Underground photography set up help

Underground photography is generally tricky because a photograph needs light and there isn't a lot of it.
There are three ways to increase the amount of light.

1. Longer shutter speed. This obviously has the disadvantage that it makes it blurry if you are shooting moving objects like trains. Do make sure your image stabilisation is turned on, on modern cameras this can produce amazing results when photographing stationary objects at long shutter speeds.

2. Wider aperture. The lower the number the wider the aperture, so f2.8 lets in more light than f8 for example. Wider apertures do though give a shallower depth of field, so fewer parts of the subject are in focus (e.g. sharply focused portraits with blurry backgrounds are created using a wide aperture for a shallow depth of field). Generally speaking bridge cameras tend to give a larger depth of field than DSLRs for a given aperture, and when I was using a Panasonic bridge camera (FZ28) the blurring of backgrounds was not really significant when the focal point was more than about 2 metres away. Google suggests the crop factor/focal length multiplier for the S1800 and FZ28 are broadly equivalent so you'll probably experience something similar.

3. Increase the ISO. This is the sensitivity of the sensor to light. Higher values mean greater sensitivity, but they also give a noisier image (see www.exposureguide.com/iso-sensitivity.htm). How significant this is depends on the sensor in your camera, and your personal preference will dictate how much it matters to you and the maximum noise you are happy with (my personal preference is for lower maximum ISOs than many other people, for example). I suggest that you take some time before you go taking photos of the same scene at different ISO levels so you can compare them and decide what the maximum ISO you are happy with is. A review I found online of the S1800 suggests that ISO 400 is going to be fine, with 800 or even 1600 depending on preference and circumstance.

I do suggest getting to know your camera beforehand. So if you have the chance, find somewhere that has similar lighting conditions to an underground station and have a play with the various settings and look at the results so you have some idea what works and doesn't.

Chris W may have other tips as well.

Whilst you are not allowed to use tripods on stations you can use a monopod to keep the camera steady.

Available from Argos etc.

To help get steady pictures try leaning on a wall or post.
Better still hold the camera against a wall or post or stair rail. With the modern viewfinder you don't have to peer down a small hole like I had to in my youth. Have something soft to hand to protect the camera from the wall or post.

Don't forget to hold your breath. Steadyness and not running up or down stairs just before taking a picture helps.

Good luck,

John

There is nothing to stop you using the station furniture.

Walls, posts etc are firm. If you can get a good steady camera by resting it, or yourself on some furniture, it may not be in quite the ideal place, but with a bit of experimenting you can get good results.

If in doubt at least try it. Say goodbye to camera shake.

John