Shooting at night or in the dark. Oh yeah.
This is what people think about the least when buying a camera and what they come to very quickly. Night shooting is so romantic.
Technically, shooting handheld in the dark is not difficult, but there are a number of significant limitations that reduce it to the level of impossibility or unacceptable quality:
- Long exposure due to low light
- High ISO due to slow shutter speed
- Digital noise due to high ISO
How do beginner photographers "correctly" take pictures at night ?!
Undemanding young photographers raise the built-in flash and click the shutter with gusto, blinding everyone around. The more attentive, not necessarily the more experienced, frown in displeasure at the sight of flat faces, red eyes, and unnatural grotesque lighting.
Others, who have read photo blogs with answers on how to take pictures and have already bought a tripod, suddenly discover that apparently still people are very mobile when shooting at slow shutter speeds. Say hello to blurry photos and a Manfrotto tripod for a lot of money. :)
Still others joyfully raise ISO, especially if a SLR camera allows you to raise ISO to over 25k +, and then sigh sadly, looking at photos hopelessly spoiled by digital noise.
Fourth are faced with incorrect autofocus. It seems like the camera is aimed, but not in the right direction and not in the same way, in general. Or it refuses to focus at all.
These are the main problems that our photographer will visit when trying to photograph something at night or just in the dark. However, the good news is that these problems are completely solvable, if approached skillfully.
Starting a conversation about night photography, you need to know that there are two main photo accessories that make night photography very easy. It:
- Flash. external or built-in
- Tripod
And now we'll talk about how to photograph at night with and without them. And, since you are a beginner photographer, we will start with their absence.
How to take pictures at night without a flash?!
In this type of photography, the novice photographer has the following choices in how to shoot:
- Using a tripod
- With high ISO(ISO)
The bottom line is to ensure that the shutter speed on the camera is sufficient to exclude a blurry photograph.
What happens if you raise the ISO when shooting at night?!
By raising the ISO, you can reduce the shutter speed to a value that will allow you to get a clear picture, without shaking or blurring.
This method is good for everyone, except for one point:
Raising the ISO leads to more digital noise, and the worse the matrix of your camera, the stronger the digital noise will be in the photo.
By the way, raising the ISO always leads to the appearance and amplification of digital noise. It doesn't matter when and how you photograph: day or night.
How to shoot at night or in the dark with a tripod?!
The smartest thing you can do if you want to photograph something in the dark is to use a tripod.
A tripod can be anything: expensive or cheap, with or without a swivel head. Its task is only to ensure the complete immobility of the camera during night photography. Yes, actually, and not only at night.
Thanks to the tripod, you can use any slow shutter speeds, which will allow you to digital camera, completely without fear of blur or movement on the frames. You will not have any need to raise the ISO.
In other words, if you are photographing with a tripod, then ISO can be set to its minimum value.
If there is no tripod, i.e. If you are a completely new photographer, you can use any surface suitable for laying the camera and ensuring its stillness when taking pictures.
How to take pictures at night with a flash?!
To begin with, you must understand that any flash, whether it be mounted or built-in, can only illuminate a few meters and, therefore, it will not work to illuminate the entire Moscow Kremlin with a flash.
Flashes are good for night photography of portraits, small interiors or buildings, and the like. In general, all that is enough lighting from this very flash.
The process of shooting night photography with a flash is simple.
We raised the built-in / turned on and set up the external one and take pictures to your health. As a rule, any Kenon / Nikon / Pentax / Sony / Samsung flash works fine in automatic or semi-automatic mode on its own camera, which makes life a lot easier for a novice photographer.
The details of using the flash are described in the instructions for your camera or the flash itself, and we’ll talk a little further about using the flash when shooting portraits at night.
How to shoot at night without a tripod?!
As already mentioned, trying to work out photography in the dark is fraught with long exposure, and not gopniks, as you might think. Alas and ah, but a novice photographer has only two options for taking pictures at night and without a tripod, i.e. from hand:
- Use high ISO
- use flash
The problems that give rise to both of these options for night photography have already been discussed a little higher.
