9 Tips Every Photography Needs for Shooting at Night
Searching for tips for shooting at night? Read on for the best techniques to try next time you're dabbling in night photography.
If you are new to photography and are ready to dabble in shooting at night, here are 9 tips to try the next time you head out with your camera.
1. Use Manual Mode
The first step in shooting at night is to make sure your camera is set up in manual mode. This mode allows you to decide what shutter speed, aperture, and ISO level you will be using.
Since you are shooting at night you will be taking your time and will not have to rely on the automatic setting to make sure you capture your image.
2. Shoot in Raw Format
There are two settings on your camera for recording your photos, RAW and JPEG. Shooting in RAW allows your camera to save photos with more detail, however, it will save as a fairly large file so be sure to get a good size memory card. You are going to need it.
This is especially important if you are wanting to
use your photos for different designs and have to edit them later.
3. Get a Sturdy Tripod
You will want to use a tripod when shooting at night. When using longer exposures it's hard to keep the camera still long enough to reduce blurring. If the weather is unpredictable you will need weights to keep your tripod steady since winds can also cause blurring.
4. Keep Your ISO Low
Usually, when shooting during the day, you would want to use your camera's highest ISO level but when shooting at night you will want to use the lowest setting possible. Using a
low ISO level will reduce the amount of digital noise (the dark areas) in your photo which will keep your picture from looking grainy.
5. Take Practice Shots
Taking pictures at night requires a more methodical procedure. When shooting at night, the lighting is often times very low and you will need to take time to adjust your camera settings to get the shot you are looking for. This will require taking some test shots and tweaking the settings as needed.
6. Use Bracket Exposures
Getting your exposure to be right where you want it to be at night can be a tricky task. One trick to get around that is to take a photo and then use the Aperture Priority button to adjust the exposure until you get the results you were looking for.
7. Adjust Your Settings for Shooting at Night
If you plan on shooting at more than one location, you will need to adjust your settings as you go. Each place will offer different types of lighting so you will need to spend some time figuring out which settings work best in that spot. Take your time and as you take test shots you will get it right.
8. Pick a Slow Shutter Speed
In order to get those awesome shots with the light trails of traffic or carnival rides, for instance, you will want to slow down the speed of your shutter. This is so that your camera has time to capture all of that light. How slow you go will depend on how quick your subject is moving. So again, take those practice shots until you get it how you want it.
9. Use a Remote
You've got the camera on the tripod, the settings are perfectly adjusted and you push the shutter button causing just a
small amount of movement. Your picture comes out blurry and ruins the shot. You need to get a
wired remote that will do the work for you, and spare yourself the heartache of losing the perfect picture.
Get Out There and Give it a Shot!
These are great tips to get started with shooting at night, but of course, it doesn't end there. There is plenty of room to grow in this field and if you are looking for more tutorials on other topics, please
visit our site.
