DUSK and LOW LIGHT
1 SECOND AND BEYOND
LOW LIGHT AND NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
Make your longer exposure count, now that your days are shorter...
An excellent article by Bryan F Peterson/Founder of The Perfect Picture School of Photography http://www.ppsop.net/
It seems to be this unwritten rule that before the sun comes up or after the sun goes down that its really not possible for most shooters to get any good pictures. These same two reasons I hear today are the same two reasons I heard years ago; "there is not enough 'light', and/or "you need one of the more expensive cameras don't you?" or "I don't know how to get a meter reading." But clearly as the following images show there is ALWAYS enough light and getting a meter reading could'nt be easier as I will show you. Truth be told, I am convinced that the real reason most shoters dont venture out at night to shoot is because shooting at these hours of the day CAN interefere with one's lifestyle. (Just ask my wife and kids!)
Low light and night photography do pose special challenges, not the least of which is to use a tripod, (assuming of course you want to record exacting sharpness) and some degree of mathematical skills (simple adddition or subtraction) in some cases to come up with a correct exposure, but again, it is my feeling that the greatest hindrance in shooting the low light of predawn or at night is in the area of self-discipline. "It's time for dinner". (Next time pack a sandwich.) It's time to go to a movie." (Save your money and buy the movie when it comes out on DVD.) "It's time to go to a party." (Showing up an hour or two later, when everyone else has had a few glasses; now that's fun!") "I'm not a morning person." (Then don't go to bed the night before.) "It's time to watch my favorite television show". (You can tape it or use TIVO and see it after you're done shooting.) "My friends are waiting for me back at the car." (Make photographers your friends and they will gladly join you on the shoot.) "I'm all alone and don't feel safe." (Again, make photogrpahers your friends or join a camera club.) "I don't have a tripod." (Buy one!)
In my on-location workshops and in my on-line courses, students quickly learn just how much photographic opportunity exists before the sun comes up and after the sun goes down. And the rewards far outweigh the sacrifices. If it is one's goal to record compelling imagery, and it should be, then low light and night photography are two areas where compelling imagery abounds. With a little planning and a little forethought, you can soon find yourself in countless locations to shoot some show stopping exposures. Once you've arrived at a given location and conclude that this is where you will set up the only question remains is how to set the exposure for the upcoming 'light show'.With the sophistication of today's cameras and their highly sensitive light meters, getting a correct exposure is common place, even in the dimmest of light.
Yet this is an area where many photographers often find themselves under a cloud of confusion. "Where should I take my meter reading from? How long should my exposure be? Should I use any filters?"
In my years of experience in taking meter readings, there is nothing better nor more consistent then when taking a meter reading off of the sky; whether I am shooting backlight, frontlight or sidelight, whether I am shooting the first light of dawn or the last remnants of light at dusk.What should my exposure be when shooting in low light or at night? Now that's a really good question, but by now, you should know the answer or feel a lot closer to being able to answer it. Your exposure will be based on the very same principles of a creative exposure discussed already throughout this book. Does the scene present any motion-filled opportunities or are we simply shooting a classic skyline of some city, large or small? Either way, the principles of metering are the same in so far as where to take a meter reading from, BUT if there is motion involved, such as the flow of traffic, then you do have the option of setting an exposure that will render that flow of traffic as fluid streaks of color. For example, if one wishes to shoot a simple exposure, (and I really do mean simple) in manual exposure mode of a city skyline, set your aperture to f/8 and raise the camera to the dusky sky above the cityscape or landscape and adjust your shutter speed until a correct exposure is indicated and then return to your composition and press the shutter release. (It's important to note that its entirely possible that once you return to your composition, after you have set the manual exposure, that your meter may now indicate an underexposure, but just ignore it and shoot. The underexposure indicated is in response to what the meter 'see's' as dark buildings but in this case the meter has been fooled as the buildings really are not all that dark.)
For those of you who prefer to shoot scenes like this is in some kind of 'atuo-mode', e.g. Aperture Priority Mode, ditto on the use of f/8 and while pointing your camera to the dusky sky, hold your "exposure lock button" and then recompose and shoot. The exposure lock will 'save' the exposure for the dusky sky so when you shoot, it will be at the dusky exposure. Chances are in either case, and with 100 ISO, f/8 will render an exposure time of about two or four seconds. IF you are in fact shooting a motion-filled scene, than set your aperture to at least f/11 if not f/16, which in turn will increase your expsoure time from 2-4 seconds to 8-16 seconds. The longer the exposure time, the greater the amount of motion will be recorded.
