Photographing things that go bump in the night Low Light Photography Photographing things that go bump in the night

Topics Equipment Camera Settings Example Pictures

Tripod A tripod is essential Not necessarily Can use higher ISO (discussed later) and hand hold the camera Improvise – use: A rolled up coat / jumper Shelf, windowsill, wall.

Lanercost Priory Crypt 8 seconds – f/14 – ISO 200

Flash Gun Deserves a technical session in its own right Use to illuminate your subject Can help freeze moving subjects Beware red-eye in people and animals With long exposures use a torch as an alternative.

Wombat Possum f/2.8 – ISO 100 f/2.8 – ISO 100 Courtesy of Nick Plant

Remote Release Helps prevent camera shake Especially important with long exposures Alternatively, use your camera’s timer Use Bluetooth or Wi-fi if camera supports them Consider using camera’s Live View to stop mirror from shaking camera Required for very long exposures (bulb) Many cameras’ longest shutter speed is 30 seconds.

Camera Settings

Exposure Time Long exposures are often required for low light photography May be measured in whole seconds, not fractions of a second Can be shortened by using: High ISO settings – e.g. 1600 + Wider aperture – f/2.8 and wider Beneficial effects: light trails and creative blurring removing people from picture.

Focussing Camera may not be able to auto focus in very low light May need to manually focus Can be a problem if very dark If possible focus on lit object similar distance away as your subject Remember to disengage auto focus or camera will try and focus when shutter button is pressed Use back-button focussing.

Chollerford Bridge 10 seconds – f/4 – ISO 3200

ISO A higher ISO helps reduce exposure time Allows camera to be hand held Reduce or remove blurring of moving subjects Compensate for slow lenses – apertures of f/4 and smaller. (Aperture will be discussed later).

Looking In 1/50 second – f/4.5 – ISO 1600

ISO - Disadvantages Higher ISOs introduce noise Pictures appear grainy and lose contrast This can be desirable in black and white pictures Hot pixels Crop sensor cameras can be more susceptible to high ISO noise than full frame Can be mitigated by using in-built camera noise reduction or dark frames in astrophotography.

Moon ISO Noise & Hot Pixel 1/40 second – f/6.3 – ISO 12800

Aperture Wider apertures help shorten exposure times By allowing more light onto the sensor in any given time The wider the aperture the less depth of field Lenses tend to be less sharp ‘wide open’.

Use RAW Not obligatory, but: Provides more leeway if you want to edit photo More scope to recover detail from shadows Beware of banding Reduce noise introduced by high ISO settings.

Banding. Or How Not To Edit 15 seconds – f/11 – ISO 100

Use HDR or Blending Subject needs its own Technical Session In a nutshell: Take one picture exposing for bright areas Take another exposing for dark areas Use HDR feature in Lightroom and Photoshop Alternatively, blend the photos in Photoshop.

Examples of Low Light Photography

Using Ambient Lighting Highland Lass 13 seconds – f/7.1 – ISO 1000

Light Painting Churchyard 15 seconds – f/4 – ISO 2000

Painting With Light Smiley Face 10 Seconds – f/29 – ISO 640 Courtesy Nick Plant

Light Trails Light Trails 20 seconds – f/11 – ISO 100

Stacked Images (Using Sequator) Astrophotography Stacked Images (Using Sequator) 90 seconds – f/4 – ISO 3200 Star Trails 366 Seconds – f/8 – ISO 400

Flash Glasses 15 Seconds – f/11 – ISO 100 Courtesy David Kallmeier

Infra Red Fox 1/25 second – f/3.2 – ISO 100.