Greetings, dear readers! In touch, Timur Mustaev. Do you still only take pictures during the day? Then we go to you!
I cannot but agree that shooting on a clear, sunny day promises success in business, but hiding at home at dusk, is it really the lot of an enthusiast?
In the dark, shooting with a DSLR can be an adventure, as a result of which you will get great shots.
Regardless of the level of skill, any amateur photographer is obliged to convey the surrounding atmosphere of the night and his own attitude to what is happening through the picture.
Often, natural light conditions do not allow you to fully work, which pretty much spoils the mood and discourages the desire to shoot anything.
But how to be? How to take pictures at night, in low light, while fulfilling the direct task of the photographer?
You will find the answer to this and other questions in today's article.
Night shooting
However, the darkness is arranged in such a way that it absorbs everything around, so it is impossible to take a high-quality photo without special settings and accessories.
Let's analyze the features of setting the camera for the dark time of the day
When going to a night photo shoot, remember that shooting without is impossible, since poor lighting conditions require an increase in the value of and , which can provoke the appearance of shaking and, accordingly, blurring the frame.
Before photographing, set exposure metering for fragments with medium illumination.
As already mentioned, shoot without a flash ( we are talking about built-in), because it will illuminate absolutely not what you would like, leaving the important in the dark.
Tighten the focus yourself, aiming at the main subject of the shooting. This is if you use manual focus, which is most correct at night, since autofocus can fail due to lack of light, and simply will not focus.
Set the ISO value to the lowest possible under the given conditions in order to reduce the likelihood of "wild" noise appearing in dark areas of the frame. For example, for cameras with an ISO value above 800, it is fraught with noise.
There are many multi-colored light sources on the street, such as the moon, lanterns, shop windows, car headlights, attractions, etc. The best solution in this case is shooting on AWB (auto white balance).
All color distortions can later be corrected in any photo editor by mixing the sliders to the desired value.
In addition to a tripod, use a cable release or remote control.
If you don't have these add-ons, be content with what you have, which is: turn on the timer mode with a two-second shutter release delay.
Thus, the need to press the shutter release button will disappear by itself, thereby avoiding physical impact on the camera, which leads to shake.
To reduce the degree of camera shake, you can also use the "Mirror Lock-Up" function, which lives deep in the settings. This mode allows you to raise the mirror in advance of the descent.
It is advisable to take pictures in , this will help you better edit your photo.
Choice of location. Night composition
Before you go to a night photo shoot, scout out the situation, find a good shooting point, and evaluate the degree of illumination of the object.
If you plan to shoot architecture, be sure to analyze the traffic and the degree of congestion on the streets.
In other words, find the best place where the lights of the night city will look the most advantageous.
Think carefully about the scene before pulling the trigger. Which parts of the frame are in the dark, which, on the contrary, are too overexposed? How is it beneficial to display it in a photo?
Don't be afraid to use the zoom or change the shooting point by moving from one place to another.
It is important to find a happy medium, both in lighting and composition, so as not to cut off certain parts of the subject.
Use the reflectivity of water, which can double the amount of lights and colors in a photo.
Even in winter, the reflection of light from wet asphalt or ice can diversify even the most ordinary, random shot.
How to shoot people at night?
It is a mistake to assume that photographing people at night is possible only with a flash, because natural light from lamps and a variety of LEDs will give photos an interesting, natural look, such as we are accustomed to seeing with our own eyes.
However, if your plan is to shoot people in the bushes (so they can't see you), the shutter speed should be as fast as possible to capture and stop motion.
To stop the movement, as a rule, it is required fast lens, which has high sensitivity (aperture - f / 1.4-1.8).
Sensitivity is adjusted using ISO, the higher its value, the less light is needed for accurate exposure of the photo.
To capture a person in a stationary state, set the aperture to a minimum, the shutter speed to 1/15, for a person who is in dynamics - from 1/60 to 1/500, the ISO value is up to 1600.
Raising ISO above 800, be prepared to see grain in the photo.
If we talk specifically about the portrait, then here the average values of the camera will be as follows. ISO 100-200, shutter speed, approximately 1/15, aperture 1.8-3.5. Be sure to have a tripod, a cable release and preferably a diffuser.
Car in the frame. Advantage or disadvantage of the photographer?
Any auto and motorcycle transport is able to destroy the overall composition of the picture in the daytime. But what happens at night?
The light from the headlights and stops are projected onto the photo as multi-colored ribbons that permeate the entire picture.