PHOTO#1-#2-
What better place to try your hand at 'nightime' exposures then the greatest city on earth, New York! And a simple exposure too! With my camera and 17-55mm lens on tripod and with my ISO at 100, and my aperture set to f/8, I raised the camera to the dusky, partially cloudy sky above and adjusted my shutter speed until two seconds indicated a correct exposure. I then recomposed the scene and fired the shutter release and just like that, I had my dusky nightime exposure of the Big Apple. Because this scene did not present any real motion-filled opportunities, I did not find it necessary to increase my exposure time longer then two seconds. I have often 'caught' my students shooting an exposure like this with apertures of f/22 and exposure times of 15 seconds and when pressed as to the logic behind such a long exposure, they are hard pressed to give an answer since the 'same' exposure can be achieved at larger apertures (f/8) and shorter shuttter speeds (two seconds) in the absence of any motion-filled opportunities.Something to keep in mind, especially if you find yourself out shooting dusky scenes such as this with temperatures below freezing.
PHOTO#3-#4-#5-Part of the history in Lyon, France includes the work done by the Lumiere Brothers, both of whom are responsible for the birth of film. Not only could their invention, the Cinematograph, make a movie, but it could also project that same movie as well. Their first of more than 1400 films was shown in Paris in 1895 which showed a train pulling into a staiton and to some in the audience, this experience proved so frightneing that some went running for cover certain the train would come crashing into them.
For some years now, the City of Lyon has been holding a Lumiere Festival every Decemeber, partly in honor of the Lumiere Brothers and one main staple of the festival is the arrival from Germany of the largest Ferris Wheel on the European Continent. Situated at Place Bellcour for more than a month it does offer up numerous motion-filled opportunities, including the opportunity to incorporate this lone rider and horse statue against the background motion-filled ferris wheel.With my tripod mounted camera and 70-200mm lens set to f/11 and with my ISO at 100 I simply adjusted my shutter speed until four seconds indicated a correct exposure off of the dusky blue to the left of the ferris wheel. In effect, I metered this scene off of the dusky blue sky just like I did in the example shown of the New York City skyline.
I was now ready to shoot, BUT it certainly would'nt make any sense to shoot a four second exposure IF the ride was not moving, so I waited a few minutes for the ride to fill up with riders and soon it was making revolution after revolution and it was during this time I made a number of exposures, one of which you see here. And sure enough, I found myself taking a vertical composition as well, also at the correct exposure of f/11 at four seconds.
PHOTO#6-#7-San Francisco, Califronia, a city that many would swear is the ONLY city worth bragging about, but for me, it will always be a city that I could never quite get my head around. Don't get me wrong. I find San Francisco a shooters paradise, but try as I might, including live there, I could never embrace it as a city that I could call home. I am sure it will be one of those cities where even if I were to live there again, I would still feel that I was only visitor. From atop the steep incline on Treasure Island, a truly magnificient view of the city awaits. With my tripod mounted camera set to 100 ISO and 70-200mm lens, I chose an aperture of f/11 and with my camera pointed into the dusky blue sky to the right of the bridge, I adjusted my shutter speed until a corrrect exposure was indicated at four seconds. I returned the compositon you see here and fired away. At this slow shutter speed of four seconds I was able to record the slow but steady flow of traffic heading into the City by the Bay.
Of the many discoveries my students make in my on-location workshops it is the realization that many of their wonderful compositions that they create do in fact have additional photographic opportunities inside that frame. As idyllic this scene of San Francisco is, there is still yet at least one other dynamic image to be made, an image that is for the most part, resigned to strong graphic elements, primarily LINE and COLOR.
After switching my 70-200mm for my 200mm-400mm, I simply set the aperture to f/11 and for those same four seconds, compsed this vertical composition of just the bridge.Take a closer look on your next outing inside that viewfinder of yours and see if in fact you have another photographic opportunity to shoot. You might discover that you have been picking up your tripod and moving on to the next great shot a bit too premature.
PHOTO#8-For some men, (and women too I am sure) a scene like this speaks to the desire to simply get away from it all, out there in the wilderness for some long overdue solitude. No cell phones, no e-mails to check and no deadlines; just you and the sound of crickets and a crackling fire. With my tripod mounted camera set to 100 ISO and my 35-70mm lens I set my aperture to f/11 and pointed it to the pre-dawn sky above the camping spot and adjusted my shutter speed until a two second exposure indicated a correct exposure. Just like city lights, that campfire and the small Coleman lantern that is illuminating the inside of the ten, share a similar exposure value. Therefore, what that dusky sky indicates as a correct expsoure will be just as correct for the campfire and lighted tent and sure enough as this photograph shows, the overall exposure is spot on.
I feel the need to really stress what is meant by a dusky blue, sometimes magenta sky.It is a Western sky that is metered and photographed around 20-25 minutes after sunset or 15-20 minutes before sunrise and it is an Eastern sky that is metered and photographed around 15-20 minutes after sunset or 20-25 minutes before sunrise.
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