Equipment
• Tripod
• Remote control
• Camera
• Flash
• Turn off image stabilization. Which can
cause blurring from motion that is not
present
• lock up the mirror to reduce shake.
Remember the effects of the Exposure
Triangle.
Aperture affects
• depth of Field
• Exposure time
• Shutter speed
Shutter Speed affects
• motion freeze
• blur
• Aperture sizes
ISO affects
• image noise
• how fast or slow a shutter speed you can
use
• the amount of depth of field through
aperture settings
Timed Exposures
• F-stops set for depth of field
• B or Bulb setting for long exposures
• Start at 2 seconds and Bracket
• Self timer set to 2 seconds
• Point and shoot cameras use Night mode,
Fireworks mode or Night portrait mode
With a Digital Camera you can see the results
right away and know whether you got a good
exposure.
Metering the Exposure
• Start with an aperture of F-5.8 and a shutter
speed of 2 seconds. Then bracket by
doubleing the exposure time.
• Meter off of reflected light rather than light
sources. Even when both are present in
image.
• Or use the spot meter for proper exposure
of the area of interest. Lock the exposure
then recompose.
• Use the Histogram to determine exposure.
• Use an external light meter for light sources
in the photo.
Focusing at night
Auto-focus doesn’t work well at night.
Focus on a light source.
Use a high F stop so more of the scene is in
focus.
If you have a small flashlight you can put it on
top of what you are about to shoot Focus then
romove it when you take the shot.
Use manual focus and set the distance.
Looking through the view finder at night can it
can be hard to see to compose your image.
Allow your eyes to adjust after using a
flashlight.
Use live view if you have it to check
composition. The LCD will show all the
settings you have made and you should see
what the exposure will look like.
Exposure Bracketing
• Best to take about 4 or 5 Exposures for
each shot.
• Use Spot metering on the area of interest.
• Bracket using Shutter speed.
Light Sources
• Night scenes can have many different
temperature light sources.
• Best times for sky colour is Dusk or Dawn.
• White Balance may be impossible and will
loose some of the desired lighting effects.
Movement
• Moving objects will blur or not register at
all in a time exposure.
• Lights of moving objects will register as
streaks.
• Use a high f-Stop to prevent over-exposure
of stationary lights.
Don’t Fire a Flash at a moving vehicle.
It could cause an accident.
Using a Flash
• A flash is not as effective outdoors because
there are fewer reflective surfaces.
• A flash will light anything that is within a
short distance from the camera but anything
beyond that distance will not be affected.
• Fire a flash multiple times in one shot to
light different areas.
Special Effects at Night
• Use a flashlight to provide an unusual
effect on objects.
• Use the Bulb setting and cover the lens
with the lens cap between exposures.
• Use colored gels or filters over the flash or
flashlight to provide lighting effects.
• Move the subject so they blur a bit during
the exposure.
Shooting the Moon
• Use a telephoto lens.
• If the moon isn’t in the right place, shoot it
seperately and layer it in in Photoshop.
• The moon is very bright and should be shot
with daylight settings. ie 1/125 seconds and
F 8
• Using too slow a shutter speed will cause
the moon to distort due to the rotation of
the earth
• The moon moves its own diameter every 2
minutes.
Fireworks
• Use a tripod
• Set lens to infinity
• Set shutter to Bulb or B
• Use a remote or 2 second timer
• Exposure can be 5 to 10 seconds.
• Can cover lens between exposures for
multiple exposures.
• Use Aperture F 8 to F 16
Neon Lights
• Use Matrix Metering
• At ISO 400 to 800 you can handhold the
camera.
• Use a small aperture to keep everything in
focus.
• Bracket shots for the best results.
• Halation may occur due to wrong shutter or
aperture settings so braket both.
Zooming at Night
• During a long exposure do a slow Zoom in
or out for an interesting effect.
• Fire the flash at the end of the Zoom to
light a forground subject with a wild halo.
Paint in with light
• Use a flashlight or sparkler to create
drawings.
• Bright flashlight, flash and candles
• Complete darkness
• Set F stop to F 8 ISO to 100
• Face light source away from the camera so
it doesn’t appear in the image.
• Change focus while doing the painting for
objects that are in and out of focus.
