Tutoral for Night Photography

Use a tripod and cable release

• Shooting at night often means longer exposures, or timed exposures, and that means shooting with a tripod to minimize camera shake from the longer exposures. Some photographers prefer a monopod, which allows the photographer to hold the camera steady with one hand on the monopod, but a tripod gives greater flexibility. Using a cable release will further minimize camera shake by triggering the shutter remotely.

ISO

• ISO is a holdover term from the days of film cameras. Photographers selected film of different speeds. ISO is the International Standards for Organization. This organization set a standard so that every time film speed is doubled, the film's sensitivity to light is double. So a film labeled ISO 200 was twice as sensitive to light as film labeled ISO 100. ISO is used in digital photography the same way, except that it increases the digital sensor's sensitivity to light. Higher ISO speeds result in grainier images, but using higher ISO speeds, such as 1600, can bring out more background detail in night shots. The choice of ISO will affect the choice of shutter speeds; lower ISOs can be used, but the exposure must be longer.

Lens Aperture

• With a digital SLR, the aperture on the lens can also be used effectively at night. Aperture controls depth of field in a shot, or how much of the photograph is in focus from front to back. Aperture also controls how much light the lens lets in. The lower the aperture, the more light hits the sensor and the shallower the depth of field. Some point-and-shoot cameras also will allow the photographer to set the aperture. Balance the aperture setting between light and depth of field. Shutter speeds must change with aperture settings to get the same exposure. If you take away two stops on aperture, you can increase the shutter speed two stops to get the same exposure.