Night Photography Recommendations and Tricks

Photography at night can yield amazing outcomes if done properly, but it can also be a major hurdle for newbies in photography. As opposed to blaming the gear, let us look at refining our technique. In this post I will suggest a couple of settings for night photography.

Fireworks Photography

A typical picture of fireworks is taken having a method involving holding a black card in front of an open shutter. In manual publicity mode, set the shutter velocity to 20-30 seconds (or use bulb mode), an aperture of F11 to F16 and an ISO setting of one hundred or 200. Using the bulb mode in your DSLR, you can get the shutter to remain open so long as needed. For anyone who is employing the bulb mode, a remote shutter release is quite beneficial to keep away from finding digital camera shake (sure it can take place even on the sturdy tripod). Should you do not possess a remote release, it is possible to also use your DSLR self timer, set it to 10 seconds to ensure that you are able to give it time to settle down any moment shakes, if any, triggered by pressing the shutter button.

The black card is used to block the lens throughout any intervals when the fireworks aren’t showing inside the sky, to ensure that the long publicity is optimized to report the fireworks instead of over-expose other components from the scene. The second reason is to ensure that you do not file any smoke brought on by the fireworks. Consider care to not accidentally touch the lens, or you may trigger some motion that can result in camera shake.

Timing is Vital

The solitary most significant tip I can provide you with regarding night photography would be to get a superb tripod. With a sturdy tripod, you could use probably the most fundamental digital camera and lens and come out with a winning shot. Armed with a tripod, the subsequent factor to perform would be to scout for a superb location exactly where you are able to setup your tripod and wait for the twilight hour once the quantity of ambient light matches the amount of artificial light. This results in pictures exactly where the sky is actually a deep blue coloration, perfect for offsetting the man-made lights inside the scene. For anyone who is shooting a reduced ISO setting like 100 at this time, as well as your aperture within the F11-F16 assortment, your shutter speed will drop to a stage where it truly is not feasible to maintain your digital camera steady. That is why you’ll need a tripod.

A tripod is valuable for shooting stationary topics, which is why wedding photographers rarely have tripods when they are on the move, shooting moving topics.

In case you are shooting a scenic night landscape, overlook about employing flash, unless you will discover human subjects inside a few ft from the digital camera. Your flash unit, typically a speedlight, will only be effective inside a couple of feet. It will not be able to illuminate a evening scene which is 800 metres absent. In addition to, shooting with an on-camera speedlight seldom outcomes inside a all-natural looking outdoor night scene.

Shooting Light Trails

Use a tiny aperture (which implies a major F-number like F16) to get starburst results on street lamps. Not only does a little aperture provide you with far more depth-of-field (which implies objects are sharp from front to back again), furthermore, it permits you to get longer shutter speeds, which contribute to the lengthy red lines produced by the tail-lights of passing motorists. Or white lines developed by their headlights. The easiest mode to shoot this really is Aperture Priority.

The best Method Makes the Shot

You do not need high-end equipment to acquire good photos. All you will need will be the appropriate know-how.

- Ahmad Faiz Mustafa

Flares

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Tips to protect your DSLR from common Dangers

There are 4 things that you have to be on the lookout for in order to keep your DSLR away from danger. These elements are SAND, WATER, HEAT, SUNSCREEN and DUST.


What are the signs that’ll tell you your DSLR has already come into contact with any of the 4 elements? How can you solve it? Most importantly, how to avoid ever letting your DSLR get exposed to these 4 things?


Signs That Your DSLR Is Already In Trouble

When your DSLR gets into contact with sand, you will notice that the moving parts of your DSLR get stuck. The error message on your DSLR’s screen appears.

How To Resolve This Problem?

It’s bad news that sensor cleaning kits won’t be able to come to your DSLR’s rescue. Not even gadgets that puff air.
Your only option here is to send your DSLR to a dealer who will do the cleaning for you. Otherwise, you can take it to the manufacturer.

What they’ll do to rescue your DSLR is to take it apart, then clean and re-lube all the moving parts of your camera.



Tips To Avoid Getting Your DSLR Into Trouble with Sand

Fortunately, there are numerous methods you can implement to avoid sand from entering your DSLR. One of the many methods is to make use of a sealable food bag. Another tip is not get low while shooting at a sandy area. Doing this is very much similar to you inviting sands to hop onto your lenses.
Despite that, you can put towels in an ice chest cooler and keep your DSLR in it. Why not just use the camera bag? This is because camera bags trap sand. Your goal here is to not let sand harm your DSLR.


Also, while you’re shooting, keep an eye open while the other closed. This way, you’ll be on the lookout for incoming sand. Other than that, you must anticipate danger. For instance, if you see kids running past you, then quickly save your camera.









Signs That Your DSLR Is Already In Trouble

Once your DSLR has gotten into contact with water, immediately remove the battery. Do not turn it back on as a killer power surge will be released.

Be on the lookout for corrupted files and error messages on your DSLR’s screen.

Also, be watchful that if your DSLR happens to turn off unexpectedly, it is most likely that your camera has already been hit with water.



How To Resolve This Problem?

The best way to solve this is to get professional advice from a dealer. Place your DSLR (although already damaged) in a bag of dehumidifying sachets to make it dry.



