Night landscape. Photography Tips

Find time for an evening walk around hometown. Go outside before the sun sets and walk the streets, observe how life goes on in the city, what is happening, what changes can be noted compared to daytime life. It is very simple and interesting, as a result of such a walk you will be able to discover interesting, previously unknown things. Please note Special attention to the light and color of the night. In our minds, night is darkness and gloom, a black impenetrable emptiness, but in fact, even a small town at night glows with the lights of lanterns, shop windows and passing cars. Thanks to this light, familiar things become unusual, you will discover a lot of new things around you.

Cities provide the opportunity to realize many creative plans and ideas for night photography. Despite the fact that when night comes we lose sunlight, in return we get thousands of little lights different color that illuminate the world around.

What to do?

Now we will try to list everything important points, which are worth remembering when going on a photo hunt at night. These recommendations will give you the opportunity to get great photos, with deep color, beautiful shadows and unusual lighting, which will help you look at the city in a new way.

State that you will not be able to take photographs. night city using a compact camera is not worth it, but still, best pictures V dark time days are created using mirrorless and SLR cameras, with the possibility of manual control.

For photography you will need the following:

• A tripod that's durable but light enough to be carried around
• Manual camera
• Remote shutter release
• Relatively fast wide angle lens(wide-angle is not necessary, but it can be used to take good landscape photos of the city)
• Hood (to reduce glare)

By photographing in manual or semi-automatic mode, you can configure the camera so that you get the highest quality and beautiful images, in addition, you can adjust the brightness and amount of incoming light. Remote controller remote control or a cable, you will need to minimize the likelihood of a blurry photo.

Try to become more familiar with the capabilities of your photographic equipment before you go out and take photographs. Knowing what your camera and lens can do can help you know what to expect when taking photos. Some DSLRs are better at autofocusing in dim light than others. You may need to manually focus to achieve best results. It's also worth knowing how the camera performs at high ISOs and slow shutter speeds (in terms of noise levels in the final image). If you want to capture a clear shot of action, you'll definitely need to increase your ISO, so it's important to know how noisy your shot will be. Remember, a tripod can keep your camera firmly stationary, but that doesn't mean moving objects will be clear.

What to strive for

If you want to take a clear, well-lit shot at night, this is not simple task. It is almost impossible to take such a photo without increasing the ISO value. You will need a bright lens, and increase the light sensitivity several notches. It is best to set the aperture to f/2.8 or f/1.7, and ISO to approximately 400. As a result, you will get a photo with a shallow depth of field, and with minimum quantity noise. As practice shows, at ISO 400, most SLR cameras give good, relatively clear results.

If, on the contrary, you plan to capture the beautiful blur of car headlights, or play with light, then you need to set great importance shutter speed, close the aperture and reduce the sensitivity values. The shutter speed should be about a few seconds, in this case Everyone determines for themselves, the aperture is about F8-16, and ISO 100. Keep in mind that most DSLRs have a shutter speed of up to 30 seconds, so if you need more time, then to get the correct exposure, you should use the Bubl mode. In any case, for long exposure photography you will need a tripod, otherwise the entire photo will be blurred, not just the movement in it. It is also advisable to use a remote control, or set a timer, so that as a result of pressing the shutter button, the frame does not turn out blurry.

Also, keep in mind that all digital sensors have this issue - the longer the shutter is open, the more noise appears in the image, no matter what ISO is set. To combat this, you can set your camera to noise reduction mode. Many DSLRs do this automatically at long shutter speeds.

Explore the city

All cities are different from each other, each of them has its own attractions, its own mood and character, all this affects the course of the shooting and what results you get. The walk we talked about at the beginning of the article will help you explore the city in which you will be filming and will help you night shooting at a high level.

Big cities provide virtually endless opportunities for architectural and artistic photography. If you know the city you're filming in well, you can go to those places that are most interesting to you, but if you're filming in unfamiliar city, then it is advisable to simply go to the busiest, central areas. Such areas will be both the most illuminated and the safest.

