Intro to Night Photography: Cityscapes — Focus, Noise, Exposure, Effects

At night in a city, virtually any city, the scene before you changes dramatically. In some locations the architecture and spirit of the city is merely enhanced, shown with a different, though recognizable look.

In other locations, the city at night transforms into a new place, sometimes brighter and more adventurous, sometimes more alive and mysterious.

Either way, making images of cities at night can allow you to often capture a “new city” with a different life than it has during the day. Making photos at night has its own challenges, but it's still subject to the same set of constraints as daylight photography; aperture, shutter speed and light sensitivity. The difference is, these constraints often push you and your equipment “to the edge,” compared to photographing the same city during the day.

Last week I discussed night photography trade-offs and constraints, the potential of star trails at times, and the equipment needed to produce high quality night photography in cities.

This week we'll get down to the nitty-gritty of actually making our night cityscapes. We'll talk about focus, noise and camera settings

It's US Independence Day: Time to celebrate and photograph spectacular fireworks

Today, in the United States we'll celebrate our nation's birth. In Philadelphia, America’s birthplace and it's first capital, that means the annual “Philly 4th of July Jam and Grand Finale Fireworks” held at the foot of the Philadelphia Museum of Art tonight, where more than a half million Philadelphians and visitors will enjoy one of the country's best Independence Day concerts. This year it will star The Roots, Ed Sheeran, Nicki Minaj, Jennifer Hudson, Aloe Blacc, Ariana Grande and Vicci Martinez performing live, with actor and comedian Marlon Wayans serving as host, followed by one of the largest, most spectacular fireworks displays in the nation.

I'll be there. If you're there too, look for me south of the Art Museum.

This year I'm going to continue experimenting while photographing the fireworks. I'm going to use a variety of neutral density filters to enable me to use longer exposures, and capture more fireworks' bursts in my images. I'll be experimenting with neutral density filters which add 1, 2, or 3 f/stops to my exposure. I'll explain below what that means in terms of shutter times.

Traveling in the US: July 4th, and its fireworks are just days away

Next week, in the United States we'll celebrate our nation's birth. In Philadelphia, America’s birthplace and it's first capital, that means after a concert at the foot of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, more than a half million people will enjoy one of the largest, most spectacular fireworks displays in the nation.

I'll be there. If you're there too, look for me south of the Art Museum.

This year I'm going to be experimenting while photographing the fireworks at the Art Museum. I'm going to use some neutral density filters to enable me to use longer exposures, enabling me to capture more fireworks' bursts in my images. I'll be experimenting with neutral density filters which add 1, 2, or 3 f/stops to my exposure. I'll explain below what that means in terms of shutter times.

It's July 4th, and that means photographing fireworks

Wednesday, we in the United States celebrate our nation's birth. In Philadelphia, America’s birthplace and the nation's first capital, that means after a concert at the foot of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, more than 500,000 people will enjoy one of the largest and most spectacular fireworks displays in the nation.

I'll be there. If you're there too, look for me south of the Art Museum.

Here are my updated tips for photographing fireworks using your digital camera:

Shooting new year's fireworks in frigid climates

In Frostbite Falls they love their cold winters. Rocky and Bullwinkle never miss their cold weather new year's fireworks shows, but they recognize that there are special problems taking fireworks photos when it's below freezing.

For new year's fireworks in frigid climates you have to combine good practices for cold weather photography, with those for night photography, and the special things necessary to capture fireworks, to be successful. Don't be intimidated if you don't have a DSLR. I've seen many wonderful firework's photos taken with quality digital point and shoot cameras.

Choosing Lenses for Your DSLR Travel Kit, Part I

Travel photography has many challenges. Among them are unpredictability, luggage weight limits, number of luggage pieces permitted, locations with unknown restrictions, bad weather when you least expect it, and many others.

When planning for a trip photographically, one of the most important decisions anyone must make is what lenses to include in your travel photography “kit.” Destinations usually have a variety of photo opportunities which may require a variety of lenses to meet their challenges.

