5 Tips For Shooting Night Photos

These are some of the downtown Tampa area bridges permanently lit for the 2012 Republican National Convention.

When taking pictures at night there are some things you can do to make them come alive. Here are my top tips for getting great night time photos.



1. Get there early and bring a flashlight

You don't want to be setting up your camera and gear in the dark. Right before sunset is the best time to compose your shot and set your camera. You have probably heard of "The Golden Hour", that time of day when the light is just perfect. While you can definitely take advantage of this light and snap some shots, it is during this time when you should compose your shot and set your gear for a night shot. Get an idea as to what you think might work. The amount of time you take to prepare for your shot will be invaluable. And, remember your flashlight.

 2. Select Aperture Priority Mode

The first thing to do after composing your shot is to select the Aperture Priority Mode on your camera. This will be the Av setting on a Canon Camera or the A on a Nikon. With the Aperture Priority Mode you control how wide or narrow you want the aperture on your lens to be, while the camera selects the shutter speed to match. This is known as the f stop.  It is useful for controlling Depth of Field. For the photos of the Downtown Tampa Bay bridges an Aperture Priority setting of f/3.5 and f/13 were selected. Remember, the shutter speed will be controlled automatically by your camera.

3. Choose a low ISO

One of the things you want to be able to control is the amount of noise in the picture. ISO denotes how sensitive the camera's image sensor is to light. The lower the ISO, the less sensitive the image sensor will be, and the lower the noise you will get. Lowering the ISO to 100 to 400 will work. Ideally, you want your final image to have little noise if enlarged. The shutter speed will decrease for a night shot with this low ISO setting. This is why, along with setting your camera to a Aperture Priority of f/13 stop, you will require the use of a tripod.

4. Underexpose at least a half stop

Since it is almost pitch black, your camera will try to compensate and expose for the dark areas.  I have seen where the picture will be blown up and look hot if you use balanced metering the way you would in almost any other situation. I recommend that you underexpose and stop down at least half a stop. Look at the LCD of your camera and if it still does not look right, then set a full stop down. If you forget to do this you can always do it after in your post-production software if you shoot in RAW.

5. Remember to have fun

Let's face it - we like to shoot and that is why we do it, but I don't like to be cold, hungry or thirsty when I am shooting at night. Bring a jacket, snacks and water, and wait for your perfect shot. This will let you have a great experience when you are out shooting. Always remember to compose, shoot and repeat.