Tutorials:Night photography and long exposures

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This page is a chapter in the book Photographic Techniques.
Night time photography with long exposure times can be a lot of fun.

[top]Night (low light) Subjects (suggestions)

  1. A fountain or other lit objects around a river or lake
  2. Building with special lighting
  3. City scapes from various vantage points
  4. Traffic (car lights, with a 10-30 second exposure)
  5. At the beach with a jetty or other subject
  6. Any lit building or statue
  7. Sunsets, just before and after the Sun sets
  8. Sunrise, just before and after the Sun rises

[top]Technique

  1. You must use tripod or other stable mount for your camera (eg. a bean bag)
  2. Set the camera into manual mode or bulb mode
  3. Set the camera for mirror up or use remote shutter cable
    -- this is to minimise shake, not 100% needed
  4. Set the exposure:
    -- ISO 100 (or lowest possible)
    -- Aperture f/16 (anywhere between f/11 and f/22 usually works)
    -- Shutter between 5 .. 30 seconds depending on the light, even longer in some cases
    This is where you need to experiment a little.
  5. I turn off the long exposure noise reduction (do that if needed later)
  6. Focus at or near infinity or 1/3 into the scene if infinity is not appropriate.
    -- Live view can be handy for this
  7. Take the shot, wait ... check the result and maybe adjust the exposure

[top]Painting with light

  1. Same technique but have your subject wave lights/torches for 10 seconds or so. For invisibility, subject should wear dark clothing and not remain in the same spot for too long
  2. Shine a torch on a subject during a long exposure
  3. Use coloured lights or LED for effect

[top]Examples



EXIF data:
Camera Model: PENTAX K-7
Lens: TAMRON SP AF 28-75mm F2.8 XR Di
Focal Length: 43.0mm (35mm equivalent: 64mm)
Aperture: f/16.0
Exposure Time: 30s
ISO equiv: 100
Exposure: Manual
White Balance: Auto (or you could set daylight, I shoot raw regardless)
Flash Fired: No (Manual)



Camera Model: PENTAX K-7
Lens: TAMRON SP AF 28-75mm F2.8 XR Di
Focal Length: 28.0mm (35mm equivalent: 42mm)
Aperture: f/32.0
Exposure Time: 0.167 s (1/6)
ISO equiv: 100
Exposure: Manual
White Balance: Manual
Flash Fired: No (Manual)



Camera Model: PENTAX K20D
Lens: TAMRON SP AF 28-75mm F2.8 XR Di
Focal Length: 28.0mm (35mm equivalent: 42mm)
Aperture: f/29.0
Exposure Time: 30.000 s
ISO equiv: 100
Exposure: Manual
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No (Manual)


Painting with light examples (these were experiments)


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