This effect allows you to get quite an artistic photo, as well as make the highway the main filming location.
To achieve multi-colored ribbons, you need to set a slow shutter speed, about 20-30 seconds. (Of course, it is important to use a tripod and a remote control for the shutter release). To do this, it is better to use (Tv - Canon, S - Nikon), or (M). In both modes, we set the ISO to the minimum, 100-200. In the second mode, the aperture can be opened within the range of 7.1-11, if necessary, you can set an even larger value, that is, close the aperture aperture minimally.
It is better to shoot from above, for this purpose a pedestrian bridge or the roof of a high-rise building located next to the highway is perfect.
When and how to use flash?
Photos taken with the built-in flash can be deeply disappointing.
The light from this source hits the forehead, making objects and subjects overexposed, and the background littered with darkness. Hard shadows appear.
The flash will play an important role in portrait photography, in low light conditions from lanterns, lamps, shop windows, etc., and then provided that an external one is used.
In this case, it is better to use, (softbox) to make the complexion more natural, without obvious overexposure.
You can also shoot a portrait in slow sync mode. This can be set either in the camera settings or in the external flash settings.
To turn on slow synchronization, for example, on the Nikon d5100, you need to select the “Slow” mode in the flash settings, and on the canon 600d also in the settings.
findings
As you understood from the above, shooting at night is not only possible, but also vital for becoming a photographer.
CAUTION: Such an experiment can drag you into the wilds of nightlife with your head.
I hope you understand, and I conveyed my idea to you, when you are afraid, everything seems quite complicated, when you do, everything seems very simple. Practice more and you will definitely succeed.
If you are having trouble with your reflex camera and you need help, you can watch the video course. I am more than sure you will find all the answers about your DSLR in it.
Digital SLR for beginners 2.0- for those who have a NIKON camera.
My first MIRROR- for those who have a CANON camera.
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All the best to you, Timur Mustaev.
Night photography often seems like something special to a novice photographer. Photos of the night city fascinate with the brightness of lights and reflections, but all attempts to shoot a night city lead a novice photographer into bewilderment - even if your camera has a night portrait mode, it can be quite difficult to understand how to use it...
Photos of the city at night can be taken even with a cell phone camera. It's okay if you're experimenting or shooting for fun. But if you want to take a photo of the city at night, which is not embarrassing to show to friends or put in a photo frame and hang on the wall in the bedroom, then you first need to find out if your camera is suitable for night shooting...
Camera for night photography
For night shooting, you do not need to specially buy or some kind of sky-high. For starters, a "soap box" is suitable, which does not even have a night mode. However, not every soap box is suitable for shooting a night city!
The shutter of your camera must work out very long exposures (tens of seconds, and even better minutes) - this is sufficient and, perhaps, the only requirement necessary for high-quality night photography. This is what you will have to check. The easiest way to find this information is in the instructions for the camera. But without even looking at the instructions, you can easily check this by setting the slowest shutter speed in M mode. If the shutter speeds end with the letter AT or bulb, then you will not have problems with night shooting.
For night photography, the camera is best suited in
which has a manual long exposure.
Bulb exposure, denoted B (Bulb) - the shutter opens when you press the shutter button and remains open until you release the button.
For example, if you hold the shutter button in this mode for 10 minutes, then the shutter speed will be just those 10 minutes.
In some cameras, it is not necessary to hold the shutter button all the time - the first press of the button opens the shutter, and the second press closes it.
If your camera does not have a manual M mode, then you can check the camera for suitability for night shooting in any Creative Zone mode - Tv (S), Av (A) and even P. If your camera does not have manual modes for setting exposure parameters, and going into a dark room without windows (bathroom, for example) you see that the camera in automatic mode can set the shutter speed longer than 15 ", while you can turn off the flash - you have a very high chance of getting good photos of the night city.
If the shutter of your camera cannot work out such long exposures, do not rush to lose heart - there is one trick that you will learn about a little later when you study the camera settings for night photography.
Night lens
The myth that night photography is a must has absolutely no basis! If you read carefully about which camera is suitable for night shooting, you have already guessed that the exposure for night shooting is very long exposure, but you can use the aperture for control in the same way as in normal shooting, depending on the scene of your night photos.
By the way, when shooting in the city, fences can be used as a rigid support: railings, balustrades, parapets and even thick tree branches. To do this, sew a small bag of dense fabric and loosely fill it with loose material - now it is enough to put this bag on any rigid support (even not very flat one), and you can easily install the camera motionlessly from above.
