Photography Cheat Sheet: Basic Night Photography Tips

Been wanting to shoot at night but have no idea how to get the best results? Today’s photography cheat sheet has a bunch of basic tips to get you started.

Night photography is one of the most challenging genres to get into, especially for those new to it. It can be a struggle to shoot in the low light, let alone get the settings right without resorting to your camera’s auto modes. But, today’s photography cheat sheet should give you a hand with some tips for various kinds of situations you’ll find yourself shooting in at night.

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Helpful Insights on Shooting Night Photography Using Film

Planning to do some night photography around your city with film? You may learn a thing or two from this video to increase your chances of getting great results. 

Film is not dead, but it’s not for the faint of heart either. Compared to digital, it’s not an easy medium to work with and it can be especially unforgiving in low light. That’s why you have to plan ahead if you want to do night photography on film. Before you hit the streets, we suggest watching this quick video by Analog Insights for some tips on how to get the best results. In one of their old videos, Max and Jules of the Analog Insights channel set out to find out how to make long exposures at night using film. Turns out it’s not as simple as using high ISO films or wide apertures and slower shutter speeds. They also had to take the Schwarzschild Effect (Reciprocity Failure) into consideration. We’ll get into the details of that later, but first, let’s watch how their shoot went.

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Photography Cheat Sheet: Memorize These Night Photography Settings

There’s more to night photography than shooting star trails or Milky Way photos. This photography cheat sheet will serve as a quick guide for shooting various situations at night.

Thinking of exploring your town tonight for some interesting street stuff to photograph? Night photography comes with its own set of challenges, especially since you’re often forced to work in low light. You’ll also need to adjust your camera settings for every subject or shooting situation. That can be laborious if you’re still getting acquainted with your camera, not yet used to shooting at night. Fortunately, we have a photography cheat sheet ready to help you figure your settings out.

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The Secret Weapon for Night Photography Is This Filter

Photography at night can bring mystery, viewer curiosity, and (when done right) rich color to your work.

It’s common knowledge that at night you should have a tripod and cable release at a minimum, but there’s one tool that’s considered a secret weapon among successful night photographers and that’s an intensifier filter. An intensifier filter (AKA red intensifier, light pollution killer and the technical name “didymium”) is a tool every photographer needs to have in their kit. Basically, the intensifier works by targeting the light emitted by common street lamps and dramatically reduces the muddy yellow glow as the light passes through the filter. What you end up with is a clean RAW file with rich color, and increased contrast and sharpness.

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Shooting Night Photography with Kodak Portra: Things to Consider

Doing night photography or shooting in low light is pretty easy when you’re using digital gear, but it’s certainly more challenging to do when you choose to work with film. Going blind and shooting unprepared with a film camera has been the source of frustration for many who are just getting into it. The good news is, you don’t have to.

With tons of learning resources that you can now find online, you can save yourself the heartache of badly shot night photos and wasted films. One such example is UK-based film photography website Negative Feedback, which feeds your curiosity about shooting film through their short videos. Continue reading…

Night Photography – 12 Essential Techniques

This is a syndicated blog post from Sebastian Boatco. It and the images here are being used with permission.

I often discuss with my friends about the tips and tricks in all kind of photography fields. It is good to share your knowledge within a group of photographers. “Let the envy go away and act like a true member of a growing family of photographers”, I say. Each one has its own vision and original concepts and it is very profitable to share some of the techniques you have, based on your own experiences, which most of them were acquired on a trial and error approach. We often make our own mistakes, even if we were taught about them in the first place. It is good to make mistakes in photography – this is the most powerful way to learn, for good, the correct ways.

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Cheap Photo: Night Photography Unlocked with Some Killer Lens Savings

Thursday has been a big day for Fujifilm shooters with the announcement of the X-T2, a new lens roadmap and the upcoming X-Pro2 firmware update. But let’s not forget about what really matters, saving cash on things you can actually buy right now, and today we have a killer highlight deal on night photography education, as well as some new additions to our major deals tracker.

Check it out after the jump…

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Night Photography Essentials: Must-Have and Must-Do

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All images in this post were created by Matt Hill and used with permission.

Have you been intrigued by all of those mind-bending night photography photos? C’Mon. You know you are. Was it the star trails? Was it the fire? Was it the soft, velvety water or the Milky Way galaxy laid out in front of you? If any or all of these are your goal, must first master the fundamentals.

My co-teaching partner, Gabriel Biderman, and I have been teaching night photography workshops for four+ years. I’ve been shooting at night for over 20 years. What keeps bringing me back is the endless possibilities of how you can play with time in a single photographic frame. Much like “the old days” you can do everything in-camera during a single exposure. It’s fascinating to experiment with what is possible and I’ll share more about what I’ve been doing lately after the tutorial and share an opportunity to learn with us at upcoming workshops.

In this primer I’ll cover these areas: Basic Gear & Getting One Good Exposure

Editor’s Note: This is a guest blog post from photographer Matt Hill

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Tips for Shooting Black and White Street Photography at Night

Ever notice how street photography in black and white takes on a different mood at night? Here are some quick tips to help you make the most out of it.

If you’ve only been shooting black and white street photography during the day, there’s actually a lot of dramatic and compelling images you’re missing at night. In a brief video, Vladimir Pcholkin shares his insights on shooting black and white street photography at night, and shares a few simple tips for making the most out of it, should we decide to give it a go.

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Photography Cheat Sheet: How to Shoot Moonlit Landscapes at Night

Been curious about shooting night landscapes but no idea how to achieve the best results? We have the photography cheat sheet just for you!