How to photograph portraits at night with a digital camera?!
Basically, there are three options for how you can shoot portraits of people or just people themselves at night:
- Using built-in or external flash
- Using high ISO
- Using a tripod and flash
Taking a portrait at night using the flash
When using the built-in head-on flash, you will get fairly flat lighting and correspondingly flat faces of your friends. Red-eye and harsh shadows go hand in hand with a photo taken this way.
In general, the sensations from such photographs are terrible, and therefore, I strongly do not recommend using the built-in flash.
Night portraits are much better when using an external flash with a rotary head, i.e. the flash can be directed in different directions and operate with light reflected from a wall or ceiling, which gives softer and better portrait lighting.
The problem with external flashes is that they are quite expensive. Canon / Nikon flashes with rotary heads are quite expensive. The cost of Pentax flashes generally drives into quiet horror.
The situation with outbreaks is saved by the Chinese manufacturer of flashes of the YongNuo brand.
But there is another problem here: most of the YongNuo flash models require manual adjustment, which imposes higher requirements on the skills of a novice photographer. At a minimum: knowledge of exposure, exposure pairs and shooting in manual mode on the camera.
How to take pictures at night at high ISO !?
When taking a photo, by setting a high ISO, you can get a pretty good shot that will have the right to life and that will retain all the naturalness of the lighting in the photo.
However, be sure that shooting in the dark, by raising the ISO, is not an activity for the faint-hearted photographers, because the abundance of digital noise in the picture will be colossal, especially when shooting with a cheap digital camera such as a digital zoom or a soap box.
And so it can be concluded that at night, with a high ISO, only advanced cameras with fast optics shoot well. In principle, one can not assume, because this is exactly what happens.
Remember: if you are using a tripod, then you do not need to set a high ISO for any kind of photography.
How to shoot portraits of people at night using a tripod and flash?!
Now we come to the most important thing: how to take a picture good portrait at night?!
From the title, you already understood that you need to use a tripod and a flash. The problem with this approach to photography lies in the fact that it is necessary to work out the person being portrayed and everything that surrounds him. Especially the background.
And the kind of night shooting that allows all this is called "slow sync photography" by "front or rear curtain." You mount your camera on a tripod, set the exposure to work out the background, and turn on slow rear-curtain sync.
What happens with this type of photography?!
The camera will expose the background and turn on the flash automatically at the last moment of exposure, which will allow you to get a clear portrait of a person in the foreground, without blurring and stirring.
You can do the same thing, but completely in manual mode on the camera. As a rule, this allows you to get a photo with better developed shadows and lighting.
Photographing a portrait in a fully manual mode with a tripod and flash
This photo is taken as follows:
- Mounting the camera on a tripod
- We select the manual shooting mode on the camera and select the exposure to work out the background or background.
- We select the flash power for sufficient illumination of the person in the foreground.
- Enable slow rear-curtain sync
- Set the timer on the camera and press the shutter button on the camera.
The flash should not be overly powerful. We only need to highlight the person, not tearing him away from the background visually. You can find a description of how slow synchronization mode is enabled on your camera in its instructions.
This is the most efficient and effective method photography at night, which guarantees a high-quality night portrait of a person without blur, movement and a low level of digital noise due to the lack of the need to bully the ISO.
Combining high ISO, flash and a tripod is useless, because in their essence they all contradict each other.
According to the tradition of the photoblog, about the photo from the article:
This is one of the first pictures I took at night. Photographing was carried out late at night in a fully manual mode of the camera without a flash and a tripod.
I compensated for the lack of a tripod by laying the camera on some kind of fence. Not as convenient as with a tripod, but the stillness of the camera during shooting was ensured and, therefore, there was no need to turn up the ISO when shooting.
The selection of the exposure made it possible to obtain detailed moonlight on the mountains, in the very background. By the way, this study confuses inexperienced photographers so much that they take this line of mountains for some kind of image processing defect.