The photo of the city at night on the right was taken with a camera mounted on the railing of the bridge. The beautiful streaks of light along the road are the headlights of passing cars blurred by long exposure!
For photographing a city at night, the aperture ratio of the lens is not critical. It is much more important when shooting at night to ensure
immobility of the camera - you need a tripod or a rigid support.
Setting the camera for night photography
You have already guessed that the main thing in night shooting is a slow shutter speed and stillness of the camera.
If your camera can automatically work out fairly long shutter speeds (at least 15 ′′), then the best mode for taking pictures at night will be In aperture priority mode, you don’t have to think for a long time what exposure parameters to choose - you control the depth of field, and the camera will set the shutter speed automatically! If you are not shooting a night portrait, then it is better to turn off the flash.
If your camera has only automatic modes, but can provide a slow shutter speed, it is better to use the landscape mode for shooting a night city - in this case, the camera prefers a slow shutter speed and does not turn on the flash.
Night time photography
What to do if the shutter of your camera is not capable of working out long exposures? Forget about night photography?
Not! Apply a simple trick professional photographers: Shoot at night during the so-called MODE TIME. Regime time is the evening time, when the sun has already disappeared beyond the horizon, but there is still enough light not to use very slow shutter speeds.
During normal hours, usually, the lights are already on and you will make excellent shots of the evening city. Using exposure compensation with slightly underexposed frames will thicken the night colors and add a feeling of night, at the same time, the lights will not be overexposed.
Evening shooting is no less spectacular than night shooting!
When shooting with a tripod or a stable base, always turn off and set the shutter delay. Long exposures themselves add noise to your night shots, so try to use the slowest possible values.
Whether to use autofocus or focus manually depends on many parameters, so there is only one advice: if your camera focuses in low light as you need, use autofocus, otherwise switch to manual focus mode.
Night shot of people - night portrait
Shooting people at night is different from shooting a city at night. The main feature when shooting a night portrait is the different exposure of the model and the background. This is exactly how the Night Portrait mode works.
In night portrait mode, despite the fact that the flash is automatically turned on, the shutter speed is still very slow. When photographing a night portrait, the main subject (person) is illuminated by a flash. The power of the built-in flash is enough to illuminate the subject at a distance of up to 3-5 meters. So that the background does not remain black, we need a slow shutter speed, as if we were shooting a city at night.
The NIGHT PORTRAIT mode can be called
|
In night portrait mode, we get a photograph in which people in the foreground are exposed to the light of a flash with a very fast shutter speed equal to the length of the flash pulse. At the same time, to work out the background, to which the flash "misses", we use a slow shutter speed, as when shooting a night city.
And if you do not want to get a blurry background due to camera shake during the background exposure at a slow shutter speed, then a tripod or a rigid support is necessary, despite the fact that you have turned on the flash.
If your camera does not have a "Night Portrait" mode, but there are manual exposure modes, shoot in aperture priority mode with the flash on. In this case, the shutter speed will be set depending on the background lighting, and the power of the automatic flash will be adjusted according to the model, and you can easily get a picture with a different exposure of the background and the model.
ATTENTION!
On some cameras, aperture priority mode with
with the flash turned on, has two shutter speed options:
1. Fixed shutter speed - the shutter enters X-sync mode. In this case, the fastest shutter speed for flash photography is set, such as 1/200 sec.
2. Auto mode - shutter speed is set depending on
stage lighting. This mode is just right for shooting people at night.
A common mistake when shooting a night portrait
When you get carried away with shooting a night portrait, do not forget to critically evaluate the background!
Bright lights in the background can easily spoil your shot - such lights will attract the attention of the viewer, while your beloved girl will remain unobtrusive against the backdrop of the night city :o(
Hover your mouse over the photo on the left and see the difference!
Night photography, as you know, has its own specifics and often causes significant difficulties for a novice photographer. The dark time of the day is low light filming locations when you need to use long exposures. However, during the time long exposure hands get tired, and because of this, the camera shifts and “trembles”, and this leads to blurry frames. That is why the main advice that is given to beginners who want to shoot at night is the mandatory use of a tripod. But we are well aware that a tripod is not always at hand, moreover, sometimes it is not possible to carry it with you. How to get sharp high quality photos, shooting at night with hands?
