![]() ![]() Now let’s talk about how you actually expose your night photos.Īs mentioned above, you will be using Manual Mode, so you will be setting your Aperture, ISO, and Shutter Speed yourself with no assistance from the camera. Shutter Speed: 8 seconds Aperture: f/11 ISO 400. I used a slightly smaller aperture here since I had a really close foreground and I still wanted the buildings in the background to be sharp. Once you have metered the available light, you’ll be ready to start working your exposure controls. In addition, you will find that a slight overexposure often looks better. It is supposed to be black, after all, it is nighttime!Īgain, I would start with the Automatic Metering mode and let your camera do the work for you. The danger is the shadow regions aren’t quite bright enough, but if your darks go to black that is okay. At the same time, it will hopefully pull your shadows up enough so that they will have some detail. After you have done this, set your meter at +2, meaning it will be two stops above normal exposure.ĭoing so will keep the brightest part of your picture within the dynamic range of your camera. If you use this mode, aim your camera so that the spot is on one of the highlights in the picture. In this mode, the camera will only use one small spot (typically in the center of the frame) to determine the proper exposure level. If you want to be more in control of the metering process, then use Spot Metering. Chicago, Illinois skyline with camera settings: Shutter Speed: 8 seconds Aperture: f/11 ISO 400 Just center your meter and the result should be pretty good, but if not, just adjust and try it again. The good news is that this automatic mode will usually work pretty well. For example, Canon calls it Evaluative Metering mode, Nikon calls it Matrix, and Sony calls it Multi-Segment. This automatic mode is called different things by different manufacturers. This is done by the camera’s “automatic” mode of metering. The first and easiest way to meter, which actually works pretty well, is to let the meter in your camera attempt to average out all the tones in the scene. What part of that scene does your camera use to determine the proper brightness level? Night photography usually involves extremely bright highlights in a sea of darkness. That is done by your camera’s meter, of course, but at night it is a tricky operation and your camera’s meter can be fooled. The first part of setting your exposure for night photography is determining what exposure level is necessary. With these settings made, you are now ready to start thinking about your exposure. In addition, you will be able to deal with digital noise to a greater extent by capturing raw files. Raw files can capture a much wider range than JPG files. Night photos involve extreme dynamic range issues, which is the range of tones between pure white and pure black. Aguas Calientes, Peru with camera settings: Shutter Speed: 20 seconds Aperture: f/5.6 ISO 400. Shooting in RAW is always a good idea, but it is particularly imperative at night. I hope this is something that you are already doing. Shoot in Raw FormatĪt night, you need to be shooting in your camera’s raw format. The lack of light will cause your camera to attempt to use completely inappropriate settings. ![]() You can get away with using Aperture Priority mode but avoid automatic settings. That will allow you to set all the exposure settings yourself. Use Manual Modeįirst of all, you will have more success if you set your camera to Manual shooting mode. Preliminary Settings for Night Photographyīefore we start talking about how to expose your night photos, let’s talk about a few settings that you should adjust. Shutter Speed: 2.5 seconds Aperture: f/8 ISO 400. That said, if you understand the basics of exposure, then you already know everything you need to know to successfully expose night photos. And the exposure process is often not intuitive. At the same time, photographing at night is not without its challenges.ĭynamic range problems abound. I don’t have to wait for special lighting.Ĭities and other institutions spend lots of money lighting up bridges, buildings, and other structures for me to photograph. The bright lights and colors produce scenes that are almost always more dramatic than if I was walking around during the day. I often say that when I photograph at night, I feel like I’m cheating. ![]() In this night photography settings guide, I will walk you through everything you need to know to successfully capture images after the sun goes down. ![]()
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