Six Tips for Great Photos in the Dark

Night time photography just requires a few creative tips. Here are seven that will help your night photos shine. All photography requires some light; even night time shooting. If you want those colors to really pop in your night-time photos then taking them at dusk, instead of full dark, will do just that. With a small amount of light and a faster shutter speed, colors and details will jump right out of your photos.

Tip #1 - High ISO Setting 

If you want all the characters in your photography to show without blurring anyone out then use a very high ISO when you snap. Noise in your photos cause blur but with higher ISO settings you can reduce some of that noise in your photos.

Tip #2 - Less Movement, Better Quality

Holding the camera is key in the development of non-blurry photos. The best photos are shot with a steady hand. This usually requires the aid of either a tripod or monopod to steady your equipment. Without these you can brace your harms or body on a steady object and hold your breath. A steady shot and very slow shutter speed on your camera will help you achieve non-blurriness in your night photos.

Tip #3 - Creative Movement

Added interest can be achieved in your night shots if you want to show movement. This is intentional blurring of the photos that you control. The look of movement can be gained in night photos by moving the camera with the shutter open or you can hold steady while parts of your photo continue to move. This will give the movement effect in your night shots.

Tip #4 - Using Backdrops

Great foreground shots can be had a night with the background becoming the perfect backdrop by long exposure combined with flash. The newer digital SLR cameras will have more custom features that allow you to set the flash to fire before or after the image is captured. This is called shutter curtain sync and changing when the flash goes will add dimension to your photographic art work.

Tip #5 - Taking Multiple Shots and Using HDR

For high dynamic range shots take three shots of the same object or subject with different exposures. Combining the three separate exposures in a photo-shopping tool allows you to pull all the best details out of each photo to reveal the shot with the most high dynamic range.

Tip #6 - Blending In Different Shots 

Another technique to improve night photography is by taking several of the same shot. Then using your Photoshop skills you can stack the many images. This stack effect will reduce much of the hot pixels and photo noise. There are various ways and programs that will allow you to do this with your photos.