Youtube nighttime winter photography of architecture. Shooting static stars. Can I take pictures in low light without a tripod?
Over the last 8 years I have spent a lot of time teaching other photographers the basics of night photography. In fact, it is not as difficult as it may seem, and after reading this article, you will have the basis for photographing at night.
Step 1: Put Your Camera in Manual Exposure Mode
In night shooting conditions, it is much more convenient to work in manual mode, and not some other. Don't be afraid and set the switch to "M".
Step 2: Get a tripod or find a foothold
At night, the camera will need at least 10 seconds to take a picture. That is, the minimum shutter speed is 10 seconds and if you hold the camera in your hands, you get a blurry picture. To avoid this, place it on a stable tripod or find another level surface.
Step 3: Set a Wide Aperture
How narrow the aperture can be depends on your lens. The aperture of some lenses may be narrower than others. Your lens, for example, can be set to f/5.6, f/3.5, and f/2.8. If you don't know how to adjust the aperture, watch the videos that describe how to work with your camera model.
When shooting at night, you might want to narrow your aperture down to f/11 or f/16, but don't do that as we need more light. With experience, you will learn ways to mitigate the negative effects of wide apertures.
Step 4: Set your shutter speed to 10 seconds
In general, shutter speed should be adjusted depending on the amount of light available. However, 10 seconds is the ideal value to start from.
The idea that a shutter speed can be this long seems crazy, but for night photography it's the norm. I had to work with a shutter speed of 30 minutes for a single shot!
Step 5Set ISO to 1600
As the ISO increases, the image becomes brighter, but more noise appears. This is a compromise that must be made to obtain the correct exposure ( The translator's note is not quite the right idea, because in itselfISO has no effect on noise. The article on shooting the night sky covers this issue in detail.). Most modern cameras can shoot at ISO 1600 without any loss in photo quality.
Step 6: Take Test Shots and Analyze Exposure
It's time to shoot. You will see that it takes a very long time for the camera to take a photo and display it on the LCD screen. This is normal.
Now we need to evaluate the exposure. If the photo is too dark, increase the shutter speed to 30 seconds. Take another photo. If the brightness is still not enough, set ISO 3200. This can make the picture grainy, but such a compromise is necessary.
If the exposure is too bright, reduceISO up to 800. Is the result still unsatisfactory? Then reduce the ISO a little or set the shutter speed to 8 seconds.
Advice! Due to the dark surroundings, the camera screen will appear brighter. Many beginners think that the photo looks great, but then they return home, look at the result on the computer and realize that the picture is too dark. I advise you to increase the brightness a little to avoid such problems.
Example settings for night shots
I took this photo in Naples, Florida using a very old (by today's standards) Canon Rebel XS camera. It's not as good as my current model, but it still takes great photos.
- Exposure: 30 s
- Aperture: f/4
- ISO: 1600
- Camera: Canon Rebel XS
This lightning shot was taken near Sedona, Arizona with very simple settings.
- Exposure: 30 s
- Aperture: f/4
- ISO: 640
Many people wonder how photographers manage to take such a “successful” picture at the very moment when lightning strikes. In fact, everything is very simple. You just stand there and take a multiple exposure shot (30 second exposure) until lightning strikes. If you set the shutter speed to 1 minute, you can capture several discharges in one picture!
When shooting lightning, high ISO values \u200b\u200bare not needed, since the lightning itself illuminates the surrounding landscape enough. If you set the ISO before the thunderstorm starts, the picture will come out overexposed because the settings will not match.
I took this picture of the Chicago Theater while I was teaching photography before a conference talk. The advantage of shooting at night in the city is that you can capture the long streaks of headlights of passing cars.
Another cool feature is that there is always lighting to help keep the ISO low.
- Exposure: 20 s
- Aperture: f/8
- ISO: 800
Necessary equipment
- A camera capable of shooting in manual mode. It can be an advanced "soap box", any SLR or mirrorless camera.
- Tripod. You can’t go shooting at night without a tripod, as long exposure is always required. And without a reliable support, the pictures will be blurry.