Tips To Avoid Getting Your DSLR Into Trouble with Water

Something that you should consider doing is to invest in a camera encasement. Also, save up some money to invest in a waterproof rolling bag. Another way to avoid your DSLR from getting hit by water is to never put it on a table next to drinks.

When you’re photographing at a location where there is water nearby, especially at a splashy condition, be sure to use a zoom lens to avoid your DSLR from being hit by water.

Never attempt to switch your lenses during snowy or very cold weather conditions. If you have to switch lenses, then perhaps have it done under your coat or a blanket. Be creative here. At all cost, refrain from letting your DSLR get into contact with water.


Signs That Your DSLR Is Already In Trouble

Although most of the latest DSLRs are tailored to withstand extreme weather conditions, there still are a few types of heat that are very bad cameras.

These types of heat are direct sunlight and hot enclosed air. An example of hot enclosed air is the hot air trapped in a car’s boot under the hot sun.
The polymer glues, glass coatings and plastic casings within your camera kit may be damaged by heat, so be watchful for that. When the heat is very strong, the oils in your DSLR that act to lubricate the inner workings can indeed be evaporate, otherwise get separated.

Also, be watchful in case your memory card is no longer working right. If your DSLR’s LED screen appears to be malfunctioning, it is very likely that your camera has been exposed to conditions with extreme heat.



How To Resolve This Problem?

When you touch your DSLR and notice that is burning hot, leave it somewhere shady and let it cool down. Once cooled, remember to replace the memory card with another one before you use it.

However, if the damage of your DSLR is serious, be sure to bring it to a dealer to be analyzed.



Tips To Avoid Getting Your DSLR Into Trouble with Heat

There are things you can implement as to avoid your camera from being damaged when exposed to extreme heat. Never put your DSLR in a car while the sun is shining very brightly. Also, while you’re out photographing, provide your DSLR shade whenever possible.



Signs That Your DSLR Is Already In Trouble

It is easy to scout and check if your DSLR has already been affected with dust by looking at the resulting photos. When you see little black specks on them, it’s a sign that your DSLR has already been attacked by dust.
Dust that lands and get stuck on your camera’s sensor form these tiny black specs on your photos. Dust has the tendency to affect your DSLR’s autofocus so that it fails to function properly.



How To Resolve This Problem?

Some of the latest DSLRs have great features that will periodically shake dust off your DSLR’s sensor. This cleaning system is set by default. What I like about this system is that it actually rids off dust before it can even become a problem to your DSLR.



Tips To Avoid Getting Your DSLR Into Trouble with Dust

Properly place your camera at an appropriate place when you’re not using it. Keep the insides of your camera away from dust. This can be done as long as you avoid leaving your camera without a lens or the front camera.

Avoid switching lenses at dusty areas. If you really have to switch lenses despite the dusty condition, then you must hold your camera so that the lens mount faces downwards. This way, dust will not fall and later get trapped onto your DSLR’s sensor.

Depth of Field calculator

Most photographers know the effect of different apertures. The smaller aperture (=bigger f-value) the longer depth of field. But how long is the depth of field precisely?

I was quite surprised how much the distance from the subject affects the length of the depth of field. Let's imagine that we are taking a photo of a flower from one meter distance with 100mm f2.8 on 1.6 crop frame. Based on an online calculator the depth of field is 9.7 mm. But we want to double that because the flower is not completely sharp.

Stepping down to f5.6 gives depth of field of 19.3 mm. Now the dof is twice as long but the exposure time has become four times longer. In case of hand held photography this might be too much.

Another option is to keep aperture at f2.8 but take one step backwards so that the distance is 1.4 meters.  This will give the same depth of field as above but without the expense of longer exposure time.

How to photograph the moon

Taking a decent moon photo is not too difficult but you need to have some equipment for it. The most important one is a proper tripod or similar support for the camera. Almost as important is a decent telephoto lens. A sharp 200 mm telephoto lens is a good start for photos like this:

But even if you have the best possible gear you still need to see the moon. So, check the moon phase calendar, weather forecast and head to a dark location. Usually cities have way too much light pollution and this reduces the contrast between the sky and the moon. Find a dark area with solid ground for your tripod.

Then set up your tripod as stable as possible. Do not extend it completely unless really necessary. Select your telephoto lens with longest focal length and remove any filters you have. Even high quality filters can cause unwanted flare.

Use low ISO setting to avoid noise - ISO 100 works well. I do not pay attention to white balance as I shoot on RAW which allows more post processing options. Use mirror lock up if available and use long timer to trigger the shutter. These help to reduce camera shake and therefore improve image quality. The choice between manual and automatic focus is up to you. When using a lens without distance view the autofocus might be a better option.

Finding the right aperture for your lens needs some experiment. Most lenses have their sweet spot around f8-f11. Any higher aperture number causes diffraction which reduces image sharpness. Too low aperture number leads to soft photos especially on cheaper zoom lenses.

After all this setup the last step is to aim the center of the moon and select the right exposure. There are calculators for moon photography but couple test shots give you a good idea anyways. Depending on your camera its exposure metering it might give totally misleading results so feel free to ignore it.

Take plenty of shots with different aperture and exposure times. At the post processing I use only green color component because it seems to have less noise compared to red. I also reduce saturation so the end result is black and white. Apply some sharpening, crop tight and upload to your favorite image gallery for feedback.