Using a slow shutter speed blurred the surface of the water, but I chose it in such a way that I still retain a slight ripple of the waves on the water.
Bonus for those who have read this far. Please note that all the lights in the photo have elongated rays, like stars.
A similar effect can be obtained when using a closed aperture i.e. the aperture value is in the range of 12-16, and the more you close the aperture, the more the rays will be stretched.
In general, it turned out to be quite a good interesting photo taken at night. So romantic.
Even if you have photographed the streets of your city or the shore of a familiar lake a thousand times during the daytime, you can rediscover them at night. Headlights and building illumination, moonlight and reflections on the water will give you the opportunity to create original and unique scenes.
The main feature of shooting at night is the work with long exposures, due to which insufficient lighting is compensated. Therefore, the process of night shooting is somewhat different from the more familiar shooting during the day.
For night shooting, as well as for daylight shooting, there is also a concept of regime time. When you want to include the sky, it's best not to be completely black, as is often the case in the dead of night. Try to shoot within an hour after sunset or an hour before sunrise - this will be the "golden" time night photography. residual daylight combined with artificial, and clouds can be distinguished in the sky.
Equipmentfor night photography
Many novice photographers believe that shooting at night requires a special fast lens. lens. This is not true. You can take great night shots with any lens available to you. After all, the main attention should be paid to the settings - then everything will work out.
But what can not be done without is without tripod. Because it will be extremely difficult to hold the camera still during a slow shutter speed. Of course, you can find another stable support (parapet, fence, stump or stone), but this is not particularly convenient - your movements relative to the subject will be limited.
It is preferable that the tripod is as stable as possible, and you do not have to support it with your hands - this will blur the frame. If necessary, place a weight (bag, umbrella) on the hook of the central tripod rod.
When you move on to shooting with a tripod, don't forget to disable stabilization mode Images. The stabilizer lever can be located directly on the camera or on the lens (depending on the manufacturer and model of photographic equipment). The work of the stabilizer consists in the slight response movement of the matrix or optical system to compensate for the vibration of the camera in the hands of the photographer. When the camera is securely fixed on a tripod, the stabilization system, however, tries to move, removing the missing vibrations - then when long exposure image blur occurs. Shaking can also appear when shooting with a tripod at a large focal length. Therefore, get as close to the subject as possible. However, sometimes blurring part of an image is an artistic technique.
So, the camera is fixed on a tripod, but the movement is still present. Perhaps your movement when you press the shutter button creates it. There are two ways to prevent this negative phenomenon:
Activate function self-timer shutter(interval shooting) so that it fires a few seconds after the button is pressed.
Use cable for remote shutter release, then touching the camera at the time of shooting will not be necessary at all. Cables (also called remotes) can be infrared, radio-controlled, mechanical or electronic. Which one you get depends on personal preference.
Working at slow shutter speeds will “plant” very quickly battery your camera. Therefore, if possible, take a spare battery with you when you go shooting.
General camera settings
Best time to shoot at night in manual mode("M"), so you can set the maximum settings at your discretion.
In order to be able to eliminate small shooting errors in the post-processing process, shoot in the format RAW(some photographers call it "raw format"). The format allows you to save a maximum of color and light information (this is especially important for preserving details in the shadows) and at the same time not to lose the quality of the image during processing.
Most likely automatic focusing at night, you won’t need it: in low light, the automation simply won’t be able to focus or will give a serious failure. So switch your camera to manual focus.
To keep the entire image in focus, apply hyperfocal focus. To do this, conditionally divide the scene being shot into 3 equal parts and focus on 1/3. As you know, with this method, 1/3 of the frame before the focus point and 2/3 behind it is sharp. The method is suitable for you if there is no very large object in the foreground of the picture.
white balance in night photography - one of the most controversial issues. If you are shooting a city street, then at night it will be filled with point sources of light with different color temperatures. The easiest way is to set the automatic white balance, and then correct the frame in the photo editor. In this case, you must definitely switch to the RAW format. If you want to get pictures in JPG format, then for the picture to be warm, set the white balance to “cloudy”, and for a colder picture, set the white balance to “incandescent”.
