Jade The Boxer and I went out for a run at 5:30 pm, the exact time this weekend’s Las Vegas Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon will start. My run had a few purposes:
- Get Jade some exercise. She destroyed her Squeaky Bird’s head earlier, she needed some movement.
- Get some running miles in for myself.
- Attempt to take photos at night in prep for the race.
Well, I had success on the first two… the last one wasn’t so swell. I couldn’t get the pictures of Christmas lights in my neighborhood to really focus when I was standing still… much less while I was running.
I would love to be a better photographer, I’ve just never taken the time to learn. And my point-and-shoot drives me bonkers sometimes because it tries to overthink things for me. “NO! Don’t use the flash now!” “Hey, you were already focused where I wanted you to focus, why did you change?”
But that camera is also a lot easier to carry while running than my DSLR is… so that’s what I’m taking and I’ll see what I end up with. My team may end up with photos that commemorate their big night as blurred figures. I’ll just tell them it’s cause they were running so fast! (And they’ll have the official race pics!)
If you have any tips on taking pics with a point-and-shoot at night in an area with a lot of lights (i.e. the Las Vegas Strip) please share them with me!
Jill Will Run 
Night pics are really hard unless you have a really fast shutter speed. The slower shutter speed allows all of that ambient light to get in. Other than to carry a bulky camera, no recommendations, sorry! But I think the “they’re blurry because you were so fast” is a great way to cover that!
I’m not much help when it comes to nighttime photos, but I wanted to say GOOD LUCK this weekend. Have fun! I can’t wait to read all abotu it!!
Back in the 35mm days, I could take decent pictures, but I’ve had neither the time or money to learn how to take really good digital photos. Of course, I’d have more time AND more money if I wasn’t spending all of it training for and running races… but that won’t be changing anytime soon!
There should be a setting called ISO, you want the number as high as it will go on your camera, probably 1600. Turn the flash off and see if that helps. I’m not an expert, but that is how I take pictures at concerts. Good luck in the race!