Night Photography – How to Get those Awesome Low Light Shots
Wednesday, July 9, 2008 @ 10:20
Night photography is a whole specialized area of the field in itself that some amateur photographers experiment with early in their careers. They perfect their technique early on and eventually develop an entire specialization around the genre; one that eventually brings them professional renown.
Taking great night photos is an art, but it's a science too, and the few tips provided below can get you started on the path to this exciting genre.
First of all, for this kind of work, a tripod is an absolute necessity. If you want to get a good, clear exposure with great depth-of-field, you won't want to try shooting without one. That's because when we shoot daytime photos, with plenty of sunlight available, we can just center all of the subject in our viewfinders and then snap the photo. Not so with night time photography. We have less light to work with there, and therefore must be much more deliberate in planning our shot. We need a steady platform for the camera so that we don't get "shutter shake" due to the slower shutter speeds we must use in night photography.
Another thing to think about with night photography is to add a foreground item to the overall frame. This will create a much greater depth for the photo and enhance the overall results much more dramatically. You may wish to pay special attention to aperture setting (which generally should be very narrow for night shots – high f/stop) with a shutter speed of around ten seconds or so.
There are some great books and websites out there which discuss this whole area of photography in greater detail. But the nice thing about night time photography is that you can get out there right now and start experimenting, with the odds being good that you'll come up with some great shots on your very first foray into this field.