- Remote shutter release. This accessory is not really necessary, but if you want to shoot professionally, it is better to get it. The remote control connects to the camera and allows you to hold down the button to shoot with a shutter speed greater than 30 seconds (this is the maximum value for most camera models).
- Torch. If you ever want to get into light painting, this tool is a must. Light painting is a form of photographic art in which another person waves a flashlight while taking a photo. If interested, read the lesson about light painting.
conclusions
Night shooting is actually not that difficult. And I even want all beginners to master it as early as possible. At night, everything is slow, the camera is mounted on a tripod, and you can take a lot of time to adjust the settings. And also at night it is easy to see the effect of shutter speed, aperture and ISO on exposure.
Night photography is one of the areas of landscape (and not only) photography that attracts the attention of many amateur photographers. If during the day the camera "sees" the picture in much the same way as we do, then at night the usual landscapes appear in a completely different form compared to what we see with our own eyes.
The main secret of the difference between the perception of a real picture and its photograph is a long exposure of several seconds. We can't look at "long exposure" - when it's dark, we can only see the silhouettes of objects. The camera can stand with the shutter open for 1, 2, 5, 10, 30 seconds and even more - during this time the picture slowly but surely "appears" in the picture - bright and colorful!
What do you need to have from the equipment to take such pictures?
Only two things - a camera and a tripod. It is desirable that the camera has manual mode(M) or at least the ability to set a slow shutter speed in shutter priority mode (TV). To shoot late at night, you need a shutter speed of up to 8 seconds, but in the dead of night, even 30 seconds may not be enough. With such long exposure It is simply impossible to hold the camera still in your hands, so you have to use a tripod.
The main requirement for a tripod is sufficient rigidity and weight at least 2 times greater than the weight of the device (so that the camera does not "swing in the wind").
Misconceptions about night photography
Often on Internet forums one has to hear opinions, incl. from reputable users that for night shooting need a mirror with an expensive fast lens. Personally, I am skeptical about such statements.
Of course, a fast lens provides advantages, but without it, it is quite possible to take wonderful pictures from a tripod. The only difference is that your shutter speed will not be 4, but, for example, 8 seconds.
A fast lens gives real advantages in two cases - when you need to shoot without a tripod, for example, on a street lit by lanterns, and reducing the shutter speed from 1/15 to 1/60 second due to a wide-open aperture looks like a very convincing argument.
The second case when a fast lens will be useful is shooting a night landscape with floating clouds. If the shutter speed is more than 2 seconds, the clouds will look blurry and not very beautiful. To prevent this, you often have to increase the ISO, which increases the noise. A fast lens will keep the ISO within reasonable limits.
As for the camera itself, cameras with large matrices - APS-C, and even better - full frame are best suited for night shooting. They have a high working ISO, thanks to which they provide the best image quality and at the same time give some room for creativity, thanks to the ability to choose different combinations of shutter speed and ISO sensitivity.
Compact devices with "inch" matrices also cope with night shooting quite well, especially if they have a fast lens. But simple amateur soap dishes, even if they have a special "night mode", can only provide quality for posting photos on the Internet in low resolution.
The second very common misconception is excessive reliance on the image stabilization function. In reality, the stabilizer helps with shutter speeds of no more than 1/20 second when shooting handheld. At slower shutter speeds, the stabilizer is useless at best. When using a tripod, the stabilizer must be forcibly turned off, since when using it, the picture will “walk”, which will cause blurring at slow shutter speeds.
How to set up the camera for night shooting with a tripod?
- We translate the device into (manual) if there is one. If there is no fully manual mode, go to (programmed exposure).
- We set the ISO sensitivity to the lowest possible, usually ISO100. This will reduce the noise level.
- If the device can shoot in , switch to RAW. This is necessary so that you can then correct the colors without a general loss in image quality. If the device does not support RAW, we set the white balance corresponding to the type of light sources - if these are street lights, then "halogen", if the moon or just the sky, then "cloudy day" (options are possible, best result achieved through experience).
- Set up the self-timer on the camera. This is necessary in order not to touch the device at the moment the shutter is released (by pressing the shutter button, we move the device, which is unacceptable). In many DSLRs, for this case there is a Mirror Lockup mode (preliminary mirror lifting) - the shutter is released only a few seconds after the mirror is raised, so that the vibration from the mechanism does not cause blurring of the picture.