Click to enlarge
Camera fixation
Night photography is poor, insufficient lighting and, consequently, long and very long exposures. If the camera is in hand, then holding it still for thirty seconds or more is an almost impossible task. Unless you use a stable tripod. But what if there is no tripod? Then you will have to adapt the camera to the unevenness of the earth's surface, as well as find various suitable means to securely fix the digital camera with their help. You can lean the camera against not only horizontal but also vertical surfaces. A variety of objects will do: parapets, poles, trees, window sills, fences, earthen ramparts, cabinets... Your task is to provide greater stability and immobility of the camera and thus defeat the notorious "shake". As a handy tool for fixing the camera, a regular belt can also come in handy. It will help to create the necessary tension, working against camera movement during the exposure.
Camera settings for shooting at night
Shooting at night is recommended manual mode(M), which makes it possible to choose by experience the optimal shutter speed and aperture to achieve a high-quality result. Built-in automation digital camera"loves" daylight and studio lighting, often lost in conditions of lack of light. When shooting in automatic mode, the camera, for example, may suddenly use the built-in flash, which gives a hard light and hits only a few meters, which will only degrade the quality of the photos.
In addition, when shooting on automatic, you run the risk of getting a poorly developed background, since the automatic camera simply cannot know that it is important for a given scene. However, sometimes it turns out to be useful such a scene mode as “night portrait”, which is offered to the user in some models of digital cameras. It can help balance the background and foreground when shooting in low light conditions.
Click to enlarge To get high-quality night shots, it is preferable to take pictures at maximum quality - it is better to set the RAW format if it is supported by your camera. Thanks to this, the captured frames will contain more information in the shadows and highlights, which will give serious advantages when further processing photos in a RAW converter or graphics editor.
As we have already noted, at night you have to use slow shutter speeds in order to digital camera more light came in. But increasing the shutter speed turns into the fact that there is not only a chance to get a blurry photo image, but also to fill it with unpleasant digital noise. As for the "shake", here you have to rely only on your experience and improvised means to securely fix the camera in your hands.
An image stabilization system (based on lens shift in the lens or sensor shift) in such cases can help get a two to three stop gain. However, when shooting late at night, this gain does not solve much. Be that as it may, the included stabilization system can compensate for vibration and, thereby, allow you to increase the "safe" shutter speed by several times. Finding a “safe” shutter speed when shooting handheld at night is one of the most important tasks for a photographer.
When shooting in manual mode, it is recommended to first set the aperture, for example, around f / 16, and then choose the optimal shutter speed, focusing on the readings of the built-in exposure meter. When choosing an aperture, in any case, you should rely on the "golden mean" - as a rule, it is f / 8 or f / 16, but it all depends on the specifics and features of a particular lens. Take a few test shots, then evaluate the results on the LCD screen.
If the photo image is too bright, then you should reduce the shutter speed. If the frame is too dark, the shutter speed, on the contrary, will need to be increased. Built-in electronics often give optimal exposure one or two stops higher than the situation requires. Using the "golden mean" when choosing an aperture and choosing the optimal shutter speed for it, you increase your chances of getting a high-quality, sharp picture without "grain" and digital noise.
It is also worth saying a few words about the operation of exposure metering in the dark. The point is that the specific night photography, for example, in urban conditions consists in the presence of light sources that differ in their color temperature and character. On the streets of the night city there is both diffused and reflected light, as well as direct, point light from lanterns. All this creates difficulties for the camera's built-in metering and provides a noticeable increase in the dynamic range of photography - the resulting frames are characterized by high contrast, bright light spots alternate with deep black shadows. In this regard, always try to measure the exposure not by the lightest part of the frame, but by the medium-lit object of the scene. Otherwise, you run the risk of getting absolutely black in those parts of the frame where something actually happened. That is, all the details will simply drown in darkness.
Click to enlarge Flash and focus issues when shooting at night
Only use on-camera flash when you are shooting a night portrait and the subject is close enough to the camera, within three meters. Keep in mind that the built-in flash is not very powerful, and the light from it can be quite hard and flat. Therefore, it is better to use a good external flash if it is available to you. In addition, at night on the street you can find much more interesting light sources than the built-in flash. For example, a street lamp, bright advertising windows or the light from the headlights of a passing car.
At night, you may also experience problems with focus accuracy. The autofocus system in the dark often starts to make mistakes, otherwise the camera refuses to focus at all when shooting handheld. In this case, it can be advised to switch to manual focus mode and use LiveView mode. Magnify ten times the image on your camera's LCD and then manually focus on the desired subject.