There are two major factors which militate the amount and choice of gear you choose for your photo travel “kit.” The first is travel weight and volume restrictions, and the second is the varying conditions, limitations and circumstances of your destination's photographic opportunities.

DSLR Purchasing: APS-C vs. Full Size Sensor?

DSLR's sensors are essentially digital “film.” The sensor is the camera's electronic device which captures images.

Sensors contain millions of “photosites,” essentially buckets which capture the light coming through the DSLR's lens. The light is converted to an electric signal which gets measured, optimized, and converted to a digital image by the DSLR's processor.

The size of the buckets (photosites) is important to the sensor's sensitivity and its ability to accurately gather light in a variety of lighting conditions. Bigger buckets are better than smaller ones, because more light can be stored in them, without getting over-filled. Bigger buckets have a lesser tendency to impart noise into the image.

Photographing motion with your still camera

“Photographing motion with your still camera” sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it.

Actually photographing motion with a still camera can produce startling photographs showing details you can’t see with your eye, or in a standard speed video. Not only that, you can make a still photograph of motion which can even give you the feel of motion.

You can use your DSLR, SLR, or Point and Shoot camera to either stop motion completely, freeze everything in motion in your photograph, which is the option most travelers take, or you can capture motion itself, by showing a bit of a blur, where you control what’s blurred and how much blur you show.

Travelers often find “motion” photo opportunities during their journeys. This week I will discuss some basic ways to capture motion, and in a later article, discuss more advanced techniques to capture the feel of motion in a still photograph and have some fun and extra creativity while making the photos.

Night Photography: Overcoming the Obstacles, Reaping the Rewards

In last week’s article, Night Photography: Pushing the Limits, Understanding the Obstacles, I discussed some of the difficulties encountered in Night Photography.

In this week’s article, I’ll discuss how to overcome those problems to produce wonderful night images which help tell one’s travel stories.

When it’s possible to use one, the tripod is absolutely the best tool for photographers to make great night photographs. A well-chosen tripod with a quality “head” can enable photographers to hold their cameras motionless to create high quality night photographs.

Night Photography: Pushing the Limits, Understanding the Obstacles

Photography at night has plenty of obstacles, but is also full of rewards for travel photographers.

Many locations have interesting sights and looks during the day, and a whole host of different sights and looks, and another atmosphere in the evening. Las Vegas many interesting photographic opportunities during the day, but it seems as though it’s at night that Las Vegas really comes alive. The night photography opportunities in Las Vegas are almost limitless.

Another location with great night photography opportunities is the “La Ville-Lumière” (The City of Light). While Paris, France, was originally given that nickname due to its fame as a center of education and thought during the Age of Enlightenment (eighteenth century), its early adoption of street lighting (In 1828, Paris began lighting the Champs De Elysées with gas lamps. It was the first city in Europe to do so.), and its use of electric light beginning in the 19^th century for street lighting and later to illuminate monuments established the nickname forever.

Photographing Sacred Spaces

When we travel we certainly see and often visit churches, temples, mosques, synagogues, and other religious shrines. Many contain some of the world’s great artwork. Many are architectural gems unto themselves. Many have extensive grounds. Many are important for their history, or their part in historic events.

Some are the center of their town’s or city’s culture, and attract visitors from across their region, country, and some attract visitors from across the world.

Often we find shops, vendors, and other places supporting the sacred space. That means many photo opportunities besides the place of worship itself, and those of its grounds and interior.

Gaining access to a place considered sacred by those who maintain and belong to it, brings responsibility to behave with sensitivity to the place of worship itself, those who worship in it, and those responsible for running it. The building, grounds, and the people must be respected.

Photographing Fireworks with your Digital Camera

On Saturday, we in the US celebrate the birth of our nation. If you've traveled to Philadelphia, America’s birthplace, immediately after the Independence Day Concert in front of the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, more than 500,000 people who will have come out to watch Sheryl Crow headline the free concert, will enjoy one of the largest and most spectacular fireworks displays in the nation.

That’s my segue for my tips for photographing fireworks. Here’s what you need to do to capture them this July 4^th.

