Introduction to Night Photography
Not Just a Shot in the Dark Ross Chevalier
The Photo Video Guy [email protected]
We’ll Discuss• Quick History
• Gear Requirements
• Basic Technique
• Exposure Tips
• Star Points and Star Trails
• Potential Locations
• Helpful Apps
• Resources
History
• Began in the 1850s
• Alfred Steiglitz best “known” photographer
• Paul Martin (1890s)
• William Fraser (1896)
• Edward Steichen
Alfred Steiglitz - Icy Night 1898 All rights reserved by The History of Photography
Archive
Paul Martin - A Wet Night on the Embankment 1896 All Rights Reserved
Photo Books
• Paris de Nuit - Brassai (Gyula Halasz)
• Le Paris Secret des Annees Trente - Brassai
• A Night in London - Bill Brandt
• Washington by Night - Volkmar Wentzel
GearMust Have
DSLR
Tripod
Remote release
Flashlight(s)
Wide Angle Lens (preferably fast)
Proper attire
White Towel
Darkness :)
Nice To Have
Intervalometer
Tripod weight (sandbag)
Raincoat and garbage bags
Live View
Hood loupe
Flash with coloured gels
Flashlight snoot
Camera Settings• RAW
• Native ISO
• White Balance AUTO
• Manual / Bulb Exposure
• LENR may not be needed
• LCD brightness turned down
• Picture Styles NEUTRAL
• Manual Focus
Basic Technique
• Camera on tripod
• Lens set to correct aperture
• Off Camera Release connected
• Manual Focus - AF will frustrate you
• Experiment - no rules
f/8.0or f/5.6 if you have an ultra wide
Moonlight Exposure Guides
Exposure by MoonlightPHASE DAYS +/-
FULLEXPOSURE
COMPEXPOSURE
TIME
Full - - 10m
Waxing/Waning Gibbous
1 +1/2 15m
Waxing / Waning Gibbous
2 +1/2 20m
Gibbous 3-4 +1 1/2 30m
Quarter 7 +3 1/2 2h
Crescent 10-11 +6 1/2 Don’t
High ISO Exposure Testing
ISO 100 Native1S 2S 4S 8S 15S 30S 1M
6400 3200 1600 800 400 200 100
ISO 200 Native
1S 2S 4S 8S 15S 30S 1M
12800 6400 3200 1600 800 400 200
Colour Temperature
• Night photography is “interesting” when it comes to white balance
• Lots of different light sources with different colour temperatures means you can experiment more
• Table shows common colour temperatures
Colour Temp Table
LIGHT SOURCE COLOUR TEMP HUE PRIMARY USE
Candle 1500K Orange Dinner settings
High P Sodium 2000K Yellow-Orange Street Lights
Tungsten 2700-3200K Yellow Indoor lamps
Moonlight 4000K Neutral-bluish Werewolves
Fluorescent 4000-6000K Neutral-green Indoors, signs
Metal Halide 5000K avg Neutral Stadiums
Mercury Vapour 6500K Blue-green Industrial
Long Exposure Noise Reduction - LENR
Turning on / off
Star Points / Star Trails
• Star Points - stars in a night shot appear as points of light
• Star Trails - stars in a night shot appear as streaks of light
Shooting Star Points
• ISO 1600 as a starting point
• Max exposure time is 600 divided by lens focal length - Eg 600 / 18mm = 33.3s max exposure time
• Wide angle lens at max aperture
• Use LENR in camera*
• Avoid areas with severe light pollution
Shooting Star Trails• Find the North Star (see Resources)
• The farther the star is from the North Star the longer the trail per unit time
• Including the North Star creates a still point that other stars revolve around
• 15-20 minute exposures can give you lovely trails
• The longer the exposure the more noise you’ll get - consider stacking shorter exposures together
Some Guidelines
• Shoot RAW (consider DNG for storage)
• Format your cards before you start a shoot
• Backup your images to your computer separately from your import process
• Use the High ISO test to avoid long exposures that fail
Stacking
• The process of taking multiple short exposures and “stacking” them together in Photoshop
• Crisper images, better detail
• Lower noise, better light control
• Requires Photoshop
• Requires Intervalometer
Stacking Setup• CHARGE your battery
• Set to natural ISO
• Choose an aperture between f/2.8 and f/8.0
• Infinity or Hyperfocal Focus
• Set quality to RAW
• Turn LENR off
• Image Stabilization turned off
• Remote release with timer to trigger exposures with 1s gap
Stacking Image Capture• Set White Balance to K, choose 3700K for moonlight, 2700K for tungsten
• ISO 200 f/7.1 4 minutes a place to start under full moon
• Expose for a right balanced histogram
• Set individual exposure duration based on tests
• Set total exposure time based on desired star trail length
• If you will light paint, first and second last frame only
• Final frame is manual with cap on (may be needed for noise reduction later)
HDR?• Of course you can HDR
• Best Practices
• Use Spot meter function of your camera
• Meter for each frame
• Brightest to Darkest and expose accordingly
• Unlike daylight, very trial and error
Locations
Where to Shoot
• Abandoned buildings and sites
• Factories
• Industrial Areas
• Cities
• Countryside
• What may be boring in daylight can be amazing at night
“Trespassing”
• Seek permission first, get in writing if possible
• Expect to be challenged
• Carry copies of your images
• Be polite
• If told to leave, leave
Special Thanks
I want to specially acknowledge the work of Lance Keimig and his book Night Photography - Finding Your Way in the Dark from Focal Press. Without this powerful work, this presentation
would be considerably weaker.
Web Resources
• www.darknessdarkness.com
• www.thenocturnes.com
iApps
• Star Walk
• Sun Seeker
• Sky Guide
• Focal
Summary
Night photography is fun
Easy with a digital SLR
Doesn’t require a ton of expensive kit
Allows for lots of creativity
Go shoot something