Working even in the area, full of people, don't let your guard down. You have equipment worth at least $600 weighing on your neck, so there may be people who want to take it away from you. “Predators” especially closely monitor tourists who feel insecure and afraid of a new city.

What is the best time to take photos, you ask. If you want to create the effect of wandering ghosts, then a large number of people won't be scared of you. If you want peace and quiet, it is best to come early on Sunday morning, this way you will definitely meet a minimum of people. Shooting early in the morning allows you to capture the sky, from bright blacks to purples and reds.

Check the weather

The city at night, after a rainstorm, can look absolutely amazing, the streets will glisten with water, so cars passing by will create even more light. Snow at night will help create amazing post-apocalyptic photos, covering everything around it creates interesting colored highlights. But remember that rain and snow will be dangerous for your camera if it does not have a weather seal.

As a landscape photographer, I usually work at sunrise or sunset, when the lighting and shadows are soft, the light is mystical, and the sky is painted in colorful colors. But the night sky delights with its own unique magic of countless stars, the Moon and Milky Way they are all there waiting to be captured.

Obviously, when planning to photograph a night landscape, we must remember that the most important parameter here will be the shutter speed and we will need a good, reliable tripod. Remember to be patient, because when photographing the night sky, depending on your end goals, the shutter speed (on your camera) can range from 15 seconds to several hours. A good, high-quality “star field” shot can be obtained with an exposure starting from 15 seconds, and the aperture and ISO sizes will depend on the lens used.

Another one important detail, which you need to remember and which will develop your art of photography: any lighting fixture or an object reflecting light will dim the brightness of the stars. This applies to both the Moon and street lamps, city lighting and illumination, illumination of buildings and even the light of passing cars. All this will provide negative impact on the “purity” of a photograph of the night sky. That's why best choice there will be a trip to nature countryside, where there is no such intense street lighting, rushing past vehicles, buildings and so on. There the stars will be the brightest, and your chances of getting a high-quality photo will increase significantly.

This image was taken with an EOS 5D Mark II and an EF 24mm f/1.4L II lens. Shutter speed 15 seconds, ISO 800, f/1.4. If you're shooting a starry sky, don't open the shutter for more than 15 seconds. At a longer shutter speed, the camera will record the movement of the Earth, and small star trails will appear in the image. In order to capture this photo, I had to wait until the moon went behind me so that the light it reflected did not dull the brightness of the stars. Therefore, moonless nights are best for star field photography.

At night we will need some kind of portable light source - a flashlight, car headlights. First, we need to get to the photography location without breaking our legs. Secondly, we will need a portable light source to create an image using the “light painting” technique, which is when objects in the foreground are briefly illuminated, which in turn will give the final image volume and depth.

This photo was taken in Valley of Fire, Nevada. EOS 5D Mark III camera, EF 8-15mm Fisheye Zoom lens. Shutter speed 15 seconds, ISO 6400 at F/4. Look, in my opinion, this stone arch became the perfect foreground for the starry sky. And in order to give the photo volume, I illuminated the red rocks with an LED flashlight with a warm photo filter installed.

Likewise, using different types light source, you can paint the foreground in the desired color. For example, you can adapt helium filters in the same way as is done on a flash camera. LED flashlights, good cool lighting, traditional flashlights that use a regular incandescent bulb create a warm light. Everything here is at your discretion, and experiments with different light sources are welcome. But remember that too much additional lighting in the foreground of the photo will ruin the entire exposure, and too short will not help to “outline” the foreground as desired. As a rule, a quick “kiss” is enough.

In addition to the camera and lens, we will need a camera remote control that will allow you to shoot without touching the camera. It is clear that this will eliminate camera shake, which is completely unnecessary in such a case, which will ultimately affect the quality of your photo. Many remote controls (such as the Canon TC-80N3) have many other features useful features: self-timer, interval timer, long exposure timer, exposure countdown function, LCD backlight. When shooting Star Trek, a timer can be programmed so that you leave the shutter open for a period of time ranging from 1sec. up to 99 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds, that is, as much as you need. You can also program it to take multiple pictures in a specific sequence, if necessary. Very useful for image stitching, a common method for creating star trail images.