- Mounting the camera on a tripod
- We switch to manual focus mode - there is no hope for autofocus in the dark. If you use a soap dish, hold down the aperture to 4, set the focusing distance to 2-2.5 meters (at the short end of the zoom). In this case, your depth of field will be from 1.5 meters to infinity. If you have a DSLR, you will have to aim at any bright object that is at the right distance. After the autofocus is "hooked", switch to manual focus and no longer touch the lens.
- We compose the frame properly and fix the tripod head.
- If the device is in M mode, set the shutter speed and aperture. Exposure is usually from 1 to 8 seconds, depending on the illumination. We clamp the aperture to 4-5.6, while most lenses provide better image clarity.
- Press the shutter
If everything is done correctly, the self-timer will work first, then the device will stand with the shutter open for several seconds. At this moment, it is important to ensure the immobility of the device - do not stomp your feet nearby (vibration is transmitted through the soil), if the wind is blowing - stand as close as possible on the windward side in order to close the device from the wind.
Let's see what happened
After the shooting is completed, the device processes the photo for some time (suppresses noise), the screen shows the inscription BUSY ("busy"). You may get the impression that the device "hangs". The longer the exposure, the longer the processing will take. Wait for it to finish.
After the machine shows the result on the LCD screen, check the exposure setting on the histogram. The screen may not display the picture correctly in terms of brightness and contrast.
It is important to realize that night photos should be in a dark tone. Do not get carried away with too long shutter speeds - it will most likely be impossible to save overexposed night shots in Photoshop. It is advisable to shoot the same scene at least three times - usually a little darker, a little lighter, so that you can choose the best option.
Good luck with your night hunting!
Can I take pictures in low light without a tripod?
Yes, you can. The photo above is proof of that. With a slow shutter speed, the waves on the river would have been smeared from movement and the water would have turned out as if matte, but in the photograph all the waves were worked out.
To take such photos, you need to increase the ISO sensitivity so that the shutter speed is no longer than 1/20 second if the lens is with stabilizer and 1/60 second if without stabilizer. In such cases, just appear positive traits cameras with large sensors and fast lenses. When shooting in such conditions, there are many subtleties and nuances that are described in detail in the book. Photographing in difficult conditions.
How to photograph at night is a fairly common question. I think many or even almost all faced with poor clarity, noise and many other troubles when shooting like this. Let's take a look at some tips to improve your shots.
Use RAW format
If you need to get night photos with quality, then shooting in RAW format is a must. When using JPEG, you get photographs containing much less "information" than if you shot in RAW. JPEG gives a lot less post-processing options, and as a result, you won't be able to effectively lower the lights or raise the shadows, as this format does not preserve enough detail in them, and this is especially important when shooting at night. It will also be difficult to adjust the white balance, which often needs to be corrected in such a shooting. RAW, on the other hand, provides an excellent opportunity for detailed editing of many aspects. If you are used to, for example, selecting photos in JPEG, then use shooting RAW + JPEG, but do not shoot only JPEG in any case.
Be sure to use a tripod
Indeed, in the dark, shooting means a long exposure and a lack of light. Keeping the camera still for such a long time (often more than 30 seconds) is almost impossible. If you want to get clear and sharp night shots, then be sure to use a tripod and the more stable, heavier it is, the better for you. If there is a hook at the bottom of the support bar of the tripod on which you can hang something (for example, a bag), this will greatly help to increase stability even more. Even a very small shift can greatly “blur” the final result.
Choose a place in advance
Check the night lighting, the area, check the traffic at night if necessary for shooting, find a convenient point and other aspects. Need to pick up optimal location so that the environment at night is comfortable and looks its best. Not everything that is good in the light is good in the dark.
You put correct settings for night photography
The first thing you need is to put the camera in manual mode M so that you can experimentally find the optimal aperture and shutter speed settings. Take test shots and evaluate the result, the camera exposure meter can help you with this. If the picture is too bright, decrease the shutter speed and vice versa.
How to get a "star" effect
great way add atmosphere at night - this is the "star" effect. To do this, you need to stop the aperture around f / 16, which will not only increase the depth of field, but also turn the lights of the night into stars.
Check composition
It is very important to check which elements of the composition are in the shade and which are in the light, what stands out and what does not. Think about lighting and imagine the final result. In night photography, a strong contrast between light and shadow is very important. Look for right point with the best lighting.
Mirror lock-up
The Mirror Lock-Up function is what will allow us to exclude shaking from raising the mirror in the camera, which is important to us. You can usually find it in the advanced settings.
Avoid contact with the camera
Again, about additional measures from "blurry" shots. It is necessary to exclude touching the camera to a minimum when using a long exposure, and here it will be very useful if you have the opportunity to control the camera through the remote control. But if this is not possible, then at least use the delay descent timer.
Use people
Often people get in the way when shooting, but at night you can use them as interesting “silhouettes” or get creative motion effects with shutter speeds of 1/2 to 1/4 second.
Right choice ISO
If you are shooting urban scenes and using a slow shutter speed, you can set ISO 100-200 to help reduce digital noise and get maximum detail. If you use short exposure, then use the maximum ISO at which your camera produces good quality pictures. And remember that with slow shutter speeds, the matrix heats up, which leads to significant noise at low ISOs.
motion blur
When shooting at night, it is very easy to get interesting lines of motion, for example on a freeway. To do this, it is enough to have a tripod and set the shutter speed to 2-5 seconds and the headlights will turn into luminous rivers.
How to choose the time
Different times will give a completely different effect. You can get very interesting and unique pictures at dusk, when the lights of the night have already lit up, but the sky has not yet gone out. You might even get beautiful clouds and interesting contrast. Plan your idea in advance and compare the results of different shoots for yourself.
white balance
It is better not to use the automatic white balance as the camera is very poorly oriented in night shooting. If you want to get good or even excellent result, then adjust it yourself.
Disabling the stabilizer
Disabling the stabilizer is very important point as this function is designed for handheld shooting. You can get quite the opposite result when shooting on a tripod along with slow shutter speeds. The stabilizer can perform completely unnecessary movements and the frame will deteriorate. Turn it off to be safe and not worry.
How to shoot the movement of the stars
Use Reflections
Night reflections are a very effective option to add beauty to your shot. The number of lights and colors is doubled and you get a mesmerizing effect.
Backlight
When there is no light around, even from the moon, then you can help yourself with lighting. For example, ordinary lights and consider the temperature of the light. Do not forget to select the composition for shooting in advance and switch your camera to manual exposure mode while experimenting with backlight, aperture, shutter speed. If you move the light source, it will give a more interesting and natural result.
The camera is cold, but the battery is warm
The battery drains extremely quickly from the cold, and especially when using long exposures, if you want to shoot for a long time, take care of them warmly and carry spare batteries. The camera can even be disabled or fogged lenses from moving from cold to warm.
And finally, if you experiment and learn to use the rules of night photography, you will definitely get excellent results.
Night photography: universal settings for any scene.
You only shoot daytime? It's great to shoot on a sunny day, but to hide your camera as soon as dusk falls is to miss out on a few opportunities. beautiful photos hours. In the future, night photography may become one of the most attractive genres for you.
In low light conditions, your DSLR is capable of capturing beautiful shots. But he needs your help. If in such conditions you shoot as usual - "built a frame and pressed the button" - then either you will get blurry pictures, or you will not convey the atmosphere of the night in the photographs.
Don't be afraid of the dark! We have answers to all your frequently asked questions about how to prepare your camera for night shooting.
We'll show you how to set up your camera, and what optional equipment deserves to be taken along. We'll spice it all up with a variety of tips to help you awaken your camera's nighttime potential.
Choosing the right aperture value
Night photography: how to choose appropriate value diaphragm.
When preparing for night shooting, it is important to take care of the ability to mount the camera stably. At low light intensity, it is difficult to achieve fast shutter speeds.
In some situations, such as when shooting sports events in a well-lit stadium, you can hold the camera in your hands. But for shooting most night scenes, the camera must be mounted on a fixed support.
The ideal option is a heavy, stable tripod, on which a digital SLR camera will definitely remain motionless even for an exposure of several minutes. In addition to the suggested option, you can mount the camera on a relatively stable support - the roof of a car or the edge of a window - and set the shutter release to a delay to avoid unwanted camera shake when you press the shutter button.
So, the camera is fixed - your hands are untied. Freely choose the shutter speed, aperture value, and sensitivity (ISO) that can achieve the right exposure for the scene you're shooting, not just the combination of settings that won't show camera shake. To evaluate what settings will be needed when shooting a particular scene, take a look at the table below.
With the camera resting on a tripod (find the best way to set up a tripod), set the camera to ISO 100 (to reduce digital noise) and great importance aperture (f/16). In this case, the shutter speed can be arbitrarily long, which is not a problem as long as the camera is securely fixed. Read about some common problems with shooting at various shutter speeds and the best way to solve them.
Here is a short, but handy, cheat sheet containing combinations of approximate settings for shooting some popular night scenes:
|
Plot |
Excerpt |
Aperture value |
Sensitivity (ISO ) |
|
holiday fireworks |
|||
|
attractions |
|||
|
road traffic |
|||
|
Football in the stadium |
1/125 second |
||
|
lightning flash |
In "bulb" mode |
||
|
Performance on stage |
1/60 second |
||
|
Rock concert |
1/125 second |
||
|
illuminated cathedral |
4 seconds |
||
|
Full moon |
1/250 second |
||
|
Landscape bathed in moonlight |
|||
|
Skyline at dusk |
1/30 second |
||
|
night sky |
How long should the shutter speed be to blur motion nicely?
Night photography: blur the motion.
Cars and trucks can ruin the composition of a shot if you shoot during the day. At night, their movement turns into an advantage.
Moving headlights and taillights are depicted in the photograph as red and white ribbons that run through the entire image. This effect suddenly turns high-speed highways into a film set. To achieve it, you need to set a moderately slow shutter speed.
In this case, the shutter speed depends on how fast the cars go, and how much of the space "fits" in the frame. In any case, it works general rule: The slower the shutter speed, the better.
Then the tapes are obtained in the pictures wider and more continuous. For an average city street, a shutter speed of 20 seconds is fine (but don't forget a tripod!). If there is a traffic light on the road, its signals will help you understand at what point to start exposing the frame in order to cover the entire period of movement.
How can I set a sufficiently slow shutter speed?
The easiest way is to select the shooting mode "Av". Then use the control wheel located behind the shutter button to set the largest aperture your lens will allow (usually between f/22 and f/32).
Night photography: shooting with a long exposure - 1/8 second.
Night photography: shooting with a long exposure - 15 seconds.
Night photography: shooting with a long exposure - 30 seconds.
In this mode, for most digital SLR cameras, the maximum available shutter speed is 30 seconds. To be able to shoot at slower shutter speeds, switch the shooting mode to "M" ("Manual").
You can also use the "Bulb" mode by holding the shutter open as long as the remote shutter button is held down (article on). You may need a Neutral Density (ND) filter to reduce the amount of light reaching the light sensor.
What sensitivity should be set when taking night photos?
Night photography: correct sensitivity.
When adjusting the sensitivity, take as a rule: the sensitivity is 100 ISO. Change it if you know for sure that it should be different.
Increasing the sensitivity increases the light sensor's ability to absorb light. Therefore, you will have to reduce the amount of light that hits the sensor. For each frame, you can set your own ISO value.
But be careful: increasing the sensitivity increases the amplitude of the electrical signal generated by the sensor when converting light energy into electrical energy. This boosts digital noise and makes it visible in the picture (see How to Reduce Digital Noise When Shooting at High ISOs). If you want to get high quality photos, set the sensitivity to the lowest possible (approx. Translator - on those cameras on which values \u200b\u200bless than 100 ISO are acceptable, to keep the dynamic range as wide as possible, set the sensitivity to 100 ISO).
When shooting in low light intensity, you don't need to increase the sensitivity (for the camera to "see" in the dark). If you are using a tripod or flash, in most cases, set the sensitivity to 100 ISO.
When to increase sensitivity?
Raise the sensitivity when you want to avoid directional blur. It's always better to have a little bit of digital noise in your picture than blurry images due to camera shake while shooting. Thus, increase the sensitivity only when you do not have the opportunity to shoot on a tripod.
