Take Spectacular Nighttime Photos with Your Digital Camera - Part II

Night photos can take on a somewhat magical quality you may find lacking in normal daytime photography. Amazing night pictures certainly can attract attention. As the sun goes down, however, it becomes harder to capture images without the proper equipment and techniques. Thus, as was mentioned in Part I of this series, taking incredible nighttime photographs requires a lot of planning.

When your digital camera receives less light, it cannot absorb the surroundings as well in the resulting photographs. Some pictures may turn out too dark. Others can be too blurry. Your camera requires more time to absorb enough light to create an effective picture, so any shaking of the device will result in photographs lacking sharpness.

To compensate for the lack of lighting, here are several things you can do with most middle and high-end digital cameras to get the results you need. Part III of this series will continue with even more expert ideas.

* You may think that professional photographers take a large amount of time to set up a shot, perform complex calculations, talk about all sorts of topics such as f-stops, shoot one photograph that accurately represents their interpretation of a particular scene, and then leave.

While most of this may be true, the last part - only taking one photo - is far from it. Many, if not most, professional photographers commonly take a multitude of shots for every subject! Traditional photographers can go through rolls and rolls of film on a single shoot, and digital photographers may use gigabytes of memory.

Professionals know that no matter how well everything has been factored in when setting up a shot, 'stuff happens'. It is better to take time shooting a particular subject ten times and get one outstanding photograph than to take one or two photos that turn out blurry or dull.

Most photographers perform a trick called bracketing, where they intentionally adjust their camera settings in small increments in case their calculations were not precisely correct.

Heed this advice when taking photographs at night. If you have a particular subject you want to reproduce in digital form, don't rely on taking 'the one perfect shot', but take several photographs in case problems occur with the lighting, or lack thereof.

Remember, you're shooting digitally, which means you can later throw out all the bad photos in your camera's virtual 'trash can', and no one ever needs to know! I can't tell you how many times I've done this, especially when taking late-night shots of the Chicago cityscape in places I couldn't bring a tripod. I may shoot hundreds of shots and only keep a few dozen.

* If your digital camera has a special nighttime mode, study your manual and learn how to enable this feature. Perhaps your camera has a button or dial next to a graphic of a half-moon to signify this setting. This works well for some late-night situations.

* Forget about using the flash unless you purchase a high-quality accessory flash unit. Flash shoots a burst of light out of your camera and works most effectively when your subject is within a few feet. If your subject is a long way away, your small flash unit will never reach it effectively.

Nighttime photography requires a little extra work out of you and your digital camera. To prevent against mistakes and increase the chance of a spectacular shot, it may be necessary to take the same picture multiple times, adjusting your camera settings slightly to help ensure at least one picture will come out well. The digital camera manual must be studied, as many high-end cameras contain automatic features to help take better photos. And, a natural tendency most people have to use flash must be avoided. By heeding this advice, you can learn to take spectacular nighttime photos.

Look forward to article III in this series in the near future!

Copyright 2005 Andrew Malek.

Andrew Malek is the owner of the MalekTips computer and technology help site at http://www.malektips.com. Visit his digital camera page at http://malektips.com/camera/ for hundreds of more digital photography tips.

---

8 Simple Tips for Taking Great Baby Photos

Taking pictures of your new baby is a great way... Read More

How to Buy a Digital Camera

Are you buying your first digital camera? Well, you must... Read More

Photography Workshops and Master Classes

Several years ago, I met a fellow photographer - albeit,... Read More

Color Management, the Digital Darkroom, and Adobe Photoshop

PrefaceIn order to understand color management, it is important to... Read More

Bracketing and How To Use Tt Correctly...

What Is... Exposure BracketingExposure bracketing is a simple technique professional... Read More

African Safari Photography Best Five Destinations

Good wildlife safari photography is not only about composition and... Read More

The Venice Rookery

Love is in the air at the Venice Rookery. The... Read More

The Benefits of Disposable Cameras

Disposable cameras are cheap and easy to use. If you... Read More

10 Steps to Buying a Digital Camera You Must Know

You are anxious to purchase your new digital camera! You... Read More

History of the Camera

Early cameras of the 16th and 17th century were able... Read More

Selecting Good Stock Photography in the Age of Digital

The business of stock photography has drastically changed over the... Read More

Digital Wedding Photography: Myth Vs. Reality

1. Myth: Digital photos are pixilated or fuzzy. Reality: most... Read More

Applications of Underwater Video Cameras

There's so much you can do with an underwater video... Read More

Digicam File Formats

Looking at the digital camera, a person can visualize it... Read More

9 Tips For Taking Great Digital Photos

IntroductionModern cameras are highly automatic in operation. They have auto... Read More

Help! My Old Colour Photo has Turned Pink ? 5 Minute Digital Fix

Almost all of us will have seen this particular photographic... Read More

How to Take Better Photos of Your Baby or Toddler

Every Mom wants to take great photos of their babies... Read More

Safari Wildlife Photography Top Four Tips

I've been practising wildlife photography on safari for over twenty... Read More

Start Up a Travel Photography Business

Too many people have the idea that being paid to... Read More

Digital Imaging Explained

Digital Imaging is a process where an electronic photograph, scanned... Read More

Choosing the Right Digital Camera

Choosing the right digital camera for general use can be... Read More

Light and Depth of Field

With such a fantastic device as the digital camera for... Read More

Where Do Great Ideas Come From?

At a Photo Club meeting I attended recently, the President... Read More

Photography 101 Part 3

ContentEven if you feel that you already know what kind... Read More

Fuji Digital Cameras

Fuji digital cameras entered the market in the late 90's.... Read More