Every year in the spring, during the full moon, a lunar rainbow is born in the spray at Yosemite Falls. EOS 5D Mark III camera, EF24mm f/1.4L II lens, 10 second shutter speed, ISO 1250 at F/4. Look how the reflected light from full moon affects the brightness of stars.

But it is worth remembering the most important problem when creating photographs at such long exposures. The longer the camera shutter is open, the more the sensor heats up and, accordingly, the likelihood of digital noise appearing in your photos increases, which in turn will not make your photo more beautiful. But modern digital cameras In their arsenal they have noise reduction functions when using long exposures. Typically, algorithms for detecting digital noise levels are based on the deviation of noise from the background. The dark current of several million photodiodes of the sensor is corrected by reference to the “black level” from a group of pixels in complete darkness. A systematic correction is calculated - the “black level” of the dark current (average value), which is subtracted from the current of each photodiode for a given photographic image. First, the camera takes the photo at the intended shutter speed, say 30 seconds. If noise reduction is turned on, the camera takes a second photo, but this time with the shutter closed. The sensor is activated for the same exposure time as when shooting with the shutter open. Since the sensor worked for the same amount of time, its temperature will be the same, which means the noise manifestations will be similar. The camera then compares the two frames and removes noise that is present in both frames. The only bad thing is that while the camera is performing all these manipulations, it is no longer possible to shoot. This is precisely why photographing a night landscape is such a long and labor-intensive process. It can take from one hour to the entire allotted night time to create one frame.

This Star Trek photo was taken in upstate New York. Camera EOS-1D X, EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye lens, shutter speed 15 minutes, ISO 400 at F/4. Taking one photo with a 15-minute exposure took a total of more than 30 minutes. And as you can already understand, this is due to the use of the camera’s digital noise suppression functions at long exposures.

But if you plan to stitch together multiple images to create Star Trek snapshots, this digital noise reduction feature should be turned off since the snapshots need to be taken continuously. This is a prerequisite for this technique.

And finally, let’s make one more conclusion - having good and fully charged batteries for the camera is another key to successful shots. No one wants to lose the work they have done if suddenly, after all the manipulations while recording a picture to the card, the camera suddenly turns off.

Happy shooting, Rick Burke.

How to take pictures at night? After all, photography is light! And at night there is very little of it. Night photography is not an easy task. It can have many approaches depending on what kind of story we are going to shoot. Now we will look at an example of shooting a night city landscape.

NIKON D810 / 18.0-35.0 mm f/3.5-4.5 SETTINGS: ISO 64, F16, 20 s, 35.0 mm equiv.

Shooting at night in the city is interesting for many reasons. Firstly, a variety of illumination will highlight seemingly familiar views in a very unusual way. Secondly, shooting in a city at night is accessible to everyone: you don’t have to travel somewhere very far to do this, as is the case with shooting a natural landscape. It will be enough to drive up to the center of any large city: there's probably a bunch there interesting places for shooting. If you shoot in some ordinary alley in a residential area, the shot most likely will not be interesting.

I live in Moscow and chose to photograph a classic view of the Kremlin walls from the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge.

It is important to choose the right time for shooting. Oddly enough, the best “night” shots are taken not in the dead of night, but at dusk, when it just turns on city ​​lighting, and the colors of the evening still remain in the sky. Or vice versa in the morning, when the sun is about to rise. Otherwise, if we shoot late at night, we will have absolutely black sky. It's the choice suitable place, angle and shooting time - the most difficult and most creative stage in creating a night landscape. After all, the key to further shooting success is only a matter of technology.

What equipment is needed to shoot a night cityscape?

