Main Street - Downtown, Houston, Texas
Nikon D3300 | 35mm | ISO 400 | f/1.8 | 1/80sec (hand held, HDR)
What is it about the city that makes it so captivating? The cloud tickling skyscrapers? The vibrant lights? The fast moving culture within it? No one knows for sure, but we know one thing....it definitely makes for some really amazing photos. For all you who are wanting to know how to capture these urban treasures with you camera, you've come to the right place...hopefully :). Anyhow I'm gonna give you a few tips on what I do to get good results from shooting the city at night. Now I will say this, I am by no means a professional, but the techniques that I use work for me. There's no one way to achieve the results you are looking for as there are various ways to please your aesthetic tastes. So let's get started shall we?
Main Street Market - Downtown Houston, Texas
Nikon D3300 | 35mm | ISO 400 | f/1.8 | 1/40sec (hand held, HDR)
Equipment
First lets talk about what you'll need. Besides your camera you will need a couple of things to accompany it to get really good night shots.
A Really Good Lens:
You'll definitely need some good glass to pull off some nice sharp shots. I recommend a nice zoom lens. I have a 18-55mm lens that allows me to zoom in and out to catch really wide shots of skylines and intersections on the ground. If you want to use a prime lens I would recommend a good 50mm if you're using a full frame camera or a 28mm or 35mm if you're using a cropped sensor DSLR. The advantage of the prime lens is that you get to use a wider aperture with allows more light to reach your sensor if you're not using a tripod (which is the next piece of equipment on this list)
Tripod
This item is almost vital to getting really good shots at night. A nice sturdy tripod can make a world of a difference in the results you're looking for. It's purpose is to prevent camera shake when shooting so that your photos won't have blur in them. If you don't have a tripod, try to find a nice flat surface to keep your camera still when shooting, otherwise you'll have to hand hold and try to keep still. But don't worry, I'll give you some info on hand holding the camera as well; however, a tripod is strongly recommended as it will definitely yield the best results.
Remote Shutter
This item isn't necessarily required, but recommended. It's the cherry on top, the icing on the cake. It just gives that extra "umph" with trying to get the job done. When your camera is sitting on your tripod, the remote shutter really helps because you're not touching the camera when releasing the shutter. This my friend, really, really, REALLY prevents camera shake, which in turn produces a crystal clear image. If you have about $30 bucks laying around, it would definitely make for a good investment. Now that you have all your equipment, let's discuss camera settings...
Avenida Houston District - Downtown Houston, Texas
Nikon D3300 | 35mm | ISO 100 | f/8 | 0.4 sec (tripod, HDR)
Camera Settings
Ok, so now here's how my camera is setup when I'm on my urban ventures in the city. These settings are for if you're shooting in full manual mode. Keep in mind that every camera is different, so fine tune as you need.
ISO
So your ISO is basically your camera's sensitivity to light. The higher your ISO, the more your camera can see in the dark. It's kinda like when your pupils are dilated when you visit the optometrist and everything is super bright....yea, same concept. Anyhow, these are the ISO settings that I use.
* Use ISO 100 if you're using a tripod or your camera is on a flat surface - You almost always want to try to shoot at this ISO at all times because it creates the sharpest picture, and having a tripod will definitely allow that. Of course, this will also require a slower shutter speed (which is later in this tutorial) Hence, why the tripod and/or remote shutter are neccessary.
* Use ISO 400 if you're hand holding - if you can go lower than this, go for it but try not to go any higher than this. The reason I say that is because, although a higher ISO allows the camera to "see" in the dark, it also introduces noise (a grainy effect) to the image. Unless you're into a more gritty shot, try not to go too high on this setting.
Aperture
You're aperture is basically how you focus in on your shot. You'll see this setting on your camera as the "F-Stop" number (example: f/5 or f/1.8, etc.) The bigger the number, the smaller you're aperture and vice versa (example f/5 will be smaller than f/1.8). Think of the aperature as your pupil, when you're in the dark, it's opened wider so that you can see, if you're in the light, it tightens so that too much light can't get in and blind the crap out of you. Here are the aperture settings that I use.
*Use between f/5 and f/8 on a tripod or flat surface - This will allow you to focus in sharply on your shot since cityscapes and skyline shots are so wide. It can keep everything in focus without losing much detail. Once again, you will be using a slower shutter speed, but it's worth it. I wouldn't go much further than f/8 unless you're trying to focus in on something super far out in the distance from you, which isn't the case...MOST of the time
*Use between f/1.8 and f/4 if hand holding - This setting lets in just a little more light so that you can get a much more clear shot. The depth of field will be a little more shallow than the settings for a tripod, but for wider shots, you really won't be able to see the difference.
Shutter Speed
Now this setting is really important because, it's what controls how long the shutter is open when getting your shot. The slower the brighter, the faster the darker. Here's what I use.
*Use between 8 and 15 secs on a tripod/flat surface - This can get tricky depending on how much natural light is in the area where you are shooting so you'll have to test it, but this should be a pretty good basis to experiment with. These are nice long and slow speeds, so be sure that any traffic or people aren't getting in the way of your shot, unless you like light trails and ghosting effects (which I personally DO like in my shots)
*Use between 1/40 and 1/100 sec if hand holding - Once again, you'll have to use your judgement with this as this could vary from camera to camera, as well as your location. These are much quicker speeds which will aid in the prevention of blur from camera shake. So now that you have your camera settings, let's talk about a couple of other things that could help.
Enchanted Prominade -Discovery Green, Downtown Houston, Texas
Nikon D3300 | 35mm | ISO 100 | f/5.6 | 0.5 sec (tripod, HDR)
Extra Stuff
So here's a couple of things you can also do to help create amazing night photos.
* Shoot in RAW - This will allow you to go back and adjust certain attributes in your photo after you've brought them home and started working on them in image editing software such as Adobe Photoshop or Light Room
* Use Image Editing Software - As mentioned before, applications such as Photoshop and Light Room are great tools to make any changes to the photo to get it exactly where you want it.
* Shoot Using Full Manual Mode - It's a bit of a challenge but totally beneficial. Full Manual Mode allows you to control your camera to pull of the shot YOU want, NOT the shot IT wants.
* High Dynamic Range - HDR processing really brings out the best in your night photos. There are several tutorials out there on Google and YouTube that can assist you on how to pull it off.
* BE SAFE - This is the most important thing of all. Although the big city is beautiful in all it's luminous glory, there are a lot of wierdos out there at night. Please be sure to try to stay in areas that are well lit and near crowds. Also if possible, try to have a friend go along with you so that you're not alone....and if all that fails, your tripod can make for a great weapon lol. Seriously, I don't want to advocate violence, so please make sure your safety comes first.
I surely hope that this helps you on your venture. Again, this is how I work, and maybe it can help you, maybe not; but if you DO happen to like this tutorial, please be sure to like and share on your various social media platforms, blogs or where ever and don't forget to follow me either.
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