By deliberately setting a completely wrong white balance, you can achieve amazing artistic effects.
There is a fairly common misconception that for night photography you need to use large sensitivity values -ISO. Actually the increase ISO values will inevitably lead to a loss of image quality - the appearance of noise, especially in shadow areas. If you are shooting on a tripod, then set the minimum ISO value to 100, the lack of light will be compensated by a slow shutter speed.
When you need to shoot moving people at night, you will need a faster shutter speed, which means that image quality will have to be sacrificed by increasing the ISO value. This is not critical if the pictures are intended for printing in standard small formats.
built-in flash you should not use, although many novice photographers reach out to “illuminate” everything around. The range of the built-in flash is only a few meters, so it will not be possible to illuminate the entire scene with it, but the foreground will be overexposed and the frame will be spoiled.
Exposure settings for shooting at night
For night shooting, it is recommended to use the median values. diaphragm f8-f16. Firstly, this will allow to achieve a sufficient depth of field of the frame, and secondly, it will eliminate the appearance of distortions at maximum f values.
The most important parameter for night shooting is long exposure. Its indicator can range from 1 second to the value that your creative intent requires.
It is difficult for an inexperienced photographer to “guess” the desired shutter speed the first time. Therefore, you will have to shoot a couple of trial shots, analyze the result, and only then proceed to the main shooting. Over time, you will remember the approximate shutter speeds for different situations and it will be easier for you to select them.
Here is an example of basic shutter speed and aperture values at the minimum ISO value for various shooting situations:
Night sky - 15"", f 5.6;
The sky at dusk - 1/30, f 5.6;
Landscape by moonlight - 4", f 5.6;
Full moon - 1/250, f 8;
· Building with illumination - 4 "", f 16;
· High traffic road - 30"", f 22;
Fireworks - 20"", f 11;
Amusement park - 15 "", f 16.
When a scene calls for shutter speeds longer than 30 seconds (30""), set the camera to Bulb mode. Working in this mode, you are free to set the exposure time as you wish.
By setting long shutter speeds, you can achieve a bright, almost “daylight” frame. However, you should not do this: you went outside for night shots, which means that the night on them should remain at night - save the shadows and the general tonality of the dark time of the day, highlight the light sources.
Camera automation does not take into account your creative ideas, so the built-in exposure meter in the dark will not be useful to you, because. may produce incorrect values. This is due to the fact that the built-in exposure meter of the camera measures only the amount of light reflected from objects. Accordingly, if there is a car (or a glass showcase, or snow) in the frame that reflects light, then the metering will occur on it. And after pressing the shutter, the rest of the scene will be dark.
Function auto bracketing will help you get 3 shots with different exposure values, from which you can choose the most successful ones already on the computer.
When you set a slow shutter speed, the camera, after closing the shutter, processes the resulting image for some time, eliminating possible noise. No need to think that the technique is frozen - just give it the opportunity to finish processing without pressing all the buttons that come across.
Secrets to getting great night shots
Night shooting in practice
For interesting views of night city from a great height, learn shoot through glass(for example, you can climb to the top floor of a high-rise building, or find an observation deck). When you see a glass that is not very clear, which also reflects everything that is in the room, it is probably difficult for you to imagine how to make a good shot in such adverse conditions.
To deal with the problem, start by placing the lens as close to the glass as possible. Then take a small piece of dark fabric (you can use a scarf or even a T-shirt) and cover the camera, as if making a screen for it between the glass and the rest of the room - this way you can eliminate reflections in the glass, at least in the part where the camera is located .
To prevent dirt on the glass from spoiling your shots, open the aperture (reduce the f-number) until the pictures become “clean”. Often the optimal value is f8.
