6 Tips To Create Amazing Night Photos

For budding photographers, there’s a good amount of info out there. You can find out about apertures, lenses, and exposure times pretty easily. You could also see how to edit hair in a photo or remove glare from your image.

What you hear less often is the more fundamental stuff. The sort of advice about actually being there at a location with your camera. That’s what we’re talking about in this short piece today, with an emphasis on the really basic issues.

Scouting Beforehand
It’s a very good idea to have at least a little knowledge of where you’re going at night. The lower visibility means that you ought to have a sense of where things are, so you can avoid any problems.

If you’re shooting in a sketchy area, it could be very valuable to know routes out of there. Even in safer places, you could easily fall and injure yourself because of the unfamiliar terrain. Better safe than sorry!

Knowing Your Equipment
When you’re out there in the night, it helps to know your stuff. Rummaging around in the pitch dark for a piece of equipment can spoil the whole outing for you. You should know your bags and containers well enough to find anything.

This also applies to using the equipment. You won’t be able to read any measurements on your dials, for example. Knowing roughly how much to turn your lens by feel can make or break your photo on a moonless night.

Use a Stand Where Possible
Because the dark will heighten the effects of any particular light source, it will tend to create an exaggerated effect. To deal with movement and glare, it makes a lot of sense to have a tripod to use.

It just enables you to have more control over your image. This frees you up to do whatever you’re trying to do without worrying about the steadiness of the camera.

Adapting Image Capture
When taking photos at night, you will always have those high light contrasts and color casts. There are different ways to go about sorting this, but you will have to make a choice on your basic hues.

In more urban settings, you’re very likely to have highly mixed sources of light. This means you will have to pick a lane with regard to your filtering options. This will enable you to sort out any issues afterward.

Backing Up On Everything
The last thing you want is to travel to your site, take a few snaps, and then run out of battery power. The same is true of your memory storage, your torch, and a host of other things you may have brought along with you.

Make sure that everything you need either has a backup or is fully charged and ready for use. Making sure that your phone is fully charged in case of any problems can be a literal life-saver in a drastic situation.

Consider the Elements
It seems obvious that you should dress more warmly, and stuff like that. However, it catches out more photographers than you’d think. Similarly, while the afternoon might be clear and bright, the rain clouds can gather quickly.

This is also true in terms of equipment. Certain conditions can fog everything up, meaning that you can’t get a clear shot. Bringing along dry wipes or something similar is a handy trick for this kind of issue.

Final Word
Photography is all about a sense of adventure. It’s about getting out there and making an effort to capture things. This is never more true than with night photography. You can get some truly amazing shots if you’re properly prepared.