How to accomplish night photography

There is no rule that says if there is no daylight, there are no good photos to be captured. Taking photographs at night is actually quite simple, and can be accomplished with a few changes in camera settings and film type. Follow these steps to explore the interesting effects of taking pictures at night using only the light that is already available.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Camera with adjustable shutter speed and aperture
• Tripod
• Cable release
• ISO 1600 speed film

1. 
    

   First find a subject that has some amount of significant illumination. Something with as much lighting as a building with lights turned on inside or a lighted city park.

2. 
    

   Attach your camera to the tripod and face aim your camera.

3. 
    

   Now attach your shutter cable release to the camera.

4. 
    

   Set your shutter speed to a very slow setting, 1/8 and below. If the lighting is very dim, such as a lake only illuminated by moonlight, set your shutter speed to the "B" setting. This will force the shutter to stay open as long as you hold down button until you release it.

5. 
    

   Now set your aperture to f/8.

6. 
    

   Press your cable release to take the picture. If you have selected the "B" setting because of very dim lighting, simply hold down the button for about 20 seconds and then let go (Also see tip below).

Tips & Warnings

• When using the "B" shutter setting take a few pictures of the same scene with using different amounts of exposure time. A good length of time to start with is 20 seconds of open shutter time. Take a few more pictures adding or subtracting increments of time exposing, and pick out the best ones after processing.
• Also, a preferable time to take these shots is late dusk when there is still some color in the sky. This will give you a little extra light to use and will keep some color in the picture.

[jalenaaron]

on 7/3/2007 how would u take pics of fireworks

[cameramaster54]

on 4/27/2007 Not meaning to set myself up as an "expert" i beg to differ with the suggested exposure above, normally an exposure of approx 8 - 12 seconds using a 200 asa /Iso film with the camera set at F5.6 would be quite enough, the big danger of using such fast films as 1600 asa/Iso would be that of OVER exposure. Theres a few examples on my website if you wish to take a look, none of them are over 15 seconds, http://www.whitewolf1.moonfruit.com/

[jojo3940]

on 4/3/2007 Thank you bluejayway for the night time photo tip! And it didnt cost me a dime!