Night time for many photographers means hours behind the computer, eyelids getting heavy, as they edit image after image. Other photographers may take advantage of the night hours to sit behind their laptop after a long day in the office, vigorously taking notes as they watch tutorial after tutorial on YouTube. But few will argue that the best nights spent as a photographer are those out in the field. For me, personally, there is a peaceful feeling that takes over when I'm out in the darkness with my camera, whether I'm near the city or in the mountains. Everything seems to quiet and slow down as the harsh light from the sun sets...even the shutter speed.
As the shadows darken and lights and colors appear, there is no longer that feeling of urgency; including that urgency to work in fractions of a second. At night, I feel I can slow down not only in life, but in the process of creating images. Most of these images posted were 15-30 second exposures, with many minutes in between exposures while I purposefully planned the next shot. It's crazy how long 30 seconds feel when the pace of life seems to have slowed down. It also helps that typical night subjects aren't other people with their own sense of urgency.
My favorite night photography experiences are those in the middle of nowhere, under dark skies blanketed with stars. Finding the darkest skies requires getting away from the masses, often off the grid. I truly believe everyone could benefit from that type of pause in life. Some imagine it to be scary, but it is the complete opposite (minus an occasional animal scare). However, if you prefer not to go out alone, look into a local photo club. We hold a variety of night outings throughout the year and it's just as amazing (and often more entertaining) with a group of friends who share the same passion and relate to the idea of sitting under the stars for hours pressing a button. We always have a great time inspiring each other with new techniques and sharing our excitement when we get a keeper. All the pictures in the gallery below were taken with our meetup.com group. It is hard to beat time under the stars with friends capturing these type of images! Throw in a campfire, a few beers and call it a star party!
This post was created with the intent to inspire some night photography, but I will also leave you with these 5 super-quick tips for night photography:
1. Use a tripod.
2. Go with a group of friends.
3. For city skyline images start with a low ISO (100), small aperture (f22), and slow shutter speed (15-30 seconds).
4. For star images start with a high ISO (1600), large aperture (f2.8) and slow shutter (15-30 seconds).
5. Manually focus.
These are good settings to start with however, since no 2 scenes are the same, you will likely need to make some adjustments.
Mary Heern, Exploretographer
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