ISOin night photography - ISO 100.
Using Large ValuesISOin night photography - ISO100 + flash.
Using Large ValuesISOin night photography - ISO 1600.
A good alternative to increasing sensitivity is to use a flash. Using flash, you can still shoot at ISO 100. But the light from the flash changes light and shade, which can ruin the atmosphere of the photo (look at the middle shot of the three above).
Long exposure
When the scene you are shooting is dimly lit, set the sensitivity to 100 ISO.
Correct valuesISOfor night photography - adjust your ISO 100.
The picture above shows an indoor Polish market late at night. A tripod was used. This made it possible to lengthen the shutter speed so that the light in required quantity hit the light sensor. This photo came out moderately lit - normally exposed - with no change in sensitivity.
What is digital noise?
All digital cameras make mistakes - an image taken with any digital camera contains digital noise. It is similar to the graininess of a photograph taken on film. It is enough to brighten the image to see the noise. Fortunately, manufacturers digital cameras from model to model successfully cope with the problem of digital noise in images.
What is digital noise -ISO 100.
The error increases with increasing sensor sensitivity - digital noise is more pronounced in the photo. It is especially noticeable in the dark areas of the image. In addition to the fact that homogeneous dark zones acquire a rough texture, they are covered with colored dots.
What is digital noise -ISO 1600.
Digital noise can be reduced by turning on the digital noise reduction function of the camera. Or in a photo editor at the processing stage.
Controlling the white balance
Night photography: how to avoid terrible shades.
How can I avoid terrible color casts?
In most cases, your DSLR will render colors correctly in your shots regardless of the lighting conditions. internal system A white balance camera strives to render colors as we humans see them through our eyes (for more on this, check out our guide to troubleshooting common white balance problems.
In standard mode (auto white balance - “AWB”), the system detects colors better when daylight than under low light conditions. For example, shots of backlit buildings or shots taken in your living room may contain a subtle, but unpleasant, orange-yellow tint.
it sure sign that the white balance is not set correctly. This tint can be easily adjusted in Photoshop, especially if you're shooting in RAW format.
Correct white balance setting for night photography: Incorrect color shade. The picture is "orange".
Correct white balance setting for night photography: manual setting white balance.
Correct white balance adjustment for night photography: manual adjustments have evened out the color reproduction.
However, it's easy enough to adjust the white balance while shooting. All you have to do is set it to manual ("PRE"). This approach is especially effective if you are going to take multiple shots of the same building with the same lighting. The standard technique is to indicate as a reference a photograph with a gray or white object occupying a significant area of the image.
Is there an easier way to avoid color shift?
Even if you have adjusted the white balance manually, the colors in some areas of the picture may still not correspond to the reality seen by human eyes. The reason is that the building can be illuminated by different types of light sources.
You can adjust the white balance for one type of light source, but equalizing the color reproduction of all sources at the same time is not a trivial task. There is a simple solution. Convert color photos taken in difficult lighting conditions to black and white.
White balance in night photography: Convert to black and white image.
Shoot in color and use a photo editor to convert your shot to monochrome at the post-processing stage. This approach will allow you to adjust the contrast and tonal range of the photo as flexibly as possible. It also works great for portraits taken at a party.
How to adjust white balance manually?
All digital reflex cameras allow you to fine-tune the white balance according to a previously photographed reference image. The following technique shows how to adjust white balance on digital SLR cameras. Camera settings from other manufacturers may vary slightly.
- A sign that the white balance needs to be "manually controlled" is the cast of the entire picture with an extraneous tint, such as orange.
- Take a picture of a white or gray object lit by the same light as the scene being filmed. Select "Custom WB" from the camera's menu. Make sure that the reference image is displayed on the screen and press "Select" ("SET").
- Now change the white balance mode from automatic ("AWB") to "Manual" ("PRE" - indicated by a square with two triangles near the tops). Now subsequent images will render colors correctly. Remember, when you shoot a different scene in different lighting, you need to re-adjust the white balance.
