Night photography is one of the stunning photography genres due to its play in colors. Its challenge is the lack of light during night time in which long exposure method is needed to capture it correctly. Here are some photography tips in which will serve as a guide to capture good night pictures.
1. Use the right accessories
In order to capture good night photos, long exposure is needed, and this method requires steady camera for a certain period of time in order to capture as much light needed. To make the camera steady, the use of tripod in night photography is a requirement. To add to the steadiness of the camera, you can use a remote shutter to avoid touching the camera while it is in use. Also, the best city images can be captured using a wide angle lens, so make sure to have this to have more coverage and create a composition that you want.
2. Look for a good composition and take it from there
Cityscape photography has a lot of things to offer in terms of composition. With the array of buildings lit at night or just about the blue hour starts, it is a delight for the eyes to see and record them through good night pictures. Roam around the cityscapes first on just about the golden hour starts to check the lightings and positioning. This way, you can find a good composition just in time to capture city images at night.
3. Additional light sources
Night photography requires light in the darkness, but not a lot of it. Putting much light at night will not make good night pictures but rather make it bland and too normal. Look for additional light sources to add drama to your city images – may it be from the rays from the golden blue hour or a light post.
4. Capture light trails for added drama on the composition
Shooting in long exposure mode at night gives out a chance to play with colors of light. Moving lights such as in a car’s headlight is a good additional enhancement to your composition. This is one of the good things in night photography in which you can play around to find the best composition for you.
5. Obtain a Starburst effect on non-moving lights
The long exposure method captures much light as it can with reference to the time the camera shutter is open. To add more drama to the cityscapes, use f/16 setting to have a starburst effect particularly on non-moving lights. This wills surely enhance your already good night photos that are worthy to be used for Christmas photos.
6. Shoot in RAW format as much as possible
Night photography has a number of drawbacks specially when capturing city images. A glare from a light post can ruin your supposedly good night photos requiring it to be removed during post processing. Shooting in RAW mode is essential in order to fully maximize your editing capabilities during post processing.
These are just some of the photography tips that must be followed in indulging in night photography. After all, there is more to it than shooting in long exposure method.
