monopod, for shots like this.

Cheers,

[epmi314]

I agree a tri or monopod would be helpful for similar shots in the future or at least bracing the camera against something... Heck you could even set it on the table next to your Mai Tai. Nonetheless, the first has merit. A tighter crop as someone mentioned earlier and getting rid of the bouncing lights in the background would be a nice improvement.