| Photography at night can be used to create | | | | good for a night exposure but there should still be |
| mysterious and amazing photos. When I say | | | | some focus applied to the major objects in a scene. |
| photography at night I mean the hours from around | | | | Capturing Motion — A very popular kind of night |
| sunset until when the stars are clearly visible. The long | | | | photography includes a steady camera with some sort |
| exposures associated with low light can create unique | | | | of fast moving object streaming through the frame. |
| effects and unusually sharp photos. | | | | When cars are photographed at night with a long |
| And when I say long exposures I mean exposures | | | | shutter speed, the headlights make a bright pathway |
| lasting from half a second up to even 30 seconds. An | | | | of light and in most cases the car can’t even be |
| exposure that long would seem impossible to prevent | | | | seen. Another option would be to set up your camera |
| shaking, so my technique that I use very often is to | | | | next to a lighted area with lots of people moving like a |
| compose the photo like I would normally and then to | | | | night club or an illuminated street. Just about any kind |
| set the self-timer so the camera takes the picture on | | | | of motion captured with the camera steady produces |
| its own and I don’t even have to touch it. | | | | a very interesting photo. |
| Equipment Options | | | | Balancing Aperture and Shutter Speed |
| For low light photos, a tripod (or some kind of | | | | When taking photos at night you should keep aperture |
| substitute) is very necessary. I almost always keep a | | | | in mind as well as shutter speed. It is without question |
| tripod in the trunk of my car or carry a miniature tripod | | | | that you will need a long shutter speed, but the |
| around on trips. A miniature tripod can be very handy | | | | aperture that you choose will provide the depth of field. |
| because it is typically small enough to fit in a pants | | | | When I take night photos I usually have a very long |
| pocket so it can be taken anywhere. Some | | | | shutter speed (5-15 seconds) and a very narrow |
| photographers carry around a bean bag or something | | | | aperture (high f-stop). This combination creates a huge |
| like it so that can set their camera down and tilt it in | | | | depth of field and makes everything very crisp and in |
| any way they like. Some of my best pictures I have | | | | focus. Of course sometimes you will not desire a |
| taken simply by setting my camera down on a | | | | great depth of field and in those situations you should |
| newspaper stand and setting the self-timer. | | | | widen the aperture (small f-stop). |
| Many photographers are convinced that they need a | | | | Calculating the Exposure |
| cable release to take long exposures but the self-timer | | | | Figuring out what exact shutter speed and aperture |
| release option on just about all cameras works just as | | | | you should use can be very challenging in Manual |
| well. All you have to do is set the camera up, configure | | | | Mode. I would recommend that you just try many |
| the self-timer, press the shutter button, and wait the | | | | different combinations for each scene and eventually |
| specified amount of time (usually 10 seconds) and the | | | | you will refine the settings that you prefer. Another |
| camera will take the photo automatically. And you | | | | technique I use is Bracketing, if you bracket all your |
| don’t have to touch the camera so the photo | | | | photos so the camera takes multiple exposures at |
| won’t be blurred from hand shaking. | | | | different settings, you are more likely to end up with a |
| Night Photo Opportunities | | | | photo that has a satisfactory brightness. |
| Landscape Photos - My favorite kind of night photo | | | | ConclusionThere is no exact science to night |
| usually includes a landscape with some kind of | | | | photography; I hope some of these tips will guide you in |
| foreground element, some sort of framing element, | | | | the right direction. But the best night photographers are |
| and lots of lights throughout the scene. Adding some | | | | usually the people who experiment a lot when they |
| kind of foreground item to the frame helps to create a | | | | are taking low light exposures and eventually they |
| greater depth of field, this technique works for any kind | | | | figure out the best scenes and best exposure settings |
| of photo but I have found that it makes night | | | | to match. Just remember that you need a very long |
| landscape photos much better. Another tip you should | | | | shutter speed setting, and that you need to keep the |
| keep in mind is that the main subject of a night photo | | | | camera very steady. |
| should probably be the most well lit. Lots of light is | | | | |