Northern Lights (Aurora) Photo Tours and Workshops in Alaska
Night Photography Tips: 8 essential tips
Are you afraid of the dark? Is sunrise to sunset enough time to satisfy you desire to photograph? Who needs sleep anyway? Photographing at night is a lot of fun and will add some adventure to your photography.
Here are some tips to improve your night photography.
Plan your locations in advance. You don’t want to trip over a cactus when you are photographing at night. Find the most interesting subjects. Is the area you shooting dark enough? Is there light pollution? What direction is the moon? What cycle is the moon at? Find some interesting foreground elements to include in your photo while you still have enough light to see where you’re walking. Just this little bit of extra planning will make a big difference in your photos. . Lunar and planetary motions are important.
Be aware of the moon: A bright moon with illuminate the foreground but make it harder to see things like the northern lights, stars and the Milky Way. Because stars appear the brightest when there is a new moon or the moon has yet to rise, photographers must make a tradeoff: no moonlight might mean better star trails, but you won’t get much illumination on the landscape. Great night photographers have a solid understanding of what the moon and stars are up to at any given time during the year
There is a app for that. There are several great apps on smart phones that will help you predict things like Aurora Forecasts, Placement and the cycle of the moon, Light pollutions levels, direction of the sun and the moon, sun and moon rise and set times, etc.
Practice during the day. Are you able to connect your cable release, set your shutter speed, aperture etc.
Shoot Raw. Raw retains the best quality. It allows you to change the White Balance and brighten or darken your exposure.
Dial Up the ISO: The single greatest photographic advance for shooting the night sky has been the breathtaking advance in camera low-light sensitivity. The higher the ISO the more noise. Newer cameras can handle a higher ISO (especially ones with full frame sensors).
Use a good tripod. Night photography requires long exposures so a steady tripod is critical. Longer exposures make it much easier to blur photos.
If you would like to join us for an adventure of a lifetime. Please visit our website for a list of upcoming instructional photo tours and workshops.
http://www.sphotography.com
Email: jtslonina@aol.com
Phone: (508) 736-1167