Night photography is best captured when light levels are such that we can just about distinguish colors in the subject particularly landscapes and seascapes. Late dusk or very early dawn is usually an excellent time to take night shots, it is the time when there is just a bit of light in the sky. During this period there are less areas of near black in the scene preventing excessive contrast.
Think tripod before you thing night photography. Slow shutter speeds, long exposures need a steady platform.
A remote trigger or cable release – if you do not have either make sure your camera has a self timer.
A good camera with manual exposure controls, bulb or timer modes.
A flash light
Electronic flash (use this only if you need to fill areas of darkness – I might cover this in a subsequent.
All the guidelines for daylight composition apply to night photography. Since it is a low light situation use a bubble level to maintain your camera in a true horizontal.
Night scenes rarely have enough light or contrast that would allow auto focusing, to further compound the problem there is not enough viewfinder brightness to allow good manual focusing.
To overcome this dilemma you can do one of the following:
Focus on a point light source at the same distance as the distance to the subject.
Use a flashlight to illuminate a part of the subject and then auto focus (remember to remove this light source).’
To focus at infinity – use auto focus to focus on the moon or use the markings on the lens.
If you have the capability to use selective focus points the use the one in the center – it is the most accurate.
A majority of camera light meters become inaccurate or max out at about 30 seconds If you must meter , use a hand held meter for best results. For exposure times greater than 30 seconds you will need to set your camera in B “bulb” or T “Timer” modes. Always use a remote release and a tripod. Remember these are long exposures.
In daylight we use the basis of 18%, at night however,, commonly agreed upon way to expose. You can under-expose to obtain a dark look, or could alternatively have the histogram fill the entire tonal range like a daytime shot. It is best to fully expose the image as if it were a daylight image, shoot in RAW and then adjust the exposure in RAW processing. This will allow you to capture images with the least amount of noise.
The following table may be used as a guide for night photography. Please make certain you bracket. The aperture is f/2.8
A fireworks burst can be between 5 and 10 seconds for a complete light pattern. So this is the amount of time your shutter needs to open for the image. So always use a tripod and a remote release.
You will get best results with the focus set to manual and set at infinity.
Set the camera shutter speed to B or T (based on the camera allowing manual control of the shutter
Use apertures in the f8 to f16 range where your ISO is 100 – it is best to experiment.
If you want multiple bursts keep the shutter open but use a black card over the lens between bursts to prevent ambient light from entering the lens.