Helpful Tips - Night Photography

From the Photo argus . . . Nighttime Landscape Photography Tips: How to Get Started

Some very nice examples. One thing I don’t see much is moonscape. So romantic, dreamy, supernatural, transforming light that needs quite some skills to get right in a photo.

This information is perfect for someone like me, who isn't overly experienced in shooting at night.

It's never as dark as you think, considering the camera never blinks. The app "Photopills" tells you the rise and set times of the sun and moon, and where astronomical darkness sets in (e.g., sunset + 4 hours), based on your GPS location.

 

Star trails require really long exposures, which may be more difficult to manage, power-wise, with mirrorless cameras than with a DSLR. A USB power pack with 20,000 mAH capacity can run my Sony A7 for 8 hours or more. That is my experience shooting group photos all day, but I haven't tried it for night photography. Long exposures mean accumulated noise. Besides, it never gets dark enough in the Chicago metropolitan area for exposures longer than about 10 seconds at f/2.8 and ISO 800.

 

For star points, you can use a polar tracker. I have an IOptron Sky Tracker, which can handle a camera and lens up to 2 pounds, 5 pounds if I use a counterweight. You can also stack images of shorter exposure using software like "Starry Landscape," to reduce thermal noise by averaging. This is usually done without a polar tracker. The program masks the foreground, aligns the stars separately, and stacks the images. If the exposure time is 300/F, star trails are negligible. "Starry Landscape" is a better choice for landscapes at night, because land based objects will rotate if you use a tracker.

Michael - Your site offers a good introduction to nighttime photography. If you want to explore the subject in a lot more depth, my favorite site is by Roger Clark at, Nightscape Photography with Digital Cameras, Clarkvision.com. He really know his photons and pixels.

 

My most used lens for nightscape images is a manual focus Rokinon 24mm f:1.4, which I use on my full-frame Canon 5D IV. It is decently sharp at f:1.4, but the focus scale is way off for infinity focus. My method is to carefully focus the lens in daylight on a far distant object using live view at 10X magnification, and then look at the screen with a magnifying glass. I then make a fine pencil fiducial mark on the lens barrel for reference and tape down the lens barrel so I do not accidentally move it. I have ruined what would have been some great nighttime images by accidentally bumping the lens in the dark. When I have rechecked infinity focus at a later date, after taking off and remounting the 24mm lens, the infinity focus position never seems to change from my initial pencil mark.

 

I too use "StarryLandscapeStacker" (not "Starry Landscape"), which is available through the Apple App Store, and is also available for Windows. I typically use a series of 5s to 10s exposure at f:1.4. Rather than use the single foreground image available from the program, I often take a separate foreground image before the light has completely darkened, and then after waiting an hour or more, and without moving the tripod, take the star field images. I then add the foreground image as a layer on the final result from using StarryLandscapeStacker and reveal the star field over the foreground. An example of using the method is below.

 

One good use for a film camera (perhaps the only astronomical use?) is for star tracks. Just put the camera on "time", or "bulb" with a locking cable release, and click the shutter. Return after four or six or eight hours and close the shutter. No photon or electronic noise to worry about, just film grain.

 

If Ed has you convinced to buy Aurora HDR, at the end of the site that Michael cites (cites the site?) there is a 10% off coupon.

 

Edited August 27, 2018 by Glenn McCreery

One thing I don’t see much is moonscape. So romantic, dreamy, supernatural, transforming light that needs quite some skills to get right in a photo.

I may not have those skills in abundance, but I too love moonlit shots. Of course, the fuller the moon, the easier the shot ;)

 

Shooting wildlife at night in the dark at my local park became a challenge for me recently that I resorted to using my Pentax K200D DSLR's onboard flash just to see what I'ld get. I don't know if dragging the shutter was invoked but I did capture the Night Heron below at 1/80's. It was 8PM and close to dark.

 

I kinda' like the rainbow-y red eye effect but that brightened background sky just made it look even weirder.

 

I may not have those skills in abundance, but I too love moonlit shots. Of course, the fuller the moon, the easier the shot ;)

 

[ATTACH=full]1259799[/ATTACH]

 

I like it. Looks very natural. You have captured the quality of moonlight very close to the real thing. I also like the reflection on the metal railing. I have one that I shot long back using slide film, but not a great example though :)

 

I like it. Looks very natural. You have captured the quality of moonlight very close to the real thing.

Thanks! I was draped across the roof of the car, trying to steady the camera against it at the right angle - so some of what I got was pure luck.

Wow! I never expected a response like this. Thanks Ed, Tim, and Supriyo.

Shooting wildlife at night :)

 

I've started going along to Monday Meadows Fire Club in Edinburgh to acquire some experience of fire photography. I think I know what I'm doing now. It's weird thinking about two exposures, not what I am used to.

 

DSC_9656e2 by Ken, on Flickr

 

DSC_9576 (1)e by Ken, on Flickr

Moonlight has always drawn me. Sometimes I think I capture what I see and sometimes not, but it is always magical in some way.

This one actually triggers my imagination, all the spooky stories about moonlit nights, werewolves and all that. A slightly abstract skyscape that still retains the characteristics of moonlight and darkness.

Thought it was inverted at first glance....

I love shooting outdoor night shots illuminated only by large signs, but I strongly recommend a travel monopod (& rarely follow my own advice). I almost always have my 1st gen RX100 with me, but I hate to carry stuff when we're out for dinner etc. So I end up wedged against a pole or hoping the folded napkin under my camera doesn't shift during exposure - and the images just aren't as sharp as they should be. These are handhelds from the Hong Kong 2015-16 Christmas season: