Shooting in the dark is one of my favorite things. A long exposure can turn an otherwise boring scene into something unexpected. In this post we go over the basics of what it takes to make a picture in the dark!
What you need:
- Camera with a manual settings mode.
- Tripod
- Low power light source (like a small flashlight.)
The Good News
Taking a picture after dark is no different than taking one in daylight. Your camera still works the same way and the laws of physics haven’t changed so if you can take a picture during the day you can take a picture at night.
So what’s different?
Essentially, the only thing different is that the amount of time it takes to get a good exposure will increase bringing with it a number of things you normally wouldn’t worry about when shooting in bright light. Here are some of those things (and how to deal with them):
- Blur – In daylight your camera’s sensor can gather enough light for a good exposure in a tiny fraction of a second. At night it’ll take much, much longer. If the camera isn’t kept completely still you’ll get blurry streaks of light and ghosting around the edges of objects. You can try to pass it off as being artistic, but you’re not fooling anyone. Use a tripod! Not only will your images come out better, but you’ll really appreciate it after hearing about the next point.
- More Time Required – Depending on the amount of light and the settings on your camera your shot could easily require many minutes to get a proper exposure (taking a picture where you see the stars as arcs in the sky could easily be an hour or more depending on how much arc you want.) In addition to longer shutter speeds, your camera may take longer to process the image if it has a noise reduction mode. (NR is beyond the scope of this post, but as an example my camera needs about the same amount of time the exposure took to run through the NR process. So if the exposure was 2 minutes the camera is going to think about it for another 2 minutes before you can take another shot.) There’s also the problem of having enough time to take the shot you want. The image above of the moon over the tracks took three attempts because trains kept coming through and I had to run pull the camera off of the track and jump into the weeds until there was another gap to shoot in.
- Some Camera Features Won’t Work – Features you may rely on such as autofocus and automatic exposure calculation will not work due to the low amount of light entering the lens. In the dark your camera is probably not going to work in Auto mode. Switch it to Manual mode so you can adjust your ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture, and Focus manually. The better you understand what each of those does to your exposure the better your pictures will get, but here’s a (very) rough guide to getting an image you can see: Set the Aperture (F-Stop) to the smallest number (widest opening) you can, set your ISO to about halfway between the highest and lowest setting, and then adjust your shutter speed higher until you can see the picture you take. Too dark? Double the shutter speed (if you tried 1 second, try 2 seconds, then 4 seconds, and so on.)
- Difficulty Seeing – This is obvious, but worth mentioning. You won’t be able to see the buttons on your camera to change settings, you won’t be able to tell if you’re focused, and you’ll have to watch your step! I prefer a weak light source, preferably a red light, so that you don’t lose your night vision when you cut it on.
- A Little Chilly – Again, obvious, but shouldn’t be overlooked. Make sure you dress warm enough. You may feel fine walking to your chosen spot, but you’ll feel it when you’re sitting still for 20 minutes waiting for your exposure to finish. Take a jacket!
Taking the Shot
Now that you understand the basics, I’m going to describe the steps I go through to take a basic night landscape shot.
To make things easy on myself I try to get as much as possible done before venturing outside. I get into manual mode, make the appropriate settings changes, make sure the tripod mount is on the camera and the tripod is set up, and fill my pockets with the various accessories and snacks I require for a night walk.
Once I’ve done everything I can inside, I head out into the dark. (I usually have a spot picked out already, though walking around looking for a shot can be well worth it.) On the way I try to avoid bright light to let my eyes adjust to the darkness so I’ll be able to see all the faint lights there are to work with.
Once I get to the spot I set up the tripod and camera. (Take your time here and be sure your camera is locked down and the tripod is stable or you might see your camera take a tumble.) I do my best to frame the shot in the viewfinder, though if it’s very dark there’s not much that can be done aside from estimate or use the flashlight to illuminate anything in range. Focusing can be a challenge as well. If there’s an object in flashlight range illuminate it and focus on that. If things are too far away for the flashlight setting the focus to infinity (the sideways 8 symbol) is a pretty safe bet.
Next, I set my exposure. Figuring out the manual settings for shutter speed, ISO, and aperture is part art and part science. I start by deciding on the aperture which for a landscape is usually in the 8 to 11 range. Then I set the ISO to a level that gives me the least amount of noise (which is almost always the lowest setting.) Finally, I take a guess at the shutter speed which I base entirely on the amount of light it feels like I have (For this example we’ll pick10 seconds.)
Once I’m framed and focused and have my exposure settings picked it’s time to take the shot. To reduce camera shake I use a wireless remote to take the picture. (If you don’t have a remote you can use the delay timer feature on your camera.) When the shutter opens the only thing left to do is wait. When the shutter closes and the camera is ready to show the results I take a look and see what kind of exposure I got. I then adjust the shutter speed up or down and try again. (Knowing how much to adjust this setting is a post in itself, but try to double or half the time. If 20 seconds was too dark, try 40. If 2 minutes is too bright, try 1 minute. To understand why, you’ll want to read up on “stops”.) After a couple of shots I’ll have one I’m happy with and I can move on to another spot.
