The keys to Nightscape photography and capturing that perfect image

Hello everyone,

My name is Arturo Gonzalez and I live in the Chicago land area. I started getting into photography in 2010 and have found nightscapes to be my favorite. Photography at night is pretty tricky due to the lack of light available. If you have a quality DSLR/lens and a tripod, you have the tools to capture great night pictures.

I currently own a Nikon D750 and utilize a number of lenses {Tamron 24-70, 70-200, Nikon DX 18-140]. Ideally, you'll want to have lenses where the aperture can go to 1.8 [prime lens] or to 2.8. Even if you have a regular lens where the aperture only goes down to 3.5-5.6 range, you can still get quality images:

The following is a high level approach to taking night pictures [example - downtown skyscrapers]. I hope to offer a more detailed approach in the future:

When you buy a lens, make sure it allows for manual focusing. Auto focus does not work well at night.
Set the shooting mode to Manual on your camera.
Set the aperture to lowest setting possible [1.8, 2.8, or 3.5 -5.6].
Turn off auto focus. Set it to manual and manually focus the lens on the subject you want to take the picture of.
Set the ISO to 100 for now.
Set the exposure to 5 seconds.
Place the camera on a tripod or steady surface.
It is ideal to have a remote control for the shutter or a release cable. Having these tools will greatly reduce the risk of shaking the camera. A shake will create a blur effect.
When you are ready, hit the button on the remote or release cable.

If the picture is too dark, then increase the exposure. Set it to 8 seconds and try again. If the picture is blown up with too much light, lower the exposure to 3 seconds. Here is where you learn about the importance of exposure. Certain conditions require more exposure time and some less.

I hope this brief tutorial has been helpful and informative. You can check out my work at the following sites:

https://www.instagram.com/thekoolaidman/?hl=en

https://arturogonzalez.smugmug.com/

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dwinblood (73) · 8 years ago

You'll get a ton more votes if you include images in your post. As a photographer if you can include photos and write things about them that personalize the experience and what the photos mean to you it seems those are the ones that get the best response.

Welcome to steemit and if you start slow... stick with it. Do what you love, and would be doing anyway, and be happy when you also manage to get some payment for it.

I'm up voting you. You can edit your post within the first 12 hours it is on the site. The sooner you can add some images the better it is likely to do. :)

$0.00

1 vote

thekoolaidman (36) · 8 years ago

Thanks for the reply. I just joined today and still have a lot to learn. Once I figure out how to post a pic, I'll certainly upload them.

Already seems to be working. I post a lot and most my posts make less than $1. Not bad you're at over $1 in less than an hour. If you don't make a ton... keep at it.

justyna (57) · 8 years ago

Will take in your advice especially about personalizing the experiance!

fooblic (56) · 8 years ago

I usually follow to these points. Also I set white balance to "sun" mode to get colored lights and play with expo-correction.

Thanks for detailed tips on the topic.

You are very welcome.

dexter-k (67) · 8 years ago

Great post and really good advice for the aspiring night photographer. Great results by the way on yours :)

Thank you.