| Twilight is a magical time. | | | | Making your camera's CCD or CMOS more |
| Just because the Sun is down, doesn't mean you | | | | sensitive to light makes it easier for you to get a |
| should put away your camera. | | | | light reading. |
| When the Sun sets, a different looking world | | | | If you leave your camera's ISO at 100 or even |
| exists for photographers. Colors don't appear the | | | | 200, your meter might not register a reading |
| way they do in daylight. | | | | especially if the scene is something lit only by |
| Instead, colors display based on your camera's | | | | moonlight. |
| white balance setting and how that setting | | | | Remember that there are always 3 components |
| matches the various light sources in your scene. | | | | to exposure: ISO, aperture and shutter speed. For |
| Backgrounds become less distracting. | | | | the sake of our discussion, let's say when you |
| Street lights and lit building interiors give you | | | | pointed your camera in step 2 at the scene, your |
| outlines and shapes of various colors. | | | | meter recommends 1/15 sec at f 2.8 ISO 1600. |
| Chances are not everything in your scene is lit. So | | | | If you haven't read this yet, then just take my |
| what you see in your viewfinder is very close to | | | | word on this. High ISO settings yield images that |
| what you'll get if you expose carefully and | | | | are extremely noisy. That's the equivalent of grain |
| properly. | | | | in the analog or film world. |
| People in your scene don't matter as much unless | | | | So what we'll do next is figure out equivalent |
| you want them to. Passers-by don't register in | | | | exposure at say ISO 200. How did I arrive at a |
| your image. | | | | shutter speed of 1/2 second for an aperture of |
| Even if they do, they are a blur unless you | | | | f2.8 when I switched the ISO from 1600 to 200? |
| "freeze them" with a flash. | | | | ISO 200 is 3 f-stops less sensitive than ISO 1600. |
| Cars show up as trails of red and amber lights. | | | | There are 2 ways for me to do achieve |
| Skies take the color or aura of the city's lights | | | | equivalent exposure. Let's examine the first |
| especially if there are low lying clouds to reflect it. | | | | method which entails leaving the aperture the |
| Compared to other subjects, night photography | | | | same at f 2.8 and only changing the shutter |
| doesn't require a whole lot of equipment. The | | | | speed. |
| following are necessities: | | | | That means I'm only increasing the time the |
| - A steady tripod | | | | shutter stays open, allowing in more light by the |
| - a cable release to trip the shutter. Most people | | | | same 3 f-stop factor. |
| can get by using the self-timer. The key is to not | | | | So I'll need to set the shutter speed from 1 |
| shake the camera when you trip the shutter. | | | | 15>1/8>1/4>1/2 sec (counting from 1/15 |
| - a flashlight to illuminate the knobs and dials of | | | | sec > 1/8 sec> 1/4 sec>1/2 sec = 3 |
| your camera. | | | | stops) |
| - optional-- a portable flash with lots of batteries | | | | Now that you have your exposure for an |
| You pretty much will get what you see in your | | | | aperture of f 2.8, let's say your subject has some |
| viewfinder. | | | | depth and you want to be sure more of it is in |
| You don't have to worry about trying to light | | | | focus. You can figure your exposure by changing |
| anything except when you want to include a | | | | the just the aperture, leaving your ISO the same |
| person in the picture. But I'll discuss that later. | | | | at 200. |
| The various elements in your picture lights itself | | | | Let's say you decide you want make your picture |
| freeing you to just concentrate on your | | | | at f11 giving you more depth-of-field. You again |
| composition and exposure. | | | | have to increase the time the shutter stays open |
| Fountains tend to have spots and colored lights on | | | | in the same ratio or f-stop to get the equivalent |
| them, christmas trees are never displayed in | | | | exposure. F11 lets in 4 stops or 4 times less light |
| public without multicolored lights and beautiful | | | | than F 2.8. |
| majestic architecture in most civic centers are | | | | So you'll need to set a shutter speed of 4 whole |
| usually brightly lit up showcasing a city's pride. | | | | seconds. (counting the aperture settings from f2.8 |
| Here's how to set up: | | | | > f 4> f 5.6 sec>f 8.0>f 11 = 4 |
| | | | stops) |
| 1. Change the ISO on your camera to 1600 or | | | | (counting the shutter speed settings from 1/2 |
| whatever the maximum number is. | | | | sec>1 sec> 2 sec> 4 sec = 4 stops.) |
| 2. If you have a digital SLR, attach your longest | | | | The second alternative to achieve equivalent |
| focal length lens on your camera and take a light | | | | exposure, opening the aperture to let in more |
| reading. The idea here is to use the narrower field | | | | light, is not always practical because I would be |
| of view so that your lightmeter can give you a | | | | restricted to using my "fastest" lens, a 50 mm |
| more accurate light reading. If you have spot | | | | f1.4. |
| meter reading mode on your camera, that will | | | | Even that lens has physical limits--it's widest |
| give you a similar result. | | | | aperture is f 1.4. The resulting image would still be |
| 3. Take note of the exposure reading you get in | | | | underexposed by 1 stop. I would need to buy a |
| step 2. | | | | 50 mm f 1.2 lens. Have you priced one of these? |
| 4. Calculate that exposure reading for ISO 200 | | | | Canon makes one for about $1500. |
| 5. Switch lenses to a wide angle or even a more | | | | If you have a tripod, you have the luxury of |
| "normal" focal length lens and compose your shot. | | | | dropping your shutter speed without worrying |
| Mount your camera to the tripod. | | | | about camera shake. That is often your best |
| 6. Tighten all the axes on your tripod head so that | | | | option because you really don't want to be |
| your camera doesn't move in during the | | | | making pictures the whole time at your widest |
| exposure. | | | | aperture whether it is f 1.4 or f 2.8. |
| 7. Finally, set the camera to the self-timer mode. | | | | At those apertures, focus is critical since the |
| Some cameras give you a choice of 2 seconds or | | | | depth-of-field is very shallow. If you happen to |
| 10 seconds. The whole idea is, you don't want to | | | | set up on a pedestrian bridge and people are |
| jostle the camera when you press down on the | | | | working on it as you are making the exposure, |
| shutter. Let the camera settle on its own and 2 | | | | then you might have to wait for a lull in foot |
| seconds ought to be enough for that. | | | | traffic. |
| Calculating Exposure | | | | |