Hello, I'm new to photography. I don't have the best camera, but I'm passionate about what I do. I'm 16. I have a Fujifilm Finepix S1500, and I want to get some good shots at this dance that my friend is Dj'ing. He said I could come along, and he wants some good shots of him. Does anyone have any advice on how to get cool effects with this camera, and how I can make the best out of the night. I'm open to anything.
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New to Photography, Photographing A friend, DJ'ing!
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No idea what type of camera that is, but if I were you, I'd shoot at the widest angle (i.e. shortest focal length) and leave it there. The "aperture" is largest then, and if you don't use that setting, you're more likely to get blurrier photos, regardless of what ISO is selected.
Also, if you use the largest aperture available on the camera by shooting wide, then you may be able to get away with shooting at a lower ISO, which will make your photos less noisy and blotchy.
Also, if you use the largest aperture available on the camera by shooting wide, then you may be able to get away with shooting at a lower ISO, which will make your photos less noisy and blotchy.
Zoom the lens OUT (i.e. go wide-angle) and get as close as necessary to the action.
Try shots with and without flash.
Take dozens of shots -- you're unlikely to have a great success rate so the more you take the higher your chances are of getting a good one.
Think about what you want in each photo.
Get closer to the action.
Try shots in some sort of "night mode" where it leaves the shutter open for a while to capture the ambient lighting then pops the flash. If you can find a "second curtain sync" setting in your camera's flash menus/options, enable that (it fires the flash at the end of the shot instead of the start of the shot).
Try shots with and without flash.
Take dozens of shots -- you're unlikely to have a great success rate so the more you take the higher your chances are of getting a good one.
Think about what you want in each photo.
Get closer to the action.
Try shots in some sort of "night mode" where it leaves the shutter open for a while to capture the ambient lighting then pops the flash. If you can find a "second curtain sync" setting in your camera's flash menus/options, enable that (it fires the flash at the end of the shot instead of the start of the shot).
Yeah, keep the zoom on the wide (zoomed-out) end to maximize the amount of light entering the camera. You probably have some range w/which to play around, but it'll probably be best to keep it as close to f/2.8 as possible.
Since your camera (apparently) has a manual exposure mode, you can try dragging the shutter (long exposure) while using the flash to freeze movement for interesting effects. You may also want to look into making a diffuser/softbox for your pop-up flash (some paper, tape, and maybe a paper clip or two are all you need) to make it less harsh.
Not using a flash will probably not turn out well, unless your friend is DJing in some alternate universe where dances are brightly-lit. Also, bring extra batteries if you can, or if not, a charger.
Since your camera (apparently) has a manual exposure mode, you can try dragging the shutter (long exposure) while using the flash to freeze movement for interesting effects. You may also want to look into making a diffuser/softbox for your pop-up flash (some paper, tape, and maybe a paper clip or two are all you need) to make it less harsh.
Not using a flash will probably not turn out well, unless your friend is DJing in some alternate universe where dances are brightly-lit. Also, bring extra batteries if you can, or if not, a charger.