Very popular, but no less interesting star effect around light sources (such as lanterns or bright highlights) will help create accents in your night photos. Stars is an optical effect that is directly related to your lens aperture design and the number of aperture blades. When f is minimal, the kinks between the aperture blades do not affect the photograph in any way. But when f increases, the aperture aperture takes the form of a hexagon or an octagon (depending on the design of the lens). Passing through such a hexagon, the light from a point source is displayed in the image as an asterisk.
If you are working near a body of water, be sure to pay attention toreflections. Hundreds of night lights will double and create an incredible pattern of light and color. Interesting pictures are obtained if the subject itself is not in the frame, but there is only its reflection. Water and reflections in it can take up to 2/3 of the frame area, but do not get carried away: do not forget to show the sky and the landscape surrounding the reservoir. The reflections that are taken from the level of the water surface look the most successful and clear. To do this, you will need to install the camera lower. The highlight of the frame can be ripples on the surface of the water in windy weather. If there is no reservoir nearby, but it has recently rained, then puddles are also an excellent “source” of reflections. Watch and you will find the idea of your best shot.
For shooting at night, away from city lights, slightly different rules apply than when shooting in the city. There are no additional light sources here, except for the moon and stars, but you can add light yourself using the technique light brush painting. To create a frame, you will need a flashlight or any other device that can illuminate the space at a fairly large distance. Mount your camera on a tripod and start shooting at slow shutter speeds. While the exposure lasts, smoothly paint with a flashlight beam in space, like with a brush, highlighting the main objects of the frame and giving them volume. Multiple light sources can be used at the same time different temperatures. For example, draw a path with a beam, or branches of a tree, or flowers in the foreground of the frame. If you do everything right (maybe not right away, but as you practice for sure), the result is a soft distribution of light and an unusual mesmerizing frame.
Having left the city, you will immediately find that far from the city lights, they seem brighter and closer. stars, and you'll probably want to make them part of your frame's composition.
To display the stars as the human eye sees them (shiny dots), you need to correctly calculate the shutter speed. For calculation, there is a rule: "600 divided by the focal length." For example, the maximum focal length of your lens is 200mm; divide 600 by 200 and get 3. That is, to remove static stars, you need a shutter speed of at least three seconds.
With the help of photography, you can show the movement of the earth: with ultra-long exposures (from 5 minutes to several hours), tracks from the movement of the stars across the sky. The use of ultra-long shutter speeds can lead to the appearance of noise in the picture, which occurs due to overheating of the matrix during prolonged continuous operation. Therefore, use the noise reduction function if your camera has it. If the desired quality cannot be achieved, then try to take several shots with a shorter shutter speed, and then “glue” them together in a photo editor.
A festive day in the city can please the amateur photographer with the opportunity to capture bright sparks fireworks in the night sky. Here, it is more important than ever to plan the shoot in advance, set up the camera on a tripod, make camera settings and focus before the start of the program - fireworks will not wait for you. Open the camera shutter after hearing the salute, and keep it open until the lights go out. The light from the fireworks is very bright, so be careful when setting the exposure so that the frame is not too bright. Take a large number of photos, then choose a few of the best ones. Experienced photographers also advise taking into account the direction of the wind when shooting fireworks: if you are close, then the smoke from the volley can enter the frame and make it cloudy.
The article uses photos from official sitesTamron, SigmaandCanon
Night photography is not easy, but it can be one way to create artistic shots. It is not only landscapes that can be effectively shot at night. Portrait photos taken in the moonlight look mysterious, unusual. Even ordinary, familiar things that do not arouse any interest during the day can become fascinating. To achieve a good result, you need a camera and a tripod.