To shoot this shot I needed the following equipment:

Tripod. I put him in first place, because he is the one who will key factor to get a high-quality photo. Everyone knows what will happen if you shoot it handheld poor lighting: The frame will either blur or be drowned in digital noise when using high sensitivity. By placing the device on a tripod, we can use the minimum ISO, obtaining frames of ideal quality. Instead of a tripod, you can use some supports found on the ground: parapets, curbs, etc. However, such supports will not allow you to securely fix the device, and it will not be possible to accurately frame the frame.

A camera that allows you to shoot in manual modes. Of course, a DSLR camera is best suited for our purposes. I used my favorite Nikon D810: it provides excellent picture quality and is easy to use. The lens I chose for shooting was Nikon 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G ED AF-S Nikkor. It has fairly “wide” focal lengths, moreover, it has surprisingly low weight (compensates for the heavy “carcass”) and excellent picture quality. However, you can use any device on which you can adjust the exposure yourself. I usually use M mode when shooting at night: in city night conditions, automatic exposure metering will not always work accurately. But you can also try shooting in semi-automatic modes, for example in shutter priority mode - “S”. Why “S”? Why is endurance so important? I'll talk about this below.

How to set up your camera for night photography?

When photographing cities at night, it is important to pay attention to each shooting parameter. ISO should be minimal. Most cameras have a minimum light sensitivity of ISO 100.

The most interesting with creative point In view, the exposure parameter is shutter speed. You can “play” with it when shooting. I set the shutter speed to 30 seconds so that the cars passing under the bridge would blur into traffic, leaving only headlight marks behind. Such long red and white lines look good in the picture and emphasize the dynamics. By the way, here again the minimum ISO will be useful to us: it will allow us to properly lengthen the shutter speed.

Let's look at some more examples taken at different shutter speeds and ISO.

So, we sorted out photosensitivity and shutter speed. What to do with the diaphragm? Most likely, in order to take a long enough shutter speed, you will have to close the aperture. In addition, it is useful to close the aperture if the photo contains some foreground close to the camera. Then a closed aperture will help increase the depth of field and make both the foreground and background sharp. For beginners, we can advise you to put the aperture under automatic control, shooting in S mode. In order to simplify your task. Please note: to avoid shaking the camera on the tripod when you press the shutter button, it is best to set up a timer release. You can also use the remote control.

White balance when shooting at night should be adjusted based on what lights illuminate your landscape. Most likely, these will be flashlights with yellow light. Then you should use the “incandescent lamp” preset. However, you may also come across “green” lanterns with fluorescent lamps. And even better - immediately shoot in RAW and bring the white balance to ideal during processing without any loss in image quality.

Sleepless summer nights are just around the corner, which means...

Photographing in the dark is quite difficult. The fact is that with the onset of twilight the lighting gradually weakens and the world starts to look monochrome. Plus, the sky takes on an almost black tint. But here, however, it should be noted that the halftones and shades of the surrounding world do not disappear anywhere. The reason for this lies in the fact that our eye simply cannot catch these halftones. But the matrix digital camera or photographic film, this is quite accessible and possible. Only for this they need a certain amount of exposure time. And if you shoot in the dark correctly, it is quite possible to get wonderful shots that reflect pictures of nature, illuminated by the dim light of the night sky.

Of course, it is clear that on a clear night with a full moon, the level of illumination will be more significant than on a moonless or cloudy night. The appearance of a night star in the sky has exactly the same effect on exposure as the light of the sun during the day. One could even say that there is practically no difference in lighting between day and night, except perhaps in the intensity of lighting. And if, when shooting, you set the camera to correct value shutter speed and aperture, sometimes it will be impossible to distinguish a frame taken during the day from a frame taken at night. Perhaps the only signs of a night shot may be tree crowns blurred by the wind and elongated traces of the movement of stars in the sky caused by the rotation of the Earth.

