Need help with cannon powershot SD450

[automoglow]

I need help finding the best setting to shoot neon lights on cars, for some reason every time i take the pic iy either doesn't come out as bright you its blurry and just doesn't look right.Please help!

[skeuos]

Could you perhaps upload a shot with the exif data? That could help us make some suggestions. A general suggestion is to use the smallest f-stop you can, or at least the mode which will give you the smallest f-stop. This would likely be your landscape mode, and will necessitate your using a tripod or some other method of stabilizing the camera as the exposure will likely be quite long without a flash.

[automoglow]

LOL..well i know all the basic about the camera ..but i don't understand what you mean by upload a shot with the exif data?. or what you mean by use the smallest f-stop you can, or at least the mode which will give you the smallest f-stop. T

[skeuos]

The exif data is the information the camera attaches to a picture. It tells things like the time taken, type of camera, exposure time, and f-stop, give or take a few things. If you upload a shot that's pretty much straight from the camera (with maybe a crop or so) the exif data should come with it. If it does, the site will display it. If you look at a few shots here, you'll probably see what I mean.

If you have a manual mode, you can control your f-stop directly. Basically, the bigger the f-stop number (ie - f8.0 vs f2.6), the smaller the opening for light to go through. This allows for 2 things - one is that it will increase how much of your shot is in focus, the other is that bright lights will be less dominating. If you don't have a manual mode on your camera, the landscape mode will (generally) probably have the highest f-stop setting.

The reason you'll want a large f-stop number (and therefore small aperture) is because you will want to try and shoot without flash (if the cars aren't moving). The flash will wash out the neons. Without the flash, though, you will have a long exposure time - longer than you can hold a camera steady for without help. That is probably why your shots are coming out blurry. Your exposure time will likely be around 1 second or maybe longer. Depending on your zoom, you can generally count on holding your camera steady long enough for 1/30 or 1/60 of a second. Some people are better at this; I'm worse than most.

So - you'll want someway to keep the camera steady, which can be a tripod, or can be holding it up against some stationary object, like another car or a light pole. Also, when you set the focus, make sure the camera focuses on the car and not the neons. This will get the car to be exposed properly, with the neons brighter than the car (but hopefully not too bright - this is why you want the high f-stop number that will give you the smallest aperture).

I think that's enough. Hopefully it all makes sense, and hopefully I haven't insulted your intelligence anywhere if you already knew some of this. Let me know if you have any more questions.