It is often thought that high-quality night photos require an ultra-expensive SLR camera with a similarly priced fast lens. Another misconception is that a DSLR should have an ISO of 1600 or higher. In fact, all that is required is a manual setting (M) or a shutter priority setting (TV). Enough to shoot 8 seconds exposure. The tripod will provide the necessary stability of the device. The sensitivity of the matrix, the aperture ratio of the lens are not so important during the night session. They are offset by slow shutter speeds. When photographing at night, mount the camera on a tripod. It requires stable, rigid, about twice as heavy as the camera. Then the device will not sway "as in the wind." If you don't have a tripod, place your camera on a hard, level surface. This position allows you to shoot at slow shutter speeds without raising the ISO, so that there is no loud noise that is inevitable when increasing it. Turn off the stabilizer. It works at a shutter speed of ¼ sec for handheld photos. Switch to Manual mode. Sometimes it is missing, then the program exposure mode (P) will do. Turn off the built-in flash. It will not cope in night shooting conditions, it will illuminate only one nearby object, everything else will remain in the dark. Autofocus and exposure metering will not help to make a good night photo.
Don't slow your shutter speed too much. "Overexposed" photos will not save even Photoshop. Take at least three shots - darker and lighter, then choose the best one. Photographing at night as an art form is described in the book Night and Evening Photography by Lee Frost.
However, this method is not always suitable. A tripod is hard to carry, it may not be at hand at the right time. Shooting with a tripod takes time. Shooting with flash gives not too beautiful, flat lighting. In addition, the flash can only illuminate the objects closest to us, so it is useless to shoot a landscape with a flash: distant objects will still remain dark. You can shoot in the night city without a tripod and without a flash, making do with just a camera and available lighting. Let's figure out how to do it better and what to look for.
NIKON D810 / 85.0 mm f/1.4 SETTINGS: ISO 640, F1.4, 1/200 s, 85.0 mm equiv.
1. Endurance is the most important thing
When we take pictures, holding the camera in our hands, it always shakes a little. From such judder, frames can be blurred if you shoot at too slow a shutter speed. This technical marriage is called “shake” by photographers. Typically, this image blur appears when the shutter speed becomes longer than 1/60 s. However, it all depends on the shooting conditions, on the firm hand of the photographer (some photographers are able to stably hold the camera at slower shutter speeds), on the level of his skills (for example, an experienced photographer can press the shutter smoothly without creating camera vibrations). In addition, the maximum shutter speed for handheld shooting also depends on focal length lens. The larger it is, the more noticeable the jitter will be and the faster the shutter speed should be used.
Watch your shutter speed carefully when photographing: if it gets longer than 1/60 s, then it's time to take action. If you shoot in A or P mode, you can increase the ISO or open the aperture. If you're shooting in S or M mode, you can adjust the shutter speed directly. Let's not forget that if our subject is moving, the shutter speed should be used fast enough so that the subject is not blurred in the frame from its own movement. For example, it is better to shoot a walking person at 1/125 s, and a running person - at 1/250 s or shorter.
But at slow shutter speeds, with beautifully blurred movement in the frame, you won’t be able to shoot without a tripod. You just have to accept this: artisanal methods such as mounting the camera on parapets and curbs will not give perfectly sharp shots, and such shooting will take a lot of time. After all, you will have to shoot several times, achieving satisfactory photo quality through trial and error. The camera will fall, move off the selected support, the horizon in the photo will be obligatorily littered. Instead of such torment, it’s better to just take a tripod to shoot.
2. Watch your ISO
At high ISO values, not only noise appears, but color reproduction, sharpness, and dynamic range often deteriorate. You don't want to get muddy shots with the highest level digital noise? So don't set your ISO too high. Make sure that the sensitivity does not rise above ISO 1600-3200.
Usually high ISO is the result of incorrectly set shutter speed and aperture. Light sensitivity is increased (automatically or by you, depending on the shooting mode) when not enough light falls on the matrix at the selected shutter speed and aperture. To increase the amount of light entering the matrix, open the aperture or slow down the shutter speed (remember point 1).
3. Look for well-lit places to shoot
The more light you have at your disposal, the better the pictures will be and the easier it will be to photograph. Look for places in the city with good lighting: street lights, lanterns, shop window lighting and advertising. All of these are sources of illumination. Use them! Let them illuminate your subject. If you are taking a picture of a person, ask him to stand so that, for example, the light from a shop window falls on him. Usually the best lighting is in the city center, especially on holidays. I shot at the New Year's Fair on Red Square. It was there that I found this pretty carousel with horses, and there is quite enough lighting there.
