photography

Night Photography: How to Take Great Pictures in the Dark

Photographs taken at night produce beautiful images. I have to admit that I when I first started getting serious about photography I was too scared to come out at night! It seemed overwhelming with too many variables. But the truth is it's no less overwhelming than shooting during the day.

Night Shot: My Son Window Gazing

Whether you are taking pictures of the holiday lights throughout the neighborhood or photographs of the city's night skyline, there is definitely something magical about night shots. In order to snap quality images after dark, it is important to understand the role of camera settings, as well as how to set up shots in order to ensure the lighting is spot on and your shots are steady. Here are some basic tips that I've started using that will allow you to shoot quality night time images each and every time.

Camera Mode

Images that appear too dark are the result of the camera's mode. When a camera is in automatic mode, the camera will often automatically use a setting that is much too dark, which result in a dark photo. This is quite common when taking photos of holiday lights, and the end result tends to be a darkened photograph where the only images that stand out are the outline of the lights. This takes away from the additional subjects in the photo, which often include home exteriors and outdoor trees. This can easily be adjusted for any type of night time photography where outdoor lighting is prevalent by setting the camera mode to manual mode, and then choosing the a shutter speed of at least 1 second in order to capture the lights.

Keep the Camera Steady

When photographing in the dark, if your camera experiences any kind of vibration when shooting the photos, you risk light trails and flashes appearing in your photographs. You can ensure the steadiness of your camera by setting up a tripod, but if you are simply taking photos on the fly you may not have a tripod handy. If that is the case, simply use your camera's self timer and back away a bit when taking your shot. I've even rested my camera on a stone wall or fence to get a better shot. But I wouldn't even think of taking night shots without a tripod. 

Check Your Focus

If your camera is having trouble focusing in the dark, this can easily be remedied by switching the camera lens settings to manual, and then keep the camera focused on the lights in the scene. If the lights are far away, you will want to set the camera lens to the infinity setting.

Perfect Night Shots

You never know what can happen at night, which makes city streets, parks, and even suburban neighborhood a wonderful canvas for photographers. By knowing the basics when it comes to camera settings and planning your shots, you can produce some truly amazing night images. Spend some time playing with Manual Mode and don't be scared of it, it could become your favorite setting. 

 

Using the Drobo mini for Travel Photography

I'm getting ready for a big photography trip to New Zealand in February. I needed a great way to back up and store the hundreds of RAW photos I plan to shoot. Enter the Drobo mini. 

Drobo mini

I've been a Drobo user for years and I was anxious to get my hands on their brand-new portable 'mini'. It sports 4 ports for small SSD drives, lightening connectors and USB 3.0 for super fast data transfers, and a polycarbonate durable case that makes it a pleasure to hold and put in a bag.

Here's a set up video I put together showing the unboxing and software installation. I also show you how freaking fast the photo transfer speeds are from the desktop to the mini using the Lightening port. 

A short video that walks you through the set up process of the new Drobo Mini. It's a great device for photographers. To learn more about using this set up for photographers please visit www.photographybegins.com

Using the iPhone 5 Camera

his weekend we took our annual Fall apple picking trip to a local farm. I took a handful of pictures with my brand new iPhone 5.

he first thing I noticed is how much faster the camera loads during those impromptu moments  when my son is climbing on something. Apple says it opens 40% faster. I didn't have my abacus with me for calculations but I can say there's almost no lag in launching the app.

The second thing I noticed was color vibrance. This camera definitely has a richer color cast and everything looked more vibrant without looking overly saturated.

Here's an unprocessed gallery.