subject: Digital Photography Guide - Some Night Time Photography Hints! [print this page] Many digital photography beginners stick rigidly to daytime shots, apprehensive about their chances of success at night. If you find you just don't seem to take many night time photographs, here are a few common sense tips that will quickly help you along your way.
* Of course, you should ideally have access to a tripod - a decent make and sturdy model makes a big difference. Absolute stillness is required to get the best of the slow shutter speeds you'll need in low light conditions. It's the best way to ensure consistently tack sharp shots.
* Flash will have no impact if shooting landscapes - so remember to turn this off. Switching to manual settings will cover this, and give you control over the final image.
* Try to shoot in the first half hour after sunset. This helps prevent streetlights from stopping you capturing detail or colours in the sky, which will happen when it gets completely dark.
* Long exposures can drain your camera's battery - so always take along a spare, fully charged battery - just in case.
* This may seem weird, but setting your camera's White Balance to 'daylight' will give your skies a deep and rich blue colour, whilst also making any bright lights appear to have a warm, yellowish tinge.
* I find that taking along a small torch can be of help. Initially, I always used to forget this, and struggled with the settings and adjustments I was trying to make at night.
* Try experimenting with your camera set to Bulb (B). In this case, after the shutter is depressed, the aperture remains open until the shutter's released again. If possible, it's best to use a remote or cabled shutter release to ensure the sharpest images.
* Remember that longer exposure times may lead to somewhat grainy images. One way to combat this is to turn on your camera's Noise Reduction setting, if it has one. Alternatively, post production in Photoshop (or equivalent) allows you to carry out filtering to reduce the noise. Tread carefully, though, to prevent loss of important detail.
* If you're interested in capturing moving vehicles' light trails, try shooting at dusk. This will help retain some sky colour. You'll find this brings a breath of fresh air and added interest to the shot. A 15 second exposure should be more than enough.
If in doubt, just get out there and start taking shots. You just won't know how good you are unless you try. Remember, especially if you are a digital photography beginner, if you don't get it right first time, just keep plugging away until you do. It's all digital - so just keep practicing until you, or anyone you have judging your pictures, are pleased with the results.
