How to Do Night Time Photography

Overview – What you need. A Camera (Duh) A Tripod A Remote Release (Or your TIMER!) A Flashlight Getting Technical Focusing White Balance Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO Aesthetics

Bring a tripod or something that will hold your camera very securely. You will need to set your camera on a tripod to avoid camera shake in long exposures. Opt for a sturdy tripod, as it can be windy sometimes which can affect your photos. Some tripods offer center posts with a hook where you can hang an additional weight to make the tripod more stable. Make sure that it can handle the weight of your camera and your heaviest lens, though. You don’t want to break thousands of dollars worth of equipment because of a cheap weak tripod.

Have some type of remote release. Either a cable release or remote. Even when on a tripod, the act of pressing the shutter will cause some type of movement. If you don't have either, turn on your self-timer and (if you can) set it to about 5 seconds; this will give any vibration a chance to dampen out. If you have a digital SLR and a remote, it's worth checking your manual to find a feature called mirror lock-up. When the mirror in an SLR flips up that, too, causes vibration in your camera body that can take a moment to dampen. Mirror lock-up will allow you to press once to lock up the mirror, wait a moment, then press again to take your shot.

Bring a tripod or something that will hold your camera very securely. Photo by Mr. C

Bring a tripod or something that will hold your camera very securely. Photo by Mr. C

Bring a tripod or something that will hold your camera very securely. Photo by Mr. C

Bring a tripod or something that will hold your camera very securely. Photo by Mr. C

Bring along a small flashlight. This will help you get around your camera if you're shooting in total darkness. Also, all cameras will have trouble focusing on objects in the dark if there is not enough light and/or it's fitted with a slow lens; a flashlight will allow you to illuminate close subjects enough to focus on them.

Bring along a small flashlight. Photo by Mr. C

Learn about your camera's flash and what you can do with it. Obviously, if you are shooting a long distance shot, it won't be much help, but it can help for adding a little illumination to closer subjects (or for nuking your friends with direct flash).

Learn about your camera's flash and what you can do with it. Zweisamkeitby by Armene

This will save fumbling around in the field. Now we get technical. If you know what you need to do to get your shots, set it ahead of time. This will save fumbling around in the field. Now we get technical. Take notes.

Getting Technical - Overview When dealing with night photography, you will have to take control of what the camera handles well in daylight situations. The main four issues you have to handle are focus, white balance, shutter speed, aperture and ISO.

Getting Technical - Focusing Most cameras encounter autofocus problems in low light situations. If you intend to use autofocus anyway, try to find a lit up point or an area where there is a clear contrast between two elements to focus on. Otherwise, you will have to set your focus manually which can be more accurate in night photography. This might not be an option with a cheaper camera.

Getting Technical - White Balance Usually, at night, there are different light sources lighting a scene which produces a variety of colors. You can get satisfying results if you leave your camera on auto white balance. But if there is a light source that is more dominant in a scene, it is more appropriate to adjust your white balance in accordance with that light source.

Getting Technical - Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO These are the elements that control whether you get a proper exposure or not. If you are taking night shots with a hand held camera you will need fast shutter speeds to avoid camera shake and vibration.

Getting Technical - Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO But to get properly exposed shots with a fast shutter speed at night, you need to use the widest aperture you can get from your lens and set the ISO high enough (up to 3200 or more with some cameras). For slow shutter speeds, (streaks) use a tripod or put your camera on a surface that can keep it steady during the exposure.

What is ISO? In traditional (film) photography ISO (or ASA) was the indication of how sensitive a film was to light. It was measured in numbers (you’ve probably seen them on films – 100, 200, 400, 800 etc). The lower the number the lower the sensitivity of the film and the finer the grain in the shots you’re taking.

What is ISO? In Digital Photography ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. The same principles apply as in film photography – the lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain.

What is ISO? Higher ISO settings are generally used in darker situations to get faster shutter speeds. For example an indoor sports event when you want to freeze the action in lower light. However the higher the ISO you choose the noisier shots you will get.

What is ISO? I’ll illustrate this below with two enlargements of shots– the one on the left is taken at 100 ISO and the one of the right at 3200 ISO

I’m Sorry! Questions to Ask When Choosing ISO When choosing the ISO setting I generally ask myself the following four questions: Light – Is the subject well lit? Grain – Do I want a grainy shot or one without noise? Tripod – Am I using a tripod? Moving Subject – Is my subject moving or stationary?

I’m Sorry! If there is plenty of light, I want little grain, I’m using a tripod and my subject is stationary I will generally use a pretty low ISO rating. If it’s dark, I purposely want grain, I don’t have a tripod and/or my subject is moving I might consider increasing the ISO as it will enable me to shoot with a faster shutter speed and still expose the shot well.

I’m Sorry! Of course the trade off of this increase in ISO will be noisier shots. Situations where you might need to push ISO to higher settings include: Indoor Sports Events – where your subject is moving fast yet you may have limited light available. Concerts – also low in light and often ‘no-flash’ zones Art Galleries, Churches etc- many galleries have rules against using a flash and of course being indoors are not well lit. Birthday Parties – blowing out the candles in a dark room can give you a nice moody shot which would be ruined by a bright flash. Increasing the ISO can help capture the scene.

I’m Done About ISO – for now… ISO is an important aspect of digital photography to have an understanding of if you want to gain more control of your digital camera. Experiment with different settings and how they impact your images. Aperture, Shutter Speed, & ISO make up the Exposure Triangle.

Depending on the type of shot that you want, experiment with your aperture and shutter speed. Photo by Mr. C

Have a good idea of what you want to photograph. Photo by Mr. C

Getting Technical - Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO Aperture controls the depth of field. Thus using a wide aperture will result in a shallow and limited depth of field. In night photography and especially in night sceneries, it’s better to opt for smaller apertures (between F8 and F11) to get a good focus range.

Aesthetics As with any other form of photography, night photography conforms to the norms and rules of composition, balance, colors, etc. Go to the place you are shooting during daytime and try to find interesting spots and compositions. When composing your photo try to find patterns and lines leading to a lit up subject.

Photo By Yassine Hakimi

Aesthetics Water reflections can give you magnificent results when shot at night. Street lights, neon lights and windows will reflect their diversified colors on the water , producing a beautiful sights which you can turn into beautiful pictures.

Copenhagen Winter by Lars D Jensen

Blue snake by Eric DOLL

Aesthetics One of the best moments to take night shots is at dusk. The lights in cities are usually on and you can see some color in the sky. This combination will create a sense of balance in the image and will make the photos more vivid.

Romantic Oporto by Nuno Milheiro

Aesthetics Don’t hesitate to use long exposures. It is the only way you can capture photos of fireworks, lightening, light trails, etc. But, always use a tripod and preferably a remote release to make sure you succeed in getting the long exposures right. You don’t want to wait all that time only to find that all you got was a blurry photo. Night photography requires a lot of practice, patience and time. But, the results are totally worth it.

Night Photography – Railway by Mara-mara

Have a good idea of what you want to photograph. Some ideas are: Traffic streams The moon and/or stars Star trails Lightsabers

Unless you are taking photos of a city or at night, try to find an area with less light pollution. Photo by Trevor Carpenter

Unless you are taking photos of a city or at night, try to find an area with less light pollution.

Unless you are taking photos of a city or at night, try to find an area with less light pollution.

TAKE AWAYS