Night shooting help

frickinbrittany

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Hi guys,

I shot this at night near my house... with a slow shutter speed and cooresponding aperture. I am looking to improve my night shooting techniques. I shot this with a slightly more advance Fujifilm point-and-shoot last year (obviously upgraded since then), and haven't done any night shooting since.

Any words of advice??

$Tree.jpg
 
Tripod required but all other rules remain constant. What is it you want to shoot at night? DO you want more defined light trails or a brighter background. What is it that you want to improve?
 
Maybe both? I honestly hardly know anything about night photography.
 
Night or Day, photography is the same. One exception is that for a correct exposure you most certainly need a tripod for a steady shot. Otherwise the rules remain the same, ISO, Aperture, shutter speed.
 
I love the look of the light trails, but never have shot any myself. This has inspired me to do some myself. Thanks! I also want to learn some tricks for night shots
 
Maybe both? I honestly hardly know anything about night photography.

There is a method I learned with film that works pretty well. Use a tripod and get the focus and aperature locked in. Take a series of shots, with each shot doubling the exposure time of the one before. So, start with something like 1 second, and then 2 seconds, 4,8, etc. If you don't like what you get, change the aperature and start over. Eventually you'll dial in the aperature and exposure that gives you a look that you like. As you go narrower in aperature, more detail will reveal itself. Go really small in low light and you can do exposures that last hours. Basically, it's just a method until you get a feel for the level of light and the proper exposures.
 
You're welcome: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...naheims-ultimate-guide-night-photography.html
(Actually, thank Manaheim)

Anyway, as Trever said... night or day, same rules apply for both exposure and composition... A few things 'change' like having a lot of dead black space you need to be careful when composing, or the use of a tripod and timer/remote shutter... but besides that, if you understand how to take pictures during the day, after a couple of nights out taking pics you'll get it right. It's fairly intuitive :)

edit: I'm pretty sure there was another similar older thread from him about this, but can't seem to find it
 
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