PCPhoto
10 Tips For Better Night PhotographyThe secrets to getting great shots at night are revealed |
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Page 2 of 4 2. Watch Your Histogram Your histogram will give you a lot of good information about the scene. Often, bright lights will make the camera underexpose the scene, pushing the histogram to the left. That can result in weaker colors and tonalities, plus a whole lot more noise. Having some bright lights clip on the right side of the histogram (meaning their brightness levels are cut off and only pure white can be recorded) is generally not a problem at night, as long as that extra exposure reveals something worth seeing. 3. Choose Your White Balance Auto white balance can be random at night, giving you inconsistent results. I suggest you try some specific white-balance presets, so you can gain consistent, repeatable results that you like. This will help when you process the image in your computer, too, even if you shoot RAW. The obvious choice, Tungsten, can give an effective night look, but it isn’t automatically the best. Sometimes Daylight offers an attractive warm feeling to night lights. Or, if you need some specific tones to be neutral, you might try the camera’s custom or manual white balance (check your camera’s manual, as cameras do this differently among different models). 4. Photograph As Twilight Changes To Night One of the great times to photograph is overlooking a city scene as the sun sets and twilight turns to night. The night lights can balance a rich sky at this point. You have to start photographing as the sun sets and the lights come on and keep photographing until the sky is black (or very dark). You can never predict how good the sky will be under these conditions, plus it changes over the course of many minutes. Be prepared to wait it out and keep taking pictures all the while. 5. Noise 1—Underexposure Noise is such a critical problem with night photographs that I’m giving it three tips. The latest digital cameras do a superb job in limiting noise, but night shooting encourages noise. Noise occurs more frequently from the long exposures that inherently pick up noise as well as the underexposed dark areas that, when brightened, often reveal noise because of the higher ISO settings that can be so helpful at night (as they increase, so does noise). To keep noise at a minimum, expose properly and use higher ISO settings sparingly. Be sure to avoid underexposure as much as you can because it has such a negative impact on noise in the photo.
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