Some Night Photography Tips !
Text and Images By: Dhanesh Patil
Photography is all about Light.. We many times used this sentence as we know the key role of Light in any Photography. As a photographer our job is to control light which is falling on Sensor / Film plane with the help of Camera Techniques to get desire Photograph.. But what about Night Photography, when we saw light with our naked eyes but unable to capture it with camera…?
If you have same question in ur mind, here some tips for you…
1.
Camera Mode:
Many times, we use Program or Auto Mode. But for Night Photography, it is advisable to keep camera on MANUAL or on Creative Mode like Aperture Priority or on Shutter Priority.
Manual Mode will help you to get some Creative Shot and it also helps to get Quality Photos (Grain Free).
Canon EOS 50 D / Exposure Time: 2 Seconds / f 4 / ISO 100
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2.
Shutter Priority is better to capture Motion and also helps to capture good amount of light when it kept open for longer time..
Canon EOS 50 D / Exposure Time: 58 Seconds / ISO 100
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3.
Aperture Priority not only helps to manage Depth of Field but also helps to work with Low light condition.
Canon EOS 50 D / Tamron 90 mm / Exposure Time: 1 /100 Seconds / f 2.8 / ISO 100
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4.
Extend ISO to the Maximum
Use higher ISO values like 800, 1600 or even 3200 to increase Camera Sensitivity which will help u to gather more light even with short exposure situation.
Canon EOS 350 D / canon 18-55/ Exposure Time: 1/25 Seconds / f 3.5 / ISO 800
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5.
Wide Angle Lenses
Really helpful!
As we know general Thumb Rule for Lenses, we cannot use higher focal length for Night Photography to get quality images (in poor light and with basic lenses like f5.6 or higher ), in such condition, it’s advisable to use Wide Angle lenses to shoot Photos.
Our Kit lenses (18-55 / 28-70) are also enough for Night Photography as they have good aperture opening of f 3.5!
Canon EOS 5 D Mark II / canon 16 -35 mm /Exposure Time: 1/125 Seconds / f 2.8 / ISO 100
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6.
Fast lenses
If one can afford fast lenses, those are best for Night Photography. Lenses with f 2/1.8/ 1.4/ 1.2 are considered as fast lenses and are really good to shoot at night. It also helps to shoot great Portraits.
Canon EOS 5 D Mark II / canon 70-200 mm /Exposure Time: 1/200 Seconds / f 2.8 / ISO 100
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7.
Use Tripod
In Night Photography, if your camera is set on Program Mode there are chances that your camera may ask for longer shutter speed and hence there are chances of camera shakes.. So use Tripod to overcome this issue and get picture shake / blur free.
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8.
Get Support
Many times it’s not possible to mount camera on Tripod, for such situation u need to find some support to hold u r camera steady.
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Me with My Camera.. :)
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Canon EOS 50 D / canon 18-55 mm /Exposure Time: 95 Seconds (One and Half Minute) / ISO 100
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9.
White Balance
The best white Balance is Auto! as we are working with variety of lights all together like Street Lights (tungsten), Car Head light (Yellow), Car Break Lights (Red) and so on… but if you find more Yellow (Warm) tone in your images then cool it by keeping White Balance on Tungsten Mode. If your Camera allows you to set your camera on Kelvin Mode, use 3800 -4200 range of temperature to neutralize Yellow tone.
Canon EOS 50 D / canon 18-55 mm /Exposure Time: 1/20 Seconds ISO 400 / at 4400 Kelvin White Balance
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Canon EOS 50 D / canon 50 mm /Exposure Time: 1/60 Seconds ISO 200 / at 5300 Kelvin White Balance
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10.
Follow Composition Rules to get aesthetic effect in your photograph.
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11.
Additional Light Source
Use camera’s Built in flash to illuminate your object.
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12.
Follow Rules.. Don’t just shoot…
Our Government made a list of several rules for all of us for our own safety. One cannot shoot Railway Station, Airports, Defense area without permission. So never try to shoot such places, you may get charge under serious offense and may get charge for Jail as there is provision of some non-bailable acts.
Canon EOS 50 D / canon 18-55 mm /Exposure Time: 1/4 Seconds ISO 400
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Best of Luck..
And waiting for some great entries by you all … J
Dhanesh Patil, Team Photo Orb
9819644749
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