Video course of urban night scene photography

Analysis of urban night scene photography skills

Accessories are as important as equipment.

Before shooting the night view of the city,

Video course of urban night scene photography

Analysis of urban night scene photography skills

Accessories are as important as equipment.

Before shooting the night view of the city, you must first know what kind of equipment you need to deal with this type of shooting. There should be a camera with manual exposure and manual focusing functions, which can make the camera shoot completely according to the photographer's wishes. From a technical point of view, we can choose aperture priority or manual exposure mode, and shoot with the camera's largest frame. Of course, it is best to use RAW frame, and adjust the ISO sensitivity to the lowest value that the camera can set to ensure the best image quality and the least noise. It should be noted that you should not use the automatic white balance function when shooting, otherwise you will lose the bright colors of the night light source, making the photos dull and tasteless due to the lack of layering. Try shooting in white balance surround mode.

In fact, there is no special requirement for the lens used for shooting night scenes. But if you use a lens with strong anti-glare ability, it can get twice the result with half the effort for photographers. At the same time, it should be noted that it is best to remove the UV mirror in front of the lens when shooting night scenes to reduce the influence of stray light on the image quality. The lens of a camera must be equipped with a hood. Because the surrounding light is mostly point light source when shooting at night, the use of hood can avoid the interference of other light on the picture.

In addition, the most important thing for night shooting is stability. Because the shutter speed is usually very low when shooting at night, hand-held shooting is basically impossible. A good photo is a clear image at first. It's totally useless to take virtual photos. A stable tripod is essential. When using a tripod, sometimes in order to ensure its stability, we can hang the camera bag under the tripod to increase the stability of the tripod. In addition, we also need to install some rubber bands in the camera bag, which can fix the camera strap, cable release and other things on the tripod during exposure, and turn on the mirror pre-lift function as much as possible when using the digital SLR camera to avoid slight vibration when the mirror is lifted.

But sometimes it is not appropriate to use a tripod in many parts of the city, especially when the angle is too low. At this time, it is also a good choice to prepare a bean bag instead of a tripod.

In addition, it is necessary to develop the habit of carrying common accessories when shooting, such as flashlights, various common filters, black umbrellas that can help block light, and cables. Because it takes a long time to expose, using the cable release (remote control) can minimize the vibration of the camera, but assuming that the camera can't use the cable release (remote control), if necessary, you can also use the camera's self-timer function to complete the shooting.

Choose a time and place

Where to shoot the night scene of the city has always been a problem that puzzles many film friends. In fact, it is not difficult to find the best shooting location in the city. Just remember one principle, that is, there must be gorgeous lights and clear backgrounds, such as the most representative buildings, characteristic pedestrian streets, streets with night lights, and lakes and rivers with