Special thanks go to Alan Wright, secretary of the Wednesbury Photography Society for producing this guide to night photography.


What kind of camera?

The more sophisticated the camera, the more control you have over your picture, but there is no reason why this type of photography cannot be done with a compact camera. The main consideration is the length of the exposure, if the camera shutter will stay open for several seconds, then satisfactory results can be achieved. Digital cameras have some advantages over film when taking night time pictures, you can take lots of pictures because it doesn't cost anything and you can see the results immediately and make adjustments if necessary.

Take it steady

By the nature of things, night time photography means fairly long exposures and to get a sharp picture you will need to steady the camera against something.

A tripod is the ideal thing, but apart from the additional expense, they are fairly cumbersome and do attract attention from passers-by.

You can take perfectly sharp photographs by bracing yourself against walls, trees or even a car, use of a small bean bag beneath the camera will provide additional steadiness and protect the camera from knocks and scratches.

Pick your time

Any time from dusk onwards is suitable for night time photography, if you take you pictures just after the sun has gone down, then there will be colour in the sky, rather than an expanse of black.

There will also be detail in the subject that you are photographing as well as the lights/decorations.

It is also worth remembering that in an urban area like Sandwell, the light put out by street lamps will give the sky a glow. Do not be deterred by bad weather, either, light reflecting on wet ground or in puddles can make striking pictures, either on their own or as part of the overall scene.

Exposure

As stated earlier, exposures can be long in night time photographs and as the subject will be contrasty, i.e. bright lights on a dark background, judging the correct exposure can be tricky. Most cameras have an automatic exposure system and this is a good place to start. As cameras are designed to work in average lighting conditions, you may need to vary the exposure by 1.0 stop either way, the easiest way to do this on most cameras is the use the exposure compensation button. On film cameras you may need to take several different exposures to make sure you get the right result, an advantage of digital cameras is that you can see what your picture looks like straight away and you can adjust the exposure if necessary.

Colour temperature

Although it sounds complicated, this simply refers to how red or blue the light is. Film is balanced for daylight and artificial light comes out orange, but digital cameras try to mimic the eye using auto colour balance and allow you to change the colour balance settings. This means you can adjust the camera to take the scene as you see it rather than having an unnatural colour cast.

When taking night time pictures, try to avoid large areas of blackness and move around the subject to get different viewpoints. When taking pictures at night time, remember that you are not working under normal conditions and that you should be prepared to take lots of photographs to ensure that you get the picture that you want.

The strange thing about night-time photography is that there is no correct exposure for a particular picture, it is very subjective and different people will like different effects. By being aware of the causes of these effects, you can vary them to suit yourself.

One final point, if your camera has an integral flash, don't forget to turn it off.