4. Choose a lens. There is never too much light!
Aperture is a characteristic of a lens, meaning how wide its aperture can be opened. The larger the aperture (and the wider the aperture), the more light passes through the lens. The more light that passes through the lens, the faster the shutter speed we can use and the lower the ISO we need. For shooting without a tripod in conditions insufficient lighting(and in the night city these are the conditions), it is best to use fast lenses. They give excellent quality images that allow you to shoot at a relatively low ISO even at night, they can blur the background beautifully. Nikon AF-S 35mm f / 1.8G DX Nikkor, Nikon AF-S 50mm f / 1.8G Nikkor, Nikon AF-S 50mm f / 1.4G Nikkor, Nikon AF-S 85mm f / 1.8G Nikkor are popular among Nikon fast lenses.
5. Optical stabilizer is almost as good as aperture
Many lenses are equipped with a special system that dampens camera vibration in the hands of the photographer. Thus, holding the camera in our hands, we can shoot at shutter speeds longer than 1/60 sec. “VR” (Vibration Reduction) - this is how Nikon lenses equipped with optical stabilization are marked. For example Nikon AF-S DX 18-140mm F3.5-5.6G ED VR Nikkor, Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-120MM F/4G ED VR. With such a lens, we can get sharp shots of static scenes at shutter speeds of 1 / 30-1 / 20 s. Optical stabilization is very useful when shooting still subjects. But we must remember that we often shoot moving objects, such as people. And if we try to shoot a person at a slow shutter speed, then he will most likely be smeared from his own movements: a person will not be able to petrify, even if you ask him very much. When shooting portraits, even with a lens with stabilization, I recommend not setting the shutter speed longer than 1/60 sec. So aperture is still more useful than stabilization: it allows you to shoot handheld at low ISO and fast shutter speed. Stabilization, on the other hand, is at a slow shutter speed and low ISO, but often a short shutter speed is needed in shooting.
6. Modern cameras take better pictures in low light
Progress does not stand still. What once seemed impossible is now becoming available to the public. With cameras, the situation is the same: with each subsequent generation, digital cameras produce less and less digital noise at high ISOs. So, they allow you to make better shots in any lighting. In addition, the new cameras are equipped with much more advanced autofocus sensors that focus quickly and accurately. Nikon D3300, Nikon D5300, Nikon D7100, Nikon D750, Nikon D810, Nikon Df.
7. In what mode to shoot?
In paragraph 1, we said that the most careful thing when shooting at night without a tripod is to monitor the shutter speed. To directly control the shutter speed, adjust it as you wish, you can shoot in S (shutter priority) mode. If you are not yet very familiar with the camera settings, you can simply turn on the S mode and set the shutter speed to 1/125 s. The camera will then take control of the remaining exposure parameters. The light sensitivity setting can also be given under the control of automation. It is very convenient that at the same time you can limit the maximum ISO value that automatics can set: this way we insure ourselves against shots with strong digital noise. I advise you to set the maximum value of automatic ISO in the region of 1600-3200.
NIKON D810 / 85.0 mm f/1.4 SETTINGS: ISO 900, F1.4, 1/100 s, 85.0 mm equiv.
Over the last 8 years I have spent a lot of time teaching other photographers the basics of night photography. In fact, it is not as difficult as it may seem, and after reading this article, you will have the basis for photographing at night.
Step 1: Put Your Camera in Manual Exposure Mode
In night shooting conditions, it is much more convenient to work in manual mode, and not some other. Don't be afraid and set the switch to "M".
Step 2: Get a tripod or find a foothold
At night, the camera will need at least 10 seconds to take a picture. That is, the minimum shutter speed is 10 seconds and if you hold the camera in your hands, you get a blurry picture. To avoid this, place it on a stable tripod or find another level surface.
