How to take photos at night

In this article I will cover a couple of techniques on how to take photos at night. This includes:

• How to take photos in low light
• How to take photos with both the subject and the background brightly illuminated
• How to take photos of moving objects (traffic lights at night)
• How to take photos of lights (the bokeh effect)

In this post I have used the following equipment:

• Cannon 1000D DLSR
• Canon 18-55mm Kit lens
• 70-300mm Tamron lens
• Joby Gorilla Tripod
• Simpex 1200 standard tripod

Please note that the aperture has been opened up completely for all the photos, mostly f/5.6.

How to photograph traffic at night

When dealing with moving objects in low light, you need a tripod or a flat surface to place the camera. You can use this technique in various situations, e.g. photographing traffic, ferris wheels, merry-go-rounds, camp fires, fireworks etc.

1. Close the aperture to a minimum, ideally f/22 or less. This ensures that a longer shutter speed is required to take the photo and that the scene uses a larger depth of field.
2. Set an appropriate ISO (I recommend the ISO be at a minimum)
   If you set an ISO of 100, the streak of light from the cars will be thin. Alternatively, if you set the ISO to higher values, the streak from the car will be thicker. However, setting a very high ISO may result in a grainy picture and create interference from other lights.
3. Set an appropriate shutter speed. If you are taking pictures of many cars (for example, on a highway), it is advisable to use longer shutter speeds. This will provide streaks of lights from multiple sources.
4. Take the photo.

You can use the same technique while capturing revolutions of ferris wheels as demonstrated below. When capturing fireworks, you can use a slightly higher ISO because you need the effect of the firework.

How to create the ‘Bokeh’ effect

For a Bokeh effect, do the following:

1. Use a zoom lens
2. Focus on an array of lights.
3. Set the camera to manual focus.
4. Change the focus until you get the desired effect.

How to take photos in low light

Generally a camera will be able to focus at night by throwing out strobe flashes into the surrounding area, however there are certain times when your camera refuses to focus in low light. This is because the light on the subject is insufficient. What people often do in this situation is shift the focus to manual and hope for the best.

Here is another way to focus correctly:

1. Position the subject at the desired distance and make sure the flash is closed.
2. Using program mode, set the focus to auto and set the exposure to 0 with a low ISO.
3. Ask the person to hold out a source of light (I normally ask them to hold out a cell phone or a lighter).
4. Half click the shutter release button. The auto focus sets the right focal length.
5. Let go of the button, then either shift the focus to manual or use the Auto Focus Lock button (this ensures that the focus does not change when you next click).
6. Make sure that neither the person nor you change position. (Also, ask the person to put away their cell phone!)
7. Open the flash and take the photo.

How to take photos with both the subject and the background brightly lit

Slow Sync Flash (Foreground is in focus)

It is night time and two of my friends are standing outside a greenhouse in Lalbagh, Bangalore. I want to take a picture of them with the greenhouse in the background. If I just use the flash, chances are that they will come out sharp and in focus, however, the greenhouse will not glow to its full potential.

I recommend that you use a tripod for these kinds of shots with ISO set to 100-200. However, if you don’t have a tripod or flat surface immediately available, you could bump up the ISO to 800 or above, it will increase the grain in the image, however should provide a relatively sharp photo.

1. Make sure that the subjects in the photo are in the correct position.
2. Set up the tripod about 5 feet away.
3. Switch to shutter priority mode.
4. Set the shutter speed to match 0 stop exposure.
5. Note that depending on how low the light is, the shutter speed can be set from 1/10th of a second to 10 seconds.
6. Open up the flash.
7. Click.

About the author

My love for photography started 5 years ago with a 2 MP pixel Kodak camera. A Sony super zoomer, a Canon 1000D, and 90,000 photos later, my journey has just started. I am not inclined to any specific genre of photography. With my photographs, I aim to share the world as I see it.