If you are looking to capture fast action in freeze-frame in a nighttime shot, you will inevitably need a high ISO level and probably a very wide aperture lens. DSLRs will also vary a great deal on how well they handle high ISO values and/or very long exposures (in terms of the level of noise in the resultant image). Some DSLRs are better at autofocusing in dim light than others you may need to manually focus for best results if the AF ends up endlessly searching (alternatively, point the camera the moon or some other distant light, let AF put the focus at infinity, recompose and shoot). Going further, try to get to know your lens(es) and your camera with regard to how they behave in low light. Also be able to fit your remote shutter cable onto your camera, and your camera onto your tripod, in the dark (and both of those back off again). If your camera has the ability, make use of custom modes to have your settings in place and ready to go ahead of time. So make sure you know how to operate your DSLR in minimum light and with little fuss. That may vary by city, however, so bring a flashlight if you feel you’ll need one, or if you plan on doing “light painting” with it. Note that I didn’t say “flashlight.” This article assumes you are in the city, which, barring unforeseen power outages, should have light enough for you to see by and make your way around. Lens hood (to reduce lens flare from outside-the-frame light sources).Relatively fast wide angle lens (the wide angle part is optional, but what I recommend to get the most dramatic shots of the architecture and streets of your city).Tripod, sturdy but lightweight enough for you to carry around easily. I will say that using a point and shoot is going to make getting that fantastic image of your dreams a lot harder. I’m not going to categorically deny that you can take great nightscapes with a compact digital camera. I’m going to try to distill my experiences from my nighttime cityscape photography outings into a series of recommendations, aimed at giving you the best possible chance to get that shot, the one you really want, full of color and deep shadows and crazy lighting that showcases your city in a whole new way. The old and staid can become fascinating again as the changes in lighting shift the shadows and alter the textures and wring out, or completely change, the colors.Īnd all these bright points of artificial light give our cameras something to gather and turn into a photograph. We can (literally and figuratively) view our city in an entirely new light. We lose the sunlight, but we gain thousands (or millions) of individual points of artificial light of every different color and tonal quality. The City at NightĬities are wonderful engines of creative possibility for the nighttime photographer. Or a car that during the day is simple and boring might become a gleaming chariot in the darkness. That old oak tree that seems so friendly and comforting in the day can turn into a gnarled, malevolent specter at night. Notice how things feel, how significant just changing the time of day can be. Pay attention to the way the shadows have deepened and pooled, how colors are muted or rendered differently by the artificial light of streetlamps or the exposed bulb on your backyard porch. It is as simple as the lack of sunlight, but infinitely more complex than that breezy statement would suggest. Really open your eyes and observe, noting all the differences, all the unique things that set night apart from day. Take a moment, tonight, or whenever you have a chance, and go outside into the darkness long after the sun has gone down. However, note that I said “challenging” but not “impossible.” Indeed, nighttime photography is not only possible it is wonderfully ripe for creative expression and can help you create genuinely unique looks in your work. Night does represent a more challenging time to take pictures, because we lack all those wonderful photons barreling down from the sun and reflecting off everything interesting and into our waiting lenses. In the broadest sense, this intuitive understanding of light and its importance to photography is absolutely correct. Night, of course, by very definition lacks the pervasive light of day, and therefore doesn’t seem like a good time for photography. Film or digital, it doesn’t matter: we need light to make a photograph-it is as simple as that. After all, photography is an art, a craft, a technology that is wholly built on light. The idea of taking photographs at night can be counterintuitive to the novice photographer.
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