Step 3: Set a Wide Aperture
How narrow the aperture can be depends on your lens. The aperture of some lenses may be narrower than others. Your lens, for example, can be set to f/5.6, f/3.5, and f/2.8. If you don't know how to adjust the aperture, watch the videos that describe how to work with your camera model.
When shooting at night, you might want to narrow your aperture down to f/11 or f/16, but don't do that as we need more light. With experience, you will learn ways to mitigate the negative effects of wide apertures.
Step 4: Set your shutter speed to 10 seconds
In general, shutter speed should be adjusted depending on the amount of light available. However, 10 seconds is the ideal value to start from.
The idea that a shutter speed can be this long seems crazy, but for night photography it's the norm. I had to work with a shutter speed of 30 minutes for a single shot!
Step 5Set ISO to 1600
As the ISO increases, the image becomes brighter, but more noise appears. This is a compromise that has to be made in order to obtain correct exposure (The translator's note is not quite the right idea, because in itselfISO has no effect on noise. The article on shooting the night sky covers this issue in detail.). Most modern cameras can shoot at ISO 1600 without any loss in photo quality.
Step 6: Take Test Shots and Analyze Exposure
It's time to shoot. You will see that it takes a very long time for the camera to take a photo and display it on the LCD screen. This is normal.
Now we need to evaluate the exposure. If the photo is too dark, increase the shutter speed to 30 seconds. Take another photo. If the brightness is still not enough, set ISO 3200. This can make the picture grainy, but such a compromise is necessary.
If the exposure is too bright, reduceISO up to 800. Is the result still unsatisfactory? Then reduce the ISO a little or set the shutter speed to 8 seconds.
Advice! Due to the dark surroundings, the camera screen will appear brighter. Many beginners think that the photo looks great, but then they return home, look at the result on the computer and realize that the picture is too dark. I advise you to increase the brightness a little to avoid such problems.
Example settings for night shots
I took this photo in Naples, Florida using a very old (by today's standards) Canon Rebel XS camera. It's not as good as my current model, but it still takes great photos.
- Exposure: 30 s
- Aperture: f/4
- ISO: 1600
- Camera: Canon Rebel XS
This lightning shot was taken near Sedona, Arizona with very simple settings.
- Exposure: 30 s
- Aperture: f/4
- ISO: 640
Many people wonder how photographers manage to take such a “successful” picture at the very moment when lightning strikes. In fact, everything is very simple. You just stand there and take a multiple exposure shot (30 second exposure) until lightning strikes. If you set the shutter speed to 1 minute, you can capture several discharges in one picture!
When shooting lightning, high ISO values \u200b\u200bare not needed, since the lightning itself illuminates the surrounding landscape enough. If you set the ISO before the thunderstorm starts, the picture will come out overexposed because the settings will not match.
I took this picture of the Chicago Theater while I was teaching photography before a conference talk. The advantage of shooting at night in the city is that you can capture the long streaks of headlights of passing cars.
Another cool feature is that there is always lighting to help keep the ISO low.
- Exposure: 20 s
- Aperture: f/8
- ISO: 800
Necessary equipment
- A camera capable of shooting in manual mode. It can be an advanced "soap box", any SLR or mirrorless camera.
- Tripod. You can’t go shooting at night without a tripod, as long exposure is always required. And without a reliable support, the pictures will be blurry.
- Remote shutter release. This accessory is not really necessary, but if you want to shoot professionally, it is better to get it. The remote control connects to the camera and allows you to hold down the button to shoot with a shutter speed greater than 30 seconds (this is the maximum value for most camera models).
- Torch. If you ever want to get into light painting, this tool is a must. Light painting is a form of photographic art in which another person waves a flashlight while taking a photo. If interested, read the lesson about light painting.
conclusions
Night shooting is actually not that difficult. And I even want all beginners to master it as early as possible. At night, everything is slow, the camera is mounted on a tripod, and you can take a lot of time to adjust the settings. And also at night it is easy to see the effect of shutter speed, aperture and ISO on exposure.
