Night Photography

 If you’re looking for new territory to explore with your camera, then consider leaving the familiar world of daylight behind and venturing into the darkness to explore the magical landscape of night photography. In the deep shadows and mixed lighting of the nocturnal world even ordinary locations can become mysterious and beautiful. Long exposures, motion blur, the soft glow of the moon and stars, or the colorful wash of ambient street lighting all offer many interesting possibilities for creating intriguing images. The best thing about night photography is that it requires little or no extra equipment, and many cameras, even compact models, have the necessary controls for capturing images in low light. Apart from some basic equipment, all you need is a willingness to explore and experiment, and stay out a bit later (or get up earlier) than usual .

Camera Controls

 In basic principle, night photography is no different than photographing during the day: The shutter is opened to collect an adequate amount of light so that a proper exposure can be made. The primary difference is that the shutter must be opened for much longer than an exposure made in daytime or in bright, indoor lighting. If sharpness is desired, a tripod or some other means of stabilizing the camera must be used. Before venturing into the darkness, however, it’s helpful to review some basic camera exposure information through the eyes of a nocturnal photographer.
 
 ISO

 As we discussed earlier in the book, the ISO determines the light sensitivity of the image sensor. Higher ISO numbers indicate greater sensitivity in lower-light conditions, meaning that you may be able to take a handheld shot in very low light, or if you are using a tripod, that your exposure times will not be very long. Modern digital cameras are pretty amazing in their ability to capture lownoise images at very high ISO ratings, but just keep in mind that there is a chance of more noticeable noise when working at higher ISOs. The amount of noise that you will see in your photos is primarily a factor of how the image sensor responds to low-light situations, since increasing the ISO is merely an amplification of the basic data that the sensor gathers. Some sensors perform better than others, and newer cameras are better in this regard than their older counterparts. If you have the luxury of using a tripod, our recommendation would be to use the lowest ISO setting that results in exposure times of an acceptable duration. The primary factor here is a combination of your patience, how many shots you want to capture in a given time frame, and your own tolerance for noise. Seán generally uses 100 ISO when photographing at night with a tripod because this yields better image quality with no noise. The only times he increases the ISO is if the lower setting and existing light would result in overly long exposure times. While photographing at Machu Picchu on a very dark night with no moon, he opted for an ISO of 400 so that the exposure times would not get too long (this can also affect battery life). Even with an ISO of 400, his exposure times averaged about six minutes and that included added illumination from light painting using a small flashlight. In addition to lower noise levels, another advantage of a low ISO setting is that since it results in longer exposure times, it allows you more time to add supplemental creative lighting from a flashlight or multiple firings of an external flash.



 Exposure modes
When it comes to which exposure mode to use for night photography, there
are a few different approaches you can take:
• Automatic mode. You can leave the camera on Automatic mode and let it figure out how long the exposure should be. Although leaving the camera on Automatic mode does have its limitations, such as a wideopen aperture and a limit to the duration of the exposure time, with many cameras the results are surprisingly good. If you want to explore this route, the first item to check for is a way to turn off the flash. On most cameras, there is a flash off symbol that looks like a diagonal lightning bolt arrow overlaid with the international “No” symbol of a circle with a slash through it. Having a camera where you can override the flash is a must if you want to explore the world of night photography.
• Aperture or Shutter Priority. With a semi-Automatic mode such as Aperture or Shutter Priority, the camera calculates half of the aperture/ shutter speed exposure combination. This can be useful if you need to be sure of a specific depth of field, or if a shutter speed of a certain duration is necessary to create a certain effect, such as when you want to create a motion blur effect.
• Manual. Manual mode is our favorite way of photographing at night because it allows us total control over the exposure. We typically use the same aperture for the entire session, which lets us vary the shutter speed in search of the perfect exposure. Since night photography is often a much slower, more contemplative process than daytime photography, operating the camera in Manual mode, even if you are not used to it, is very easy.

  White balance
In the past, photographing at night with film often meant unwanted color casts in the image since film is balanced for the color temperature of daylight, which is approximately 5500° Kelvin. The color temperature of night scenes can vary greatly depending on the types of illumination in the scene. Moonlight and starlight tend to produce cool lighting, whereas artificial lighting can result in color temperatures that are red, yellow, and green, or a combination of different color casts. With digital photography, dealing with the white balance issue is easier than with film. When Auto White Balance (AWB) is used, the white balance can change on a per shot basis. For artificial light sources such as street lamps or illuminated signs, you could also try one of the White Balance presets such as Tungsten or Fluorescent. Many cameras also offer a custom White Balance feature that can be used to measure the illumination at the scene and adjust the white balance accordingly. If you shoot RAW (which is highly recommended for night photography), white balance is not as much of an issue since you can adjust the White Balance setting in Lightroom, Adobe Camera Raw, or in the RAW conversion software of your choice. This allows you to use White Balance as a creative setting to modify the look and feel of the image .

Other Necessary Equipment

The only absolutely necessary piece of equipment for night photography is a camera that can do long exposures, and most cameras today have this capability. Timed shutter speeds generally go down to 30 seconds, and many cameras offer a Bulb setting for longer exposures. There are some other items that give you more control over your images.


 Tripod
Although handheld night photography is possible and blurry images are not always undesirable, a tripod is necessary if you want to make images where the scene is sharp and in focus (just be sure to turn off any image stabilization or vibration reduction features in the lens when the camera is mounted on a tripod). If you don’t have a tripod with you, any stable surface, even the ground, will do for immobilizing the camera, although your choice of camera angle and compositions may be limited by the position and height of the impromptu stabilizing surface. Having a tripod makes it much easier to explore vantage points and control the framing.

  Locking shutter release cable
As mentioned earlier, most cameras offer timed shutter speeds down to 30 seconds, although some may have longer timed shutter speeds. After that you need to use the Bulb setting, which keeps the shutter open for as long as the shutter button is depressed. But this can be awkward and at times very uncomfortable.

Extra batteries
 Long exposure photography can be a major drain on your camera’s battery, which has to supply power to the image sensor for as long as the shutter is open. Temperature can also affect battery performance, and in very cold weather, your battery life may be much shorter than normal. You should plan on carrying extra, fully charged batteries with you for your nocturnal photo shoots. The longer the exposure times, the more likely you will need to use the extra batteries.