Photography Challenge: Night Shots

[Cricket]

Okay folks, you have heard me say it before, and you are about to hear it again. I absolutely suck at night photography, so it seems like a perfect chance for all of us to practice and see what we can come up with.

This is my one and only night shot that I have ever been somewhat pleased with, so I am truly looking forward to this challenge.





If you have any tips for this challenge, please feel free to share them here in this thread.

[KevinB]

That is actually pretty good! The moon can be very hard to photograph. You have a fine line between a long exposure and getting a blurry photo because of the earths movement.

Here are a few tips off the top of my head:

When doing nighttime photography, you are dealing with long exposures. It can be anywhere from a few seconds, to minutes and even longer.

The number one key to night photography is having a very stable platform for your camera. You want a stable tripod, preferably one that allows you to hang a weight, sand bag, bean bag, etc from the bottom of it. I say the bottom, I mean like the center telescoping pole that the head is mounted on, most tripods will have a pull down "hook" you can attach weight to.

Next, if your camera has a "bulb" option, awesome! If you can set your exposure to bulb, this allows you to use very long exposures. You can trigger it like normal with your finger, which I advise not to do because no matter how steady you are, the pulse of your heart beating with cause the camera to shake. If you have a remote shutter release, especially a wireless one, excellent! The other option is to set the timer on your camera. Set your exposure time as needed, and put it on a 2 second delay, etc.

Another tip is to use the mirror lockup feature if you camera is capable of such. What this does, is the mirror inside your DSLR will "lock up" before the shutter is opened and will unlock after the shutter is closed and the exposure is complete. This will guarantee you have absolutely no movement what so ever which is what we are shooting for!

One last tip before my fingers fall off.. you can do some pretty neat "tricks" with night photography too. Try a long exposure, and just before the shutter closes, have a person or yourself enter the frame and blast them with a flash. Try it, trust me.. it is cool!

Ok, I lied.. one more! Find a flashlight, any light will work really.. even those keychain LED lights.. open it up for several seconds and "light paint". Start off just making funny squiggles in the air as if you are writing on a chalk board. This is a whole new art form in itself, google light painting and you will find some amazing things!

[Cricket]

I cannot believe that I have never heard of light painting. A quick search on Google images brought up some incredible shots. The creativity in this article is amazing!

This is exactly why I love talking with others who enjoy photography. It gets me excited about photography all over again.

[Cricket]

Okay, it wasn't quite night, but it was definitely a very low light situation and one that has been very challenging for me. No tripod, 100% hand held, just happened to catch this sunset and knew I only had a few moments before it was too late.

[QT_]

Great shots Cricket! I'm going to try and get Kevin out this weekend and see what we can accomplish with some night shots. It's definitely going to be challenging. But that's the fun part.

[KevinB]

Ahh yes, the golden hour! Those pictures are excellent Cricket!

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by QT_

Great shots Cricket! I'm going to try and get Kevin out this weekend and see what we can accomplish with some night shots. It's definitely going to be challenging. But that's the fun part.

I am hoping to do the same this weekend. I look forward to seeing y'alls shots! I added you on Flickr and have loved seeing your pictures.

Originally Posted by KevinB

Ahh yes, the golden hour! Those pictures are excellent Cricket!

Thank you!

The light was very low by that point but it put this incredible hue on everything. Pictures don't come close to how pretty it was. I sure wish I would have had a wider angle lens with me. Those were taken with the nifty fifty.

[KevinB]

Next time, try making a panoramic! Hold the camera in the portrait orientation (turn it on its side) and take a few shots using the camera as the pivot point, not your body. Then, while taking each shot, overlap about 25% to 50% and stitch it with favorite software at home such as Photoshop CS4, or CS5. I know there are some others out there that do this too but not as easily.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by KevinB

Next time, try making a panoramic! Hold the camera in the portrait orientation (turn it on its side) and take a few shots using the camera as the pivot point, not your body. Then, while taking each shot, overlap about 25% to 50% and stitch it with favorite software at home such as Photoshop CS4, or CS5. I know there are some others out there that do this too but not as easily.

I love the idea! Thank you!

[pualvilliam]

I have never seen this type of photos before. I wish that I will collect it for as wallpaper. I have one passion to collect natural calamities pictures. I wish that Some best photos graphers show its as well as far. I am waiting for it.

[ChanceinGA]

Beautiful photo's! Great captures Cricket!

[ScriptMan]

Night shots, low light, no flash are why I bought my first SLR 30 years ago. I anticipate a major learning curve with digital but I will find some time to get up earlier and try to grab a few.

Staying up later till dark is not an option until I finish this never ending house painting project.

[anonymously]

Originally Posted by KevinB

Next time, try making a panoramic! Hold the camera in the portrait orientation (turn it on its side) and take a few shots using the camera as the pivot point, not your body. Then, while taking each shot, overlap about 25% to 50% and stitch it with favorite software at home such as Photoshop CS4, or CS5. I know there are some others out there that do this too but not as easily.

My camera has a stitch mode on it and I have to confess that this http://www.v7n.com/forums/photograph...ml#post1433054 was a five shot stitch. The camera did it all I just took the photos so that they could overlap did not use a tripod and then the camera software did the work on the puter.

[Jon D. Atwood]

Playing with sparklers while camping over 4th of July

[KevinB]

Originally Posted by anonymously

My camera has a stitch mode on it and I have to confess that this http://www.v7n.com/forums/photograph...ml#post1433054 was a five shot stitch. The camera did it all I just took the photos so that they could overlap did not use a tripod and then the camera software did the work on the puter.

That turned out great! I like how the pier leads your eye into the frame too!

Originally Posted by Jon D. Atwood

Playing with sparklers while camping over 4th of July

Awesome! I really like the campfire shot! *grabbing my marshmallow's*

[Jon D. Atwood]

Forgot to add this one...

[KevinB]

Oh sweet, makes me think of Johnny Cash! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRlj5vjp3Ko

[anonymously]

They certainly are dramatic.

Can't compete with that really. Buy I took this photo recently in Portugal to try and contrast it with the day scene. It was taken from our hotel balcony.

[Cricket]

There is something so peaceful about those moments when the evening comes to a close. Beautiful shot anonymously.

[Jon D. Atwood]

Sunset over the Rocky Mountains in June