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Nighttime photography affords unique opportunities to explore more artistic applications of lighting and motion, in order to express the feeling and presence of the night.
Daylight renders objects in a certain immutable light. The same scene in the night may be illuminated by tungsten, sodium vapor, metal halide, fluorescent, or maybe just cold moonlight and starlight. Each condition casts a different light and shadow, lending a different feel.
By adjusting ISO and exposure, objects in motion can be blurred or even unregistered by the camera. People can be rendered transparent, cars transformed into a stream of red and white light. The range of effects is limited to the photographer’s skill and imagination.
Equipment
I began my digital night photography experiments with just a consumer point and shoot camera and a mini tripod. My maximum exposure setting was 30 seconds, but I managed to take some fine pictures. Don’t let equipment stop you from experimenting.
That said, here is some equipment to aim for:
Camera
Just about any camera can be used for nighttime photography, although certain features open up more opportunities. Controlling aperture, exposure, and ISO settings helps. Long exposure times, up to 30 seconds and longer make for interesting shots. Having a “bulb” mode is ideal, in which the shutter remains open as long as the shutter release is depressed.
I have a Nikon D700 digital SLR camera. One of the most important settings I use on it for nighttime photography is “long exposure noise reduction.” If you don’t have the option to set it, your camera may judge for itself when to perform the noise reduction operation.
As you can imagine, the noise reduction operation removes graininess from long exposure images. The noise reduction operation may take about as long to complete as the exposure itself. In other words, a 30 second exposure may require 30 seconds to process the noise out.
For more information on D700 settings, view this article
Lens?
If you have an SLR camera, you have a choice of lenses. Anything with a large aperture (small f-number) is desirable. The larger the aperture, the more light that can be drawn in, just like a large owl eye. However, you’ll use these large apertures only if you want to take short exposures at a relatively low ISO or if you want a heavy background blur.
For my D700, I use a Nikon 50mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor Lens. As a matter of fact, I use these lens for just about everything. I find it works especially well for indoor and nighttime photography.
I also use a lens hood designed for this lens. The hood prevents any peripheral light from entering the lens, creating a washed out effect.
Tripod
Holding the camera by hand may be desirable when one wants to introduce motion and blur into the composition. However, for a clean, crisp shot, a tripod is recommended.
While all tripods are not created equal, a cheap one will get the job done. It’s not difficult to find one for less than a $100.
As for me, I chose a professional level tripod that wouldn’t break the bank: a Manfrotto 3 Section Aluminum Tripod with Manfrotto Compact Ball Head Rapid Connect System.
Sometimes, I don’t have space to carry around a full fledged tripod. In these cases, I carry a Slik Mini Pro tabletop tripod. Despite it’s diminutive size, I’ve used it on tables, chairs, and even against walls to get some fine shots.
Shutter Cable
While not an absolute requirement, a shutter cable is nice to have. A shutter cable allows you to release the shutter remotely, as a result, you don’t need to touch the camera. During long exposures, if you are in physical contact with the camera, the subtle jerking motions of your hand will blur any fine detail.
Also, a good shutter cable will have a release lock mechanism so you can let go of the button and still have it remain depressed. This is great for “bulb” mode exposures 5 minutes or more. Instead of being stuck with your finger on the button the whole time, you can lock the button in place and do something else.
For my D700, I use a Satechi Shutter Cable.
Flash
An inexperienced photographer in a nighttime environment is limited by the reach of his or her flash. Whatever the flash illuminates is captured, everything else is a darkened. I typically observe this phenomenon in concert photos. Someone in the audience will take a picture with the flash on. The resulting picture illuminates the heads of the closest three or so rows of seats while the stage is left a distant and dark suggestion. In such an instance, turning the flash off, turning up the ISO, opening the aperture, and increasing the exposure would have resulted in a much better shot.
However, a good flash has its uses, especially when paired with long exposures. A well bounced flash can cast an even light on foreground objects, freezing them in the photo, while leaving the shutter open longer than the flash records any additional motion, and creates interesting effects.
Personally, I almost never use a built in camera flash, even for an expensive camera. While certain things one can get away with on the cheap, I feel there is no substitute for a good external flash, except for studio lighting.
I use a Nikon SB-600 external flash with my Nikon D700. The most important thing about this flash is that you can bounce it off the wall and ceiling, casting a more even tone. You can read this article to see what bouncing a flash looks like.
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