Photos taken in the evening and at night look unusual: the light of the moon and electric lamps transforms the landscape. The only thing left for the photographer is to capture it artistically and technically competently. A picture is created when the camera's photosensitive element receives the required amount of light, so in the evening and at night in low light, the rules for shooting change. The material presented in this article is designed for a photographer who is familiar with the basics of exposure and the functionality of his camera, and all the tips are given from the condition that we want to make not just a beautiful, but also a technically correct frame.
How to photograph at night: preparation for shooting
Training - main part outdoor shooting. In low light conditions, it's hard to get a sharp, blur-free shot. To avoid blurring (in slang "shake"), among other things, you need to use a tripod.
The tripod leg is responsible for stability, the head - for the orientation and mounting of the camera. The tripod as a whole, or the tripod in particular, may be metal or plastic. Plastic is light and cheap, but it does not fix the camera well, it is fragile, unstable in the wind, and even its slight vibration does not fade for a long time. The metal structure is more expensive and heavier, but stronger and more stable. There are also tripods with carbon tripods: they, having a light carbon frame and high strength metal parts, combine best performance plastic and metal models.
Professional tripods have interchangeable heads - universal and specialized (for example, for shooting horizontal and vertical panoramas, macro photography). They also differ in the way and ease of adjusting the camera position. For example, the ball head, where the base is a sphere enclosed in a vise, is convenient for shooting in which the camera constantly moves in several planes. It provides smooth and precise movement of the camera and is fixed at all tilt angles.
The three-axis head has separate adjustment levers for each of the three planes. And the main difference between a panoramic head and others is the ability to rotate the camera with the center of rotation at the nodal point of the lens. That is, the rotation occurs around the point where the streams of light converge before reaching the photosensitive element of the camera. If you need to shoot a panorama consisting of several rows, panoramic heads are used with the ability to tilt the camera up and down - up to the zenith (vertically up, +90° from the horizon) and nadir (vertically down, -90° from the horizon).
Remember that there are several positions in which the tripod is most stable. When setting up, you need to spread the tripod legs wide to move the center of gravity lower and, if the shooting task allows, not to raise its head high.
When shooting at slow shutter speeds, even pressing the shutter button can cause slight camera shake and spoil the shot. If possible, set the shutter delay mode to 2, 5, or 10 seconds, or use the remote remote control. If you will be shooting in cold weather, charge the battery fully and take a spare. Remember that batteries drain faster in cold weather.
Photographing at night
Night photography is called not only shooting at night, but also at sunset. Sunset lasts about an hour, so you need to plan your shooting location in advance and arrive at least half an hour before it starts. This time will be needed to select the angle and camera settings.
Adjusting the exact white balance when shooting at night is quite difficult. When you change the composition, the number of light sources changes, the variety of which in the city can greatly change the color temperature. In our case, it would be best to leave the white balance in automatic mode. Shooting in RAW format will allow you to get an original file that you can work with repeatedly without changing the digital negative: correct the white balance, perform exposure compensation.
The end result depends on the selected metering method. Matrix metering determines exposure settings based on data from all areas of the frame. It is great for evenly lit scenes. The center-weighted method measures the entire field of the frame, but most of the measurement is concentrated in the center of the frame within a circle with a diameter of 8-10 mm, which is displayed in the viewfinder. This metering method is best used when a very bright light source enters the frame and you need to determine the exposure without its participation. The point method for determining exposure reads information from a point 1–2% of the frame area located in the center of the current focus area.
So, with uniform lighting, matrix metering is used, and in difficult conditions - center-weighted or spot.
You should not raise the ISO value above 400. The higher the sensitivity, the more digital noise will appear in the picture. ISO400 level on most reflex cameras gives an acceptable quality for the monitor and even more so for printing. Higher values tend to result in a sharp drop in picture quality.
Often in low light conditions there is a problem with focusing. For clear shots, try to focus on a contrasting or well-lit subject. For example, by road markings or on the bright windows of a building. The main thing is not to focus on a homogeneous object, whether it is a gray wall, sky or asphalt.
Working with shutter speed is the most important part of night photography. Relatively fast shutter speeds (1/30 - 2 seconds) emphasize the movement of objects, blurring them against a static, clear background. Shutter speeds longer than 2 seconds already show movement differently: moving cars are not visible, headlights turn into streaks of light, fast-moving people are not shown in the photo. If your main goal is to focus on movement, it's best to shoot in shutter priority mode. If you are photographing a landscape, use aperture priority mode to be able to influence the depth of field.
Working with light
When shooting at night, the flash will not be able to evenly illuminate the entire frame, but it can be used to highlight and make a moving object static. Set the rear-curtain sync - the flash will fire at the end of the exposure, so that the subject will be sufficiently illuminated, but at the same time its movement will be emphasized by a blurry trail not in front of it, but behind it.
