Tips for shooting in low light

Photography is the art of capturing light and shadow. Whether it's a sunny day or a dark night, it's a great test for us to use light and shadow. Low-light shooting generally refers to shooting in a dark room or at night after sunset, which greatly increases the difficulties encountered when the light is sufficient, and also tests shooting skills and patience. But as photographers, we should learn to keep trying and practice when we encounter difficulties, and turn these problems into our own experience wealth. Being able to shoot easily in low light environment can open up a new realm of shooting. Here are some tips for shooting in low light. Welcome to reading.

First, use manual mode to completely control the camera.

In most cases, we are used to "aperture first" and "shutter first" modes. Seeing the "manual mode" will inevitably lead to some headaches, but the flexibility and creativity brought by the "manual mode" will definitely satisfy you. In application, in order to adjust the appropriate exposure settings after changing to "manual mode", we should first pay attention to the specific situation of your subject, and then conceive the desired production effect, which is the most important benchmark in exposure settings. For example, if your picture is fixed, such as mountain view and night view, we need to use a tripod to stabilize the camera, use a lower sensitivity (ISO 100-400 or so), and use a slower shutter for long exposure to make up for the lack of light.

In the setting of aperture, the best choice should be to keep the best sharpness of the picture (two or three steps smaller than the maximum aperture) and have enough luminosity. Different from the "aperture priority" mode, in the "manual mode", we need to constantly change the exposure settings, especially in the "prime time" (half an hour before and after morning and dusk), that is, the softest and warmest time of the day. The photos taken during this time feel fantastic, but the brightness of the environment will change constantly. I took a photo at this moment, and I may need to adjust the exposure again at the next moment.

When shooting, it is recommended to turn on "live view" and "histogram" for metering and adjusting exposure.

Second, get ready at the scene in advance

Low-light shooting often requires constant attempts, and long-time exposure can achieve ideal results. So the shooting process usually takes a long time, so preparation before shooting is necessary. When shooting a sunset or night scene, you must arrive at the scene at least one or two hours before sunset, get ready for shooting equipment, and find a suitable picture prospect. Although it can be done after dark, it will be very troublesome and the opportunity will be fleeting. To shoot the starry sky, you need to find a shooting position that is least affected by light. After thinking about the composition in your mind, the next step is to prepare the shots needed for this shooting to express the picture you want.

Maybe you need a telephoto lens to make the subject stand out and minimize the black area. Maybe you need a wide-angle lens to create the atmosphere you want to express. Think about the composition before shooting, and try different settings when shooting to ensure that you don't panic. In addition, the weather has a certain influence on different shooting themes, so we should also pay attention to it.

For outdoor scenery, you can consider a wide-angle lens with a large aperture or even a fisheye lens.

Third, take a tripod and hold the camera steady

It may be a little difficult to shoot up the mountain with a heavy tripod. However, due to the relatively weak light source after dusk, the exposure time is longer. Generally, depending on the shooting situation, it may be necessary to use a slower shutter ranging from 1/20 seconds to 30 seconds, 1 minute and 2 minutes. When the photographer holds his hand for too long, it will shake his hand and blur the photo. So in order to take good photos and keep high definition, it is better to work hard and bring a tripod!

When placing the tripod, aim one foot at your main body so that you can stand in the middle of the last two tripods. After placing, make sure that the tripod platform is in a horizontal position. Finally, if the shooting position is windy, put something to fix the tripod position. Of course, in the absence of a tripod, we can still put the camera in a fixed position such as railings and stones, hold the camera in the right posture or lean against the wall or railing to make the body shoot more stably. These methods can reduce the movement during exposure and ensure the image is clear and detailed.

Many subjects that use long exposure shooting, such as car tracks, are better with tripods! If the scene environment is too dark to use a tripod, you may have to use a large aperture or a high ISO to shoot the scene.

Fourth, the skills of low-light focusing

If you have ever photographed a night scene, you will know that the autofocus of the camera in low light is very inaccurate. In order to solve this problem, the simplest method is to use manual focusing, and it is more convenient to use an electronic viewfinder (EVF) or a live camera. Adjust the brightness of the camera screen to the maximum, make a composition, place the tripod stably, then put the main body into the focus rectangle, press the zoom button again, and then turn the focus ring until the clearest picture is obtained. If the subject is too dark to see clearly, try to shine a flashlight on the subject and then focus with the naked eye.

In fact, manual focusing is also very fast after proficiency', don't think it's so difficult.

Exposure and focus around verbs (abbreviation for verb)

Surround exposure is a very common concept, which is to shoot multiple images with different shutter speeds (usually three) to ensure the best effect. It is most useful when you are not sure which exposure setting is correct. Of course, there is no clear definition of correct exposure, and it is correct to express your own pictures. Here we are based on the correct exposure of data. Another skill of surround exposure, which I believe everyone knows very well, is HDR (high dynamic range). The shooting method is to take a photo with the exposure indication of 0, and then adjust the shutter speed to take a photo with overexposure+1 and underexposure-1 respectively.

Finally, you can use HDR Pro in Adobe Photoshop to synthesize three photos and make some fine adjustments.

Generally speaking, surround shooting technology is only used for exposure, but it can also be used for focusing. Even if you are very careful when shooting, you will inevitably lose focus. Therefore, when shooting, adjust the focus ring to complete multiple focusing with the clarity visible to the naked eye, which can be regarded as winning by quantity!

Sixth, use filters to balance the light.

When shooting in a weak light environment with uneven light, such as "prime time", the sky is generally much brighter than the ground. If the sky is used as the exposure benchmark, the ground will become dark due to serious underexposure. Exposure is based on the ground, and the sky will turn white after severe overexposure. At this time, it is necessary to use a gradient gray filter (GND) to balance the light difference, avoid overexposure or darkness, and make the photo instantly more beautiful! Using GND filter can make photos have the effect similar to HDR photos. You can try!

Seven, use the auxiliary shutter to avoid camera vibration.

If you follow the above suggestions, everyone should be able to take good photos, at least not as blurred as before. But as a perfectionist photographer, if there is no mistake, then what is needed is wire control or infrared remote control to eliminate the tiny vibration of pressing the shutter.