Monday, May 30, 2016

How to Photograph in the Dark

How to Photograph in the Dark

Shooting good pictures is already a challenge, but performing well in environments with little to no light is a different story altogether. Given that photography means "writing with light," shooting in the dark is inherently difficult activity. Fortunately there are quick ways to make photography without a good light source a lot less of a hassle. After you practice these techniques, photography in the dark will not be a monumental challenge.

Instructions

    1

    Mount your camera on a tripod for extra stability. Because dark envinronments require long shutter speeds to make exposures, handheld shots will often record camera shake. Camera shake turns sharpness into photographic smears. Mounting the camera on a tripod will minimize camera motion so that your images are as sharp as possible.

    2

    Set your camera's aperture to the widest setting possible. The smaller the f-number, the better. A wider aperture will bring in more light in less time. Professional lenses will have maximum apertures ranging from f1.4 to f2.8. Prosumer lenses will have maximum apertures ranging from f3.5 to f5.6. If you do photography in the dark often, a high-grade lens with a maximum aperture below f2.0 would be a worthy investment.

    3

    Power on your camera's flash to add some extra light to your shooting environment. Most cameras have a button labeled with a lightning bolt icon that will activate the flash. Cameras with built-in flashes fire straight-forward, however some DSLR cameras use flashes that can change direction. If this is the case, try bouncing the flash off of a wall or ceiling for a better result. Bounced light will be more flattering than light straight from the camera flash.

    4

    Activate rear-curtain sync mode on your flash to make more artistic low-light pictures. Rear curtain mode makes the camera fire the flash at the end of an exposure rather than at the beginning. Rear curtain sync is beneficial to photographers shooting human subjects in low light with longer exposures. The first portion of the exposure records the light of the environment and the flash lights the subjects on top of the ambient light. This combination of stray ambient light and crisp flash makes for dynamic photographs whether the setting be a night club or a campground.

    5

    Set your camera to shoot at the highest ISO possible. The ISO determines how sensitive the camera is to light. The higher the ISO is set, the better the camera will perform in low light. There is a trade-off, however, in that images shot at a high ISO are grainier that those shot with low ISO settings. Most cameras have a maximum ISO of 1600 or 3200, however high-cameras come with maximum ISOs of 6400 and even 12800.

    6

    Familiarize yourself with the lighting conditions of the photographic environment. In darker environments, the camera's light meter can fail, leaving you with no clue whether your exposure settings are correct or not. Take several test shots to determine if you should change your settings. Set the ISO to 100 and the aperture to f22. Take four subsequent shots with shutter speed rates of 5, 10, 15 and 20 seconds. The best of these exposures should help in letting you know how to change your settings.


How to Photograph in the Dark

Shooting good pictures is already a challenge, but performing well in environments with little to no light is a different story altogether. Given that photography means "writing with light," shooting in the dark is inherently difficult activity. Fortunately there are quick ways to make photography without a good light source a lot less of a hassle. After you practice these techniques, photography in the dark will not be a monumental challenge.

Instructions

    1

    Mount your camera on a tripod for extra stability. Because dark envinronments require long shutter speeds to make exposures, handheld shots will often record camera shake. Camera shake turns sharpness into photographic smears. Mounting the camera on a tripod will minimize camera motion so that your images are as sharp as possible.

    2

    Set your camera's aperture to the widest setting possible. The smaller the f-number, the better. A wider aperture will bring in more light in less time. Professional lenses will have maximum apertures ranging from f1.4 to f2.8. Prosumer lenses will have maximum apertures ranging from f3.5 to f5.6. If you do photography in the dark often, a high-grade lens with a maximum aperture below f2.0 would be a worthy investment.

    3

    Power on your camera's flash to add some extra light to your shooting environment. Most cameras have a button labeled with a lightning bolt icon that will activate the flash. Cameras with built-in flashes fire straight-forward, however some DSLR cameras use flashes that can change direction. If this is the case, try bouncing the flash off of a wall or ceiling for a better result. Bounced light will be more flattering than light straight from the camera flash.

    4

    Activate rear-curtain sync mode on your flash to make more artistic low-light pictures. Rear curtain mode makes the camera fire the flash at the end of an exposure rather than at the beginning. Rear curtain sync is beneficial to photographers shooting human subjects in low light with longer exposures. The first portion of the exposure records the light of the environment and the flash lights the subjects on top of the ambient light. This combination of stray ambient light and crisp flash makes for dynamic photographs whether the setting be a night club or a campground.

    5

    Set your camera to shoot at the highest ISO possible. The ISO determines how sensitive the camera is to light. The higher the ISO is set, the better the camera will perform in low light. There is a trade-off, however, in that images shot at a high ISO are grainier that those shot with low ISO settings. Most cameras have a maximum ISO of 1600 or 3200, however high-cameras come with maximum ISOs of 6400 and even 12800.

    6

    Familiarize yourself with the lighting conditions of the photographic environment. In darker environments, the camera's light meter can fail, leaving you with no clue whether your exposure settings are correct or not. Take several test shots to determine if you should change your settings. Set the ISO to 100 and the aperture to f22. Take four subsequent shots with shutter speed rates of 5, 10, 15 and 20 seconds. The best of these exposures should help in letting you know how to change your settings.



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