In low light conditions, light becomes a tool. Using a flashlight, you can dose the amount of light that falls on an object, thereby making it stand out from the surroundings. This method is called a light brush. Having fixed the camera on a tripod, take a flashlight, set the shutter speed to 30 seconds or Bulb (in this mode, the shutter remains open for an arbitrary period of time) and, while exposing the frame, evenly illuminate the parts of the object that you want to focus on. This method requires care and practice.
At Bulb mode there is one strong point - using it, you can shoot night thunderstorms. To do this, you need to set the shutter speed to this mode and focus the lens to infinity. The aperture needs to be chosen taking into account the situation: for example, when you catch lightning in the frame, it will make your picture brighter. It is best to use a lens with focal length less than 28 mm, as it is convenient not only with a wide angle, but also with a large depth of field. Remember that when shooting during a thunderstorm, you need to be careful not to stand with a tripod in an open field. It is also dangerous to be near a tall tree, tower or power line.
Often, during a long exposure, an extraneous light source enters the frame. For example, when shooting the movement of cars during the exposure, a red light turns on and the cars stop. In this case, spots of light will appear in the frame where the cars were motionless, and their outlines become visible. To avoid this, use a small piece of black paper to temporarily cover the lens. It can also be used to capture multiple exposure shots. If during the fireworks several times alternately cover and open the lens, you get a frame with multiple volleys of fireworks.
Shooting people at night without a flash can give you the invaluable experience of photographing in natural light. Most people think that as soon as it gets dark, you should start using a flash, but natural light from lanterns, lamps, shop windows, etc. will give your photos a more interesting look. Pictures taken at night without using the flash will come out more natural.
There are two main areas of night photography - this is night portrait and street photography. The main task of the night portrait is staging. So we get control over the movement of the object. In street photography, we will not have control, and here it is better to use shutter priority to avoid unnecessary blur. Let's look at several ways to photograph at night.
How to photograph a portrait at night.
So, for shooting a night portrait, we need a tripod and a cable release or any other device for remote synchronization. They will help you avoid unwanted camera movements when shooting at slow shutter speeds. As long as you have everything you need, you can start shooting in low light.
The main condition when shooting with a slow shutter speed is a camera firmly mounted on a tripod and a cable release or a shutter release timer. Thanks to this, you will get rid of the camera movement that causes blurring in photos. In these shooting conditions, you can use any lens and shoot at very low ISO values.
Night paparazzi
Street photography at night is a very difficult task for a photographer. you cannot control the object's movement. Therefore, you must shoot high speed shutter to stop the movement. This requires high sensitivity and a fast lens. The sensitivity in the camera is controlled by ISO, and the higher the value, the less light and time it takes to properly expose the image. High ISO settings increase noise and degrade photo quality.
Fast lenses are lenses with an aperture equal to F1.4 - 1.8. The more we open the aperture, the more light passes through the shutter when shooting. To shoot a person in low light at rest, for example, if he is standing, then you will need a shutter speed of about 1/15, for a person who is moving already 1/60, for a walking person somewhere around 1/125, well, force stop a moment, filming a running person - 1/500.
Measurement
Manual or semi-automatic modes set in the camera will produce better results than automatic mode when shooting at night.
When shooting at night, you can get a lot of dark areas in the photo, which we are not at all interested in. To avoid this, try manually adjusting the shutter speed and aperture, you can also use spot metering, which will give a more accurate result and help you understand how to shoot in the dark. In general, when shooting at night, there is no "right" or "wrong" exposure. Each photo will have its own individual settings, depending on the goals that you are pursuing.
creative blur at night
Blurring is obtained when an object moves. Most of the time we try to avoid this, but sometimes you need to leave this moment in order to bring your shot to life.
paint with light
Drawing with light or painting with light is used as an addition to the existing techniques. To do this, usually take a small flashlight, and direct the light on the subject.
White balance (WB)
The main type of lighting at night is ordinary incandescent lamps, which give warm yellow tones. Green color will give fluorescent lamps. For some photos, the colored light will be part of the mood and won't need to be edited. But often such light spoils the image, then it is necessary to correct the white balance. For night shooting, it is best to use the RAW image format. In this format, it is easy to fix the WB without losing image quality.
The ability to control the available light sources in night shooting conditions is main task when taking great pictures. It's not easy, but with practice comes skill. Learn to overcome these difficulties and you will be successful at night photography.
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