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Fun with Night Photography Techniques

Mastering night photography techniques allows you to make images with a wonderfully creative look due to the various forms of lighting that you can use to illuminate the scene.

Have fun with it! The more you play with your camera, and the more photos you take, the better your chances are for success.

Full Moon

Night Time Photography

Light is without question the most important aspect of photography that needs to be mastered in order to produce good quality pictures. If taking photographs and mastering the light during the day is a challenge, night time photography moves it a notch higher.

All that is required, however, is for one to understand the fundamental night photography techniques and then consistently practise them over time.

Taking photos at late dusk and early dawn when there is still a measure of light makes for beautiful images. Actually, photos taking at this time are sometimes among the most spectacular due to the mix of modest darkness, moderate natural lighting and artificial lighting. The catch with taking photos at this time is the very narrow window in which you have to take the photos before it becomes dark or day and the natural lighting conditions completely change. In order to utilize this time window to maximum effect, make sure you have all the equipment required in place well before time. Also decide on the different angles you would like to take the photo from.

Night Photography Tips

1. Night photography techniques demand a long shutter exposure. To prevent blurry pictures, shaking and any form of inadvertent camera movement must be avoided, which is why a tripod is essential.

2. Experiment with your camera settings. I suggest you set your ISO to 400 and your white balance to Daylight (especially if you like warm tone images).

3. Consider using your camera's self-timer. This also helps to reduce camera shake that could be caused by pressing the shutter release button.

4. If your camera has a noise reduction feature, use it. This requires careful planning as it slows down the time between taking shots - sometimes several seconds.

5. Shooting in RAW maximizes your chances to be successful with night time photography due to the wider exposure latitude than JPEG files.

6. Check your camera's histogram as you go and act on overexposure warning indications to ensure well exposed images.

Night time photography is as much a science as an art so you will often have to take a good number of photos before you are able to master the process. In addition, moving one step at time ensures that you master the effect of each setting on your camera.

* What is Exposure?

* What is Shutter Speed?

* What is ISO?

(From Night Photography Techniques back to Low Light Photography) (From Night Photography Techniques back to Basic Photography Tips Home Page)

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SBI!