Most of the time when shooting outdoors at night, success can be achieved through trial and error. You can, for example, use various shooting modes that are provided by the design of your camera, or you can change the exposure yourself, manually set the shutter speed and aperture. Some SLR Cameras can operate at fairly long shutter speeds, which will allow you to take very good pictures at night. Many cameras have a special night shooting mode, you can shoot using it. And if you are not satisfied with any of the above, set the manual shutter speed “B” on the device and then you can open the shutter for at least an hour... If on a moonless night with a shutter speed of 1 hour, with an aperture of f / 8 and an ISO value of 100 units, you photograph a landscape - it it will look absolutely great. And during a full moon under the same conditions, the illumination increases 2-4 times or more, which means the exposure must be selected accordingly. The aperture, for example, can be closed down to f/11 or even f/16. Naturally, these recommendations should be considered only approximate; this is like a starting point from which you can begin to understand night photography at long exposures. It is unlikely that you will succeed the first time. You should be prepared to return to filming the next night. Or you can continue shooting that same night with different parameters and various modes. And in general, always do as many takes as possible! You can bracket by changing, for example, the aperture value, but leave the shutter speed unchanged. Or vice versa.

You can shoot any landscape at night. For example, landscapes with big amount water. Long exposure turns water moving in a river or lake into shiny and beautiful silk, into soft snow. In a night shot, tree branches or grass, which are in constant oscillatory motion due to the breeze, will also be interesting.

For night shooting on location, you need to arrive in advance, and daylight Take a good look at the landscape you intend to photograph. Before it gets dark and while the image can still be viewed through the viewfinder, you need to roughly construct the composition of the future frame, determine its boundaries, check whether the horizon is tilted, and adjust the sharpness. After all, at night, in the dark, it will be much more difficult to do this. It’s good to have a flashlight with you, preferably a strong enough one. With it, you can view the various control buttons on your camera. A flashlight will also help you navigate in the dark and find your way home after finishing shooting. And get home safely.

The first thing a novice photographer is advised to do is stick to daytime hours for photography. When shooting during daylight hours, it is always easier to understand how the basic principles of photography work. At the same time, you should not break the rules that have been proven over the years, on which more than one generation of experienced photographers has grown up. One of the recommendations is: shoot during the “golden hour”, when the sun is not high above the horizon and the emanating light gives the most soft lighting and forms the most beautiful of all possible shadows. But there is still a time when the light is delightful and unusual.

If you are overtaken by thoughts that it’s time to take the next step, or you just want to try something new, we suggest taking up photography in the evening and at night. Below are some common-sense tips for shooting in the dark that will help you learn new things on your creative path.

• It would be ideal if you have one in your arsenal. Today, manufacturing companies bring countless tripod models to the market. Each is designed for its own purposes. Of course, it is preferable to buy an accessory from a reliable manufacturer that meets all the requirements.

We have already written in detail about what features you should pay attention to first when choosing a tripod in the material: “”. For a user starting to master the intricacies of photography, it is preferable to opt for a stable, but not heavy, tripod model that is easy to install and carry from place to place.

In low light conditions, the presence of a tripod will allow you to use long exposures and get a clear, blur-free image. The user will not need to “hold his breath” when pressing the camera shutter. Placing the camera on a tripod will allow you to enjoy shooting even in unfavorable light conditions.

• No flash needed. To shoot evening landscapes, it must be said frankly that it will be completely useless. That's why feel free to turn it off. Those who already confidently use it in their creativity and feel like an advanced photographer (which, in general, is not far from the truth), can safely lighten their traveling photo backpack and forget the flash at home.

Control over the final image will have to be done manually. If you have difficulty manually adjusting the camera, use creative modes: shutter priority or aperture priority. With their help, you will have to change one of the parameters, the second one will be automatically set correctly by the system itself.

If for some reason you still doubt whether to go photograph evening landscapes, remember the famous expression that before you say “no,” you first need to try.

Remember, especially if you are new to digital photography, when it doesn’t work the first time you need to try the second and third. Pour and sweat over your evening shots, then you will achieve results. Sooner or later. Do you feel sorry for memory cards? Train!