If shooting landscapes at night sounds challenging, the truth is it really is. Working with limited light will require some advanced techniques, extra efforts, and careful planning, but it will all be worth it. With today’s photography cheat sheet, you’ll be able to add a touch of magic to those scenic shots under the stars.

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Photography Cheat Sheet: Shooting Long Exposures of Night City Scenes

Looking to get extra creative with city scenes at night? You definitely have to check out today’s photography cheat sheet.

Shooting long exposures is one of the popular ways to capture city scenes at night, as it opens up a number of creative possibilities. Among these is including colorful light trails to give photos a more dynamic and energetic feel. If you’re in the mood to get extra creative with your city snaps or simply want to try something new, we have just the right photography cheat sheet to help you snag some cool shots!

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Vlad Tretiak: Nighttime Street Photography in Siberia Shot on Film

All photos by Vlad Tretiak. Used with Creative Commons permission.

We’ve put the spotlight on a fair bit of impressive film photography here, and we’re keen on adding more. If you’re a film photographer looking into keeping the craft alive, we have another series to inspire you. Since 2013, Russian photographer, illustrator, and graphic designer Vlad Tretiak has been shooting his hometown of Kemerovo and its surrounds on film, in both 35mm and 120 formats. His two-part collection is comprised of some moody nighttime scenes made extra dreamy by the nostalgic look of film. Step right up if that sounds like the look you’re going for!

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Shooting Creative Night Fashion Photography with Rear Curtain Sync Flash

In case you’re looking for fun ways to play with rear curtain sync flash mode for your next fashion photography project, this video could give you some ideas.

Thinking of upping your flash game with some creative night photography? Night fashion portraits is certainly one of the fun projects you can do with flash. If you need some ideas, you might want to check out this quick video showing how to achieve cool creative effects using rear curtain sync flash!

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Street Photography Inspiration: Mexico City at Night with the Fujifilm X-T3 and 56mm f1.2

Been thinking of doing some street photography at night? We have plenty of stuff to inspire you, the latest of which is a quick video of a night prowl around Mexico City.

Every city takes on a different character at night, as you’ve probably seen in a number of impressive street photography projects we’ve already shared here. Today, we’re adding yet another to our inspiration bank: a quick photo walk around Mexico City at night with some stunning photos to boot!

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TONIGHT! Kien Quan Talks With Us Live About His Dance Photography

Tune in tonight: Get into the mind of how dance photographer Kien Quan creates his images

Based in New York City, Kien Quan is a commercial/lifestyle photographer specializing in capturing dance and movement. With over 10 years of experience in dance, he seeks to “elevate the imagery of the art form through visual storytelling.” We featured Kien a few years back as he experimented with dance photography and smoke bombs. On July 11th at 5pm EST, The Phoblographer’s Chris Gampat and photographer Kien Quan will sit down at the Adorama Event Space to a studio audience for a live Facebook broadcast. Please join us! You can sign up via Eventbrite right here!

5pm EST on Adorama’s Facebook page and also crossposted to the Phoblographer.

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Photography Tip: Get Extra Creative with Your Night Portraits Using a Glass Prism

A glass prism can make night portrait sessions extra fun, especially if you like the quirky results.

Looking into shaking up your night portraits? Imogen of the WeeklyImogen channel recently talked about road testing the popular glass prism technique for night photography. If the effect that it makes is something you’ve been curious about, this quick video is worth a watch.

After a night workshop, Mark and Imogen began experimenting with a triangular optical glass prism for a night portrait session. Glass prisms come in different sizes, but they employ a slightly longer one because it’s easier to hold and maneuver. To use it, you basically just hold the prism over your lens or at the sides as you focus on your subject. Feel free to move it around your lens to get the light streaks and flares that you want on your photos.

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Manu Grinspan: Colorful Street Photography In Cities at Night

All images and text by Manu Grinspan. Used with permission.

I’m Manu Grinspan, a photographic artist specializing in evocative images of the living world and best known for my ‘unique-in-style’ color photography. Born in Belgium, I moved to Israel in 1996 and started to discover my passion for photography. Within a short time, I started my life as an international traveling street photographer. My photographs of people and street reveal a compassionate understanding of my subjects and my unique photographic touch.

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Useful Photography Tip #174: How to Make a Scene Shot During the Day Look Like Night

Want more Useful Photography Tips? Click here.

I’m going to let you in on some knowledge that cinematographers have known for years, but that photographers have greatly underutilized for a while–and it has to do with a simple white balance trick. The situation: let’s say you’re shooting a scene during the day or maybe sometime at dusk but you’re trying to make it look like a scene shot at night. Sometimes that’s very tough to do and at other times you simply just don’t have the time to go shooting at night.

This is a longer Useful Photography Tip, so I implore you to hit the jump for more.

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Ian Knight: International Street Photography and Zooming With Your Legs

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All images by Ian Robert Knight. Used with permission.

Photographer Ian Knight has travelled around to many places in Asia and as a trained portraitist, combined photographing people with the art of documenting the everyday occurrences around us. While street photography isn’t tough enough for many, it becomes even tougher when you put language barriers on you and not always knowing what areas you should be in. But Ian adapts, and shares with us some of his best advice when it comes to shooting street images internationally.

One of his best points: zoom with your feet.

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Getting Started in Street Photography at Night

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It would be wonderful if we had the best possible light for each shot at any time of day. For better or worse, the golden hour is just that–a period of beautiful light that happens once before dusk and once after dawn, providing there are ideal conditions. There will be occasions when you’re photographing at night, when you’ll only have street lights, neon signs, headlights and similarly limited light sources. It can be somewhat daunting, but here are some tips for photographing at night. Continue reading…