Your Guide to Night Photography

To most casual users low light photography is synonymous to flash photography. Considering that the whole concept of photography revolves around light, so obviously the lack of light can make things a little tricky for you and your camera. The most common problems faced during low-light photography are blurry images caused by jittery hands, underexposure of images that makes everything look extremely dark and digital noise that occurs when the camera’s sensor uses higher light sensitivity levels.

All these problems may be a hindrance and even difficult to overcome, but they’re definitely not impossible. All you need is a bit of patience and this simple three step guide. Let’s start with:

Step 1: Setting the cam
Your camera’s auto mode is great for most situations, but when it comes to taking pictures in low-light, you’ll do a lot better by taking a bit of manual control. Of course it all depends on how much control your camera can offer too.

Auto mode just doesn’t do justice to the available light at night

The most basic setting change you can make is using your camera’s ‘Night Scene’ mode. Using this mode, the camera automatically adjusts itself to a higher ISO sensitivity level and a slower shutter speed, which makes it optimal for taking pictures under low-light conditions. This is the best option for cameras that offers no manual control. For ones that do, there’s a bit more you can tweak.

The main things you need to look out for when taking night shots are:
ISO Sensitivity:
These days most mid-range level cameras and above offer manual ISO settings. ISO sensitivity is basically how sensitive your camera’s image sensor is to light. The higher the sensitivity setting, the faster it will capture light, which is what makes higher ISO levels ideal for night photography. For a night shot I would generally recommend a high setting like ISO 200, ISO 400, or above depending on how dark the location is.

Note: Using higher ISO settings may also cause digital noise on the image, so it’s advisable not to go overboard with higher ISO levels.

Shutter Speed: The shutter speed is basically the time period for which the camera’s shutter will stay open, while clicking a picture. The longer the shutter stays open, the higher is the picture’s exposure. Setting a higher exposure in night shots will ensure that the camera’s sensor gets enough exposure time to make the most out of all available light sources in the subject. Basically, set your camera to a shutter speed of 1/25 or lower, depending on the darkness levels.

You can get the results you want through manual adjustments

The manual modes may seem overwhelming as of now, but luckily most cameras that support it, give you a basic preview of the end result while you’re adjusting the settings, leaving lesser space for mistakes. Still, as in all skills, practice makes one perfect.

Now that you know how to set the camera right, lets move on to the second step… PAGEBREAK
Step 2: Keeping it steady
No matter how well you set your camera for night photography, your pictures are likely to come blurry unless the camera is placed on a still and steady surface.

Result of jittery hands during low-light photography

When shooting a night scene, using a tripod is a must. It keeps the camera steady, even in the most awkward angles, and in the process increases the overall sharpness and quality of your end result. Of course night portraits with flash don’t necessarily require such great level of stillness, but if its a picture without flash or ample lighting, and if its landscape or cityscape you’re shooting, then tripod is a norm.

Tripod keeps things still for you

The other option is placing the camera on a still surface like the top of a car or a wall, just to keep it stable. Sure that will work, but you’re limited to keeping the camera only in that fixed straight angle and besides, you also tend to capture a bit of the wall too, unless you’ve placed the camera on the edge. Plus there’s also a danger of your camera simply slipping off and falling, since there’s nothing that’s gripping it to the surface.

The extension of the wall interferes with the overall image

Professional photographers rely on cable release to click pictures when placing their cameras on a tripod to avoid that little shake that may occur when shutter release is pressed. You can achieve similar results by setting the camera to a 2 second self timer instead.
PAGEBREAK
Step 3: Find your light
Once you get the basic hang of night photography, its time to make light work for you. The little flash on your camera may not be all that bad, once you learn to take control of it. By setting the flash level to low, you can avoid getting an over-exposed subject in your shot.

Using flash in this scene highlighted the subject, while the slow shutter speed captured the background.

Then again, straight-on lighting can get boring too. Instead of always using your flash at night, try experimenting with different light sources. Use flashlights or other illuminating objects for some great moody lighting.

Taken in a dark room using an LED flashlight for moody lighting

As always, the best tip I can give you is keep experimenting. The three steps mentioned in this feature are just guidelines more than rules, follow them in the start and once you get the hang of it, defy them to create something completely unique.

Do let us know what you thought about this feature, and feel free to place more article requests in our forums.