I m a big fan of night photography. Just last night i was out doing some in the city, which is to be honest kind of scary when your walking around on your own, and sometimes i just have this feeling i m going to be arrested for no reason, i don't know why.
You have probably read alot about night photography. And every time you read something about it some one ALWAYS has to throw a "get a tripod" or "you need a tripod" to get nice night shots. Well i don't think so. I don't have a tripod and i have gotten some really neat night shots if your going to ask me!
Here are some points that i go by:
1.
Play around with aperture, go for a smaller aperture to get the light looking like stars which looks really nice compared to just a bulb, vary this effect to see what you like the most.
2.
When taking the shot and you don't have a place to stand your camera on so your getting the framing that you want, go around look for some trash pretty much anything you can stand your camera on. Yesterday i was shooting this "waterfall" if you will and my camera was standing on a old whine carton mainly because the floor was wet.
3.
Don't go crazy thinking you can place your camera anywhere and you will get a good shot, just because its night out. No you have to apply the same rules here as you would when photographing normally.
4.
Try higher ISO to get quicker shots, some times the noise can add to the mood of the image depending on what you want to capture.
5.
If you cant trigger your camera remotely, use the 10sec timer to minimize the chances of camera shake on your image, trust me taking the same shot about 4 times takes about 2 minutes. Quite long for 4 images if you ask me. If you want to be stealthy, or not be so obvious about your shooting. Turn of the "beep" on your camera not to grab any extra wanted attention.
6.
Depending on where you are, have an eye over your shoulder to see whats going on behind you. Better to be safe then sorry.
7.
I haven't tried this myself but it should work really nicely. When on lets say a 30sec shutter, grab your external flash or an external lightning and run in front of the camera and flash an area see how that turns out i can image it can look quite cool.
8.
Wear black clothing when doing night photography. Just in case you slip in front of the camera, black wont reflect light so the odds that you will appear on the camera are very slim. Thats why my light paining works and i don't appear on the camera.
9.
Be abstract, night photography allows you to be very abstract, happens to me quite alot when i m busy looking over my shoulder and i think the camera is done taking a picture so i will pick it up and its still going and all the other lights will appear on the image and you will have a light party, thats what i like to call it. Can look good sometimes and other times its just a trasher
In that image above i through the lights out of focus and had a nice longer shutter on them. Looks quite nice if i m going to be honest, its different.
10.
If you think your up for the challenge, try hand holding. Try it, but if its going to be 30sec dont even bother. But sometimes your area during the night will be so well lit you are going to be given a 1sec shutter on aperture priority mode. So try it. Below is a hand held shot that i took during the night in Budapest about a year ago.
11.
Look for reflections, they always look nice when it comes to water. And think the more the lights the are the merrier. I like water alot, and specially when it comes to longer shutter speeds. The results can be very interesting. Now combine this with light and you have a image with movement and appealing light. Take the shot below (very touristy shot tho) but it has alot of light in it and a very agitated river in front of it which ended up looking dreamy due to the longer shutter speed, and note the reflection in the water.
As i missed out on a post yesterday because i was watching the new Indiana Jones movie, i will be posting a new one later on today. The movie is entertaining by the way if your are Jones fan, but it didn't blow my mind away.
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