The Night Time Is The Right Time (to take photos!)

105 second exposure taken after sunset

Taking landscapes after sunset, if done correctly, can produce some amazing results.  It is one of my favorite styles of photography but isn't as straightforward as shooting during the day.  Once you learn the basics on how photography works at night, the possibilities for unique and creative photos are endless.  With the right equipment and a basic knowledge of the fundamentals of photography, one can take a unique photograph that shows a scene in a way we can't see in person. 

Headlights from oncoming cars illuminate the forground

To start things off lets go over the basics.  Photography is all about the capture of light.  That principle stays the same no matter what time a photo is taken and is part of what makes night photography so intriguing.  Since there is less visible light at night than during the day it is necessary to use a longer exposure to get an image that is adequately exposed.  Once you start dealing with exposures longer than 1/60th of a second, having a good quality tripod becomes essential for creating sharp images.  There are many tripods out there but I currently use a Feisol 3441-T  carbon fiber tripod/head combo.  I've also have the less expensive but larger Manfrotto 055XPROB aluminum tripod with 498RC2 head and used it with great results. 

In camera, you are limited to the maximum exposure time of 30" which may seem like a long time but there are applications where exposures longer than 30" are necessary.  With a intervalometer, you have the ability to use "Bulb" mode to take exposures for as long as you wish.  I recommend this affordable off-brand intervalometer which I use that does a fine job but only costs a fraction of what Canon's does.  I always use aperture priority mode and set my aperture based off of the depth of field I want for the exposure.  I then lock in the ISO at 100 and let the camera meter the shot.  I find that setting the EV to +1 is the way to go as it gives more shadow details.  I then take a look at that exposure and make changes if necessary.

For night landscape photography, it can be difficult to light the foreground of a scene when exposing for the night sky.  There are a couple ways to light the foreground.  First, you can take an exposure optimized for the sky, then take another one optimized for the foreground and can blend them together in post-processing.

Flashlight was used to "paint" the foreground of this shot

The other way is to use a flashlight to light up the foreground.  This technique is called "light painting" and is a lot of fun to do.  It is simple, just take a flashlight and shine it on the area you want to light up.  It is usually a good idea to paint in small circles, constantly moving the flashlight so that the foreground is lit up aquatically and evenly.  You can even get in front of the camera and paint a larger area.  As long as you are continually moving and there won't be a trace of you in the frame.  Be careful not shine the light directly into the camera as it will ruin the exposure.   It takes some practice but light-painting gives you the option to be creative.  Try using different color lights, selectively painting areas you would like to highlight, or using multiple lights and you can create a variety of effects.

Choosing a composition for night photography is similar to photography during the day except you don't need to worry about the sun.  That being said the sun does influence the sky during twilight.  Although the sun has set and there is no longer visible color in the sky that doesn't mean it is time to pack up your gear and go home.  In fact some of the more spectacular images are taken during this time of limbo between light and dark which is called the "blue hour" by photographers as the sky is a rich blue color and some of the residual colors of sunset still remain.  This period is sacred to photographers as the light is at its best.  Later on in the night the sun isn't a factor but you may notice light pollution coming from cities and towns that can dominate your frame.  The lights are much brighter than can be seen with the naked eye and can create some neat effects and colors if used to your advantage.


Stay tuned for Part 2 of this post concerning astro-photography, star trails, and photographing the Milky Way and as always if anyone has any questions about this post, reply below and I'll do my best to answer them. 

HDR Photography, Overused or Underappreciated?

5 Shot HDR (+/- 3 EV)

Today's digital camera sensors have a limited dynamic range when compared to human vision.  A digital camera sensor can only record a range of 10 stops of light at a time.  There are times where a scene has a bright light source as well as dark shadows creating a greater dynamic range than what a digital camera sensor can read.  Where human eyes can see detail in both the shadows and highlights at the same time, a camera sensor can not and the photo may not come out as expected.  When taking a photo of a scene like this it is necessary to "clip" or lose detail in either the shadows or the highlights.  This causes completely black or white areas of an image depending on where you set your exposure.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography is a technique in modern digital photography that allows larger range of tones to be shown than can be recorded in a single exposure.  This is done by taking multiple images of the same scene by bracketing exposures, taking an underexposed image at -1 EV, a normal exposure at 0 EV, and an overexposed image at +1 EV.  More images can be taken at further extremes but generally the +/- 3 EV is the farthest it is necessary to go.  It is best to take all of the bracketed exposures in succession and without moving the camera to prevent issues with post-processing.  It is not necessary to use a tripod but it does help during the alignment in post-processing and is necessary for longer exposures.   

In the years since the advent of the HDR photography, some say it has become overused and overdone and will immediately dismiss and belittle a photographer for using the technique.  A lot of this stems from the ability to overdo HDR processing and using the HDR technique for situations for which it isn't called for.  HDR photography is not going to improve a badly composed image and it isn't the end all be all of photography techniques, rather a tool to be used if the need arises. 

3 Shot HDR (+/- 1 EV)

An important part of HDR photography is restraint.  For example, if a scene can be fully captured with one image, great, no need to do exposure bracketing and use the HDR technique.  However, if both the highlights and the shadows are clipped, bracketing and HDR may be a good idea.  Get used to looking at your histogram and being able to tell the difference between a situation where nothing is being clipped, the shadows are being clipped, the highlights are being clipped, or both the shadows and highlights are being clipped.  When you are in the field, train yourself to think in terms of how the exposure will look on the camera.  To help with this, after taking an exposure look at the histogram for each photo on your camera and based off of what you see, decide if it is worth bracketing exposures and to use the HDR technique.  I tend to use the HDR technique during sunset or sunrise when I'd like to include the sun or colors in the sky in my exposure as well as foreground shadow detail. 

Once you've taken your bracketed exposures, the rest of the HDR process is accomplished in the digital darkroom.  There are 3 programs which will help create a final image from bracketed shots, Adobe Photoshop CS 6, Photomatix, and Nik HDR Efex Pro 2.  All 3 do a good job and there are plenty of tutorials on how to use all of them.  Personally I prefer Nik's HDR Efex Pro which does a great job with creating a good base image that can then be modified to your liking.  Photoshop does a good job with preventing "ghosting" which can be caused if there are discrepancies between your bracketed exposures.  What these programs all have in common is that they take the bracketed exposures, align them, and merge them together into one image.  They then selectively allow you to keep the highlight detail in the greater exposed image while keeping the shadow detail in the lesser exposed image.  The final product is an image that no longer has any highlight or shadow clipping.  This helps to create vibrant colors in the sky of a sunset as well as rich details in the shadows.  It is, however, very easy to overdo it with HDR photography processing.

My best advice is to make the photo look as realistic as possible and to only use as much compression as necessary to avoid highlight clipping.  Think of HDR photography as another tool in your toolbox, a way to help capture a scene the way you experience it.  Use it to your advantage and keep the processing to a minimum and I think you'll agree that HDR processing is here to stay.  

5 Shot HDR (+/- 3 EV)