• Arrive early — Before the show, scout the location, determine from where the fireworks will be launched, and try to find an unobstructed view where you can compose your photos successfully. Consider topography, lenses, zoom capability, and how high the fireworks will go in the air.
• Consider the location wisely — If you’ll be among lots of folks viewing the fireworks, you must choose a position which won’t have people wandering in front of the camera or accidentally kicking your equipment. Stay away from streetlamps and such, to avoid light flare, and look out for tree branches and other objects which might sneak into the photos.
• Always use a tripod — Fireworks photography requires long exposures to capture the light trails and full bursts together in a photo. Long exposure times require camera support to ensure sharp exposures, regardless of what camera you’re using, so use a tripod appropriate for your equipment. Don’t have a tripod? If you must, place your camera on a makeshift solid platform, such as a fence post, a railing, or lean against wall.
• Use a remote shutter release — If you can, use a remote shutter release to increase your camera’s stability. That way you won’t have to touch your camera, shaking it, to snap the photos.
• Bring extra batteries — It’s always good to be prepared in case your battery(s) give out during the display.
• Bring a flashlight — You’re going to be shooting in the dark. A small flashlight will enable you to see your camera’s controls and settings.
• Bring extra memory cards — I try to take photos of almost every fireworks burst. So my excitement at the beginning of the show doesn’t fill all my memory cards before the grand finale, I have plenty of them with me.
• Use manual focus — The fireworks, presumably several hundred yards/meters away, will be difficult to focus on due to the darkness, so if you can, use manual focus and set your lens for infinity. Digital Point and Shoot cameras generally don't have a manual focus mode. Set your Point and Shoot to landscape mode, if it has one, as a “work around.” It's essentially the same as setting a DSLR to infinity.
• Use the Highest Quality for your photo — I shoot fireworks exclusively in RAW format. If you take your photos in JPG, chose the best quality and the largest size (least compression). This is especially important for fireworks photographs because JPG compression artifacts are often created when the photograph has a high range of luminance and color contrast, like the bright colored light of fireworks bursting against a black sky.
• Reduce noise in your photos — Long exposures and high ISO settings, can cause noise in your digital photographs. Noise (colored pixel artifacts) will mostly be visible in the very dark areas of your fireworks photos. Therefore choose low ISO for your camera (50–200).
• It’s night, it’s dark, so you might think you need very long exposures — On the contrary, the fireworks are very bright lights, which cause many to overexpose their images. To control my exposures I use my DSLR in manual mode. I expose my photos from 1 to 4 seconds. Shorter exposures could miss the full burst and longer exposures produce washed-out images. I use my DSLR’s B (Bulb) shutter setting to control how long my shutter is open. It’s hard, but try to anticipate the beginning of the burst and open the shutter, then close it immediately after it reaches its peak. Anticipating the explosion is difficult, but not impossible. If your Point and Shoot camera doesn’t have a B setting, choose a fixed setting, such as 2 seconds. Since the shutter speed must be long enough to record the burst, control the exposure by choosing the correct aperture. Using one of the suggested apertures listed below, you can use your preview to test and then compensate the aperture accordingly.
• The aperture you use will be based on the ISO setting — A good starting point would be ISO 100 – f/8 to f/16 or ISO 200 f/11 to f/22. Check your photos as you go along and adjust the aperture as necessary.
• Frame your photo well — Generally a vertical format is better as the trail of a skyrocket is usually upward and not wide. For my final framing decision I will consider the crowd, my position, and how the fireworks will be deployed.
• For my DSLR I use a normal to wide angle lens — My position relative to the fireworks bursts will determine the exact focal length I use. I frame my image so I have a good sized foreground and "head-room" above the topmost fireworks trails.
• Generally you should turn off your flash —  For photographing the fireworks themselves your flash is useless, but it can be useful if you’re trying to light something in the foreground to give your photo context and extra interest.
• Consider adding foreground subjects to your fireworks photos — Consider including a statue in the foreground, or silhouettes of the crowd, a tree or bridge or building. Note how I used the river in my photos. Watch your horizons to keep them straight, especially if you have foreground subjects in your photos.