Alternative way to manually adjust white balance
The traditional way is to photograph a sheet of white paper or a special card for a reference image. gray color. But you can do it differently: choose the image of the object being shot as a reference image.
An alternative way to manually adjust the white balance - the white balance is determined automatically
Photograph of the castle in Krakow ebb orange. We used this shot as a reference when manually adjusting the white balance.
An alternative way to manually adjust the white balance is to set the white balance manually.
The application of this is not enough known method resulted in a more acceptable result.
Creative use of flash for night photography
Night photography: universal settings for any scene
When to use flash?
Flash shots can be disappointing. Flash light changes the lighting atmosphere, making the subject too light and the background too dark. For this reason, instead of using the flash, increase the sensitivity.
However, increasing the sensitivity is not enough to speed up the shutter speed or narrow the aperture for a sharper image. The built-in flash comes in handy here.
Flash required when portrait shooting under conditions of low light intensity. The subject being photographed can be "frozen" even when exposed for a few seconds.
The thing is that the need to use a flash in this case is less obvious. Flash firing is combined with slow shutter speeds. This is a feature of the reception.
This technique is called "slow synchronization". It is simply implemented on your DSLR with built-in flash.
When to use bounce flash?
Reflecting the light produced by an external flash is another great technique for taking natural photos in low light conditions. It works especially well in portraiture, illuminating the subject's face evenly and hiding the fact that the flash is being used at all.
How to use flash "on reflection" - direct light
The flux reflected from a nearby wall or low ceiling light is wider and weaker than the original and limited by the size of the head external flash. But thick shadows with clear edges disappear. They are a consequence of the light flux, "released" directly on the subject.
How to use flash "on reflection" - reflected light
Unfortunately, you won't be able to use the built-in flash for reflection. You will need to additionally purchase a tilt-head compatible flash with your camera. It is installed in the "hot shoe" connector.
How to set up slow sync mode?
In slow sync mode, the camera sets the shutter speed to the correct length to properly expose the background and calculates the flash output to adequately illuminate the subject in the foreground.
Flash off
Flash on
Flash fired in slow sync mode
The subject is not blurred due to the flash light, and the background is well exposed (compare with the case when the flash fires normally).
To turn on, set the flash mode to "Slow sync". On Canon cameras, all you have to do is set the shooting mode dial to "Av" and raise the built-in flash. If you have a camera from another manufacturer, see the instructions.
When not using a tripod, set this aperture value, usually by turning the control wheel under thumb so that the corresponding shutter speed is not too long. Starting from a certain shutter speed, the background will be blurred and the longer the shutter speed, the more the background will “blur”.
Night photography is not easy, but it can be one way to create artistic shots. It is not only landscapes that can be effectively shot at night. Portrait photos taken in the moonlight look mysterious, unusual. Even ordinary, familiar things that do not arouse any interest during the day can become fascinating. To achieve a good result, you need a camera and a tripod.
It is often thought that high-quality night photos require super-expensive reflex camera with a similarly priced high-aperture lens. Another misconception is that a DSLR should have an ISO of 1600 or higher. In fact, all that is required is a manual setting (M) or a shutter priority setting (TV). Enough to shoot 8 seconds exposure. The tripod will provide the necessary stability of the device. The sensitivity of the matrix, the aperture ratio of the lens are not so important during the night session. They are offset by slow shutter speeds. When photographing at night, mount the camera on a tripod. It requires stable, rigid, about twice as heavy as the camera. Then the device will not sway "as in the wind." If you don't have a tripod, place your camera on a hard, level surface. This position allows you to shoot at slow shutter speeds without raising the ISO, so that there is no loud noise that is inevitable when increasing it. Turn off the stabilizer. It works at a shutter speed of ¼ sec for handheld photos. Switch to Manual mode. Sometimes it is missing, then the program exposure mode (P) will do. Turn off the built-in flash. It will not cope in night shooting conditions, it will illuminate only one nearby object, everything else will remain in the dark. Autofocus and exposure metering will not help to make a good night photo.
Don't slow your shutter speed too much. "Overexposed" photos will not save even Photoshop. Take at least three shots - darker and lighter, then choose the best one. Photographing at night as an art form is described in the book Night and Evening Photography by Lee Frost.
