Photography at night can be very tricky. One has to slow down the shutter speed in order to allow the little amount of light there is while making sure the shutter speed isn’t slow enough to introduce blur. I decided to bring along my 60D to Sonic, where I wanted to test out the camera capabilities in low light situations. In order to get in the most light possible, I decided to bring my 50mm f1.8 lens. The F1.8 will allow more light to come into the camera while preventing the camera from going to a slow shutter speed. Also, the small light body of the f1.8 will center the center of gravity of the camera on the camera body itself. If I were to use other lens, the camera could become lens heavy and make shooting crisp night pictures without a tripod difficult.
Here is Michael who is ordering his meal. This image was particularly difficult to achieve because of the unique lighting situation. Not only is it at night, but there is also a huge back lit screen facing Michael. This makes calculating what the camera settings should be very difficult. I ended up turning the f stop all the way down to f1.8 and then making the shutter speed very high (1/400). By doing this combination, Michael is able to stay in focus while the rest of the scene stays (relatively) not under or over exposed.
Here is a photo in which having a f1.8 lens can really distance the background and the subject. Notice how there seems to be a green smudge on underneath Pradeepan’s mouth. This is caused because I have a UV filter on top of my lens. I use an UV filter to protect the front lens, but it can also cause some of the photos to become distorted. To prevent these types of shots, you can either take off the UV filter, or buy a really expensive one that does not have this distortion issues.
The f1.8 can be both a blessing and a curse. The shallow depth of field can introduce problems, such as this photo. Notice how majority of the receipt is very crisp, but there are also parts of the receipt (slightly farther back from the camera) that are blurry. To correct this, you can increase the f stop.
The lens is really good. I enjoying taking photos at night since it creates a unique personal feel. I do not like using flash since it makes everything feel so artificial. If night shooting is your thing, then using a 50mm f1.8 is going to be your best friend.
Shooting Life in M Mode 