Friday, July 20, 2012

Digital Night Photography Techniques

By Steve Campbell


Digital night photography can very well be very rewarding and an exciting activity. This is often usually done using digital SLR cameras as you will want long exposure times of over a second. If you are looking to buy a digital SLR for digital night photography make certain you have creative settings not simply the automatic choices available to you with the camera. Particularly look for the 'B' or bulb setting as this will allow open the shutter manually for as long as you like.

The following are a list of digital night photography techniques to consider:

1. A Good Base Purchase a tripod to provide you with stability and avoid hand shake on long exposures that might lead to poor pictures. During my use of your tripod try to use solid ground positions to decrease camera shake. The main pitfall with tripods however, is that they can be bulky and awkward to move around with around.

2. Wireless remote A remote allows you to trigger the camera without touching it allowing for minimum contact and reducing the risk of camera shake. If you do not have a remote then consider using the self timer.

3. Exposure Be weary of your digital SLR camera's exposure meter at night. You can certainly start with the exposure given, but experiment with different shutter speeds to get your desired effect.

4. Noise Reduction CCDs used to capture images are usually not always optimised for extended exposures and noise can be introduced that could degrade an image. Some digital SLR cameras have noise reduction features available through their menu system. If not, try to keep your exposure as short as you can. As a last resort you could use noise reduction techniques with your picture editing software.

The key to digital night photography is to be at the right place at the right time and give yourself time to setup. One of the most intergrading times for interesting results is during twilight. Look out for buildings which are floodlit at night to blend in comparison together with the fading skylight. Another great vantage point might possibly be rivers and coastlines with cityscapes that might provide interesting and mysterious reflections in darken waters. High point and bridges are useful in cites to capture the flow of artificial lights and traffic using long exposures. Watch out, however, not to over exposure to lose the balance of moving lights with building lighting.

Definitely cites and towns provides many of the best subjects of digital night photography with a myriad of artificial lighting, however other subjects may include the night sky, interior buildings at night, theme parks and firework displays.




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