Night and Low Light Photography

TeacherPaul Ti ll

Course Outcomes

✦1. Pre-visualize a photograph with multiple light sources at night after learning, from their own experience gained during the field trips, what does and doesn’t work with night photography.

Course Outcomes

✦2. Choose exciting locations based on their gained knowledge of the vast subject matter suitable for night work.

✦3. Use photographic equipment at night with confidence.

Course Outcomes

✦4. Work with fundamental night flash techniques such as rear curtain and slow exposure flash

✦5. Choose the proper ISO, exposure time, and aperture to create the image of choice, leading to an individual style and working method.

Course Outcomes

✦6. Understand their toolbox and what is available to help them for night and low light photography eg Image Stabilization and the very high ISO ratings available. Be able to make appropriate equipment choices based on knowing the state of the art as it stand right now.

How is night different from day

✦Less Light✦Different directions of light✦Mixed light (different colours)✦And perhaps most important

of all…

HIGH CONTRAST

✦Often (but not always)✦Brighter highlights✦Darker shadows✦Light sources in photo

So less light means

✦Slower shutter speeds (keep those hands steady)

✦Wider apertures (careful you’ve got it in focus)

✦Higher ISOs (could be lots of noise and sometimes it’s not as nice as film grain)

Shutter Speeds

The briefer the exposure the less the..

✦ blurring from subject motion and

✦the blurring from our shakey hands

The longer the focal length of the lens

✦The more problem our shakey hands cause

Hand held exposures

✦ For Dx sensors1/(focal legnthX1.5)=exposure timeExample 1/(200mmX1.5)=1/300

second For full frame sensors1/focal legnth)=exposure timeExample 1/200mm=1/200 second

But VR (vubration reduction)

✦Will allow you to hand hold for 2-4 times as long✦For a full frame camera with a

200mm lens 1/100 sec to 1/50sec

✦Doesn’t do a thing for subject motion

Stopping Motion

✦ 1/10000 will stop streaming water into individual drops

✦ 1/8000 will stop most any motion

✦ 1/4000 high enough speed to take pictures while walking/ and freeze baseballs ie. 90mph

✦ 1/2000 will stop most motion

✦ 1/1000 will stop bicyclists and runners

✦ 1/500 will freeze a person jumping in the air ie. basketball

✦ 1/250 will stop some motion

Stopping Motion

✦ A good guide but it depends on how close to you are to the object.

✦ The closer it is the faster it goes✦ (It’s about degrees per second not

k.p.h.)

Techniques for holding camera steady.

✦ Stop✦ Hold camera with both hands✦ Breath out and squeeze the shutter

release✦ Brace hands and body against solid

object✦ Put camera against solid object✦ A tripod

Surpise Quiz

✦ The faster some thing goes

✦ The longer the shutter speed(slow shutter speed)

✦ The shorter the shutter speed(fast shutter speed)

F stops start making sense

✦ F stops✦ Are fractions.✦ f 2 is really1/2 and f4 is really 1/4 ✦ That’s why f 4 is a smaller hole than f 2✦ But the bigger the number the bigger

the depth of field

ISO

✦ 400 ISO is twice as sensitive as 200 ISO

✦ But the bigger the ISO the bigger the noise

✦ And the less the resolution

So different colours of light mean

✦ Do I set the colour temperature or let the camera do it’s auto thing

✦ The colour is probably going to be weird in a part of the picture

✦ Maybe I can fix it in the computer….

✦ There is a answer but first

High contrast means

✦Might clip the highlights(do it as little as you can really just for bright lights in the picture)

✦I think it’s better to clip the shadows(we’re used to not seeing really dark things)

Expose for the highlights

✦Check the histogram

✦And

SHOOT RAW

✦Keeps every bit of goodness the sensor caught

and

And

✦ And bracket

✦ If it’s a static subject we can do a HDR (high dynamic range) photo- a photograph which is made up of the two or more different exposures of the same subject.

What do we photograph at night

✦ Well um, night

✦ The way things look at night (maybe things we don’t usually think of as night photography subjects-flowers, swimming pools, birds, statues, parks, supermarkets, rain, thunderstorms, ice cream (my daughter Alice’s idea)

Things we make happen at night

Light trails, light painting, multiple flash, long exposures, the motion of things

And things that mostly happen at night

✦Live concerts✦Buskers✦Sports✦CNE and Theme parks✦Neon✦Restuarants and Clubs

Night of Dread

✦The annual Hallowe’en parade from Dufferin Grove Park

Winter Panoramas

Illustrating some very mixed light sources

Live Music

✦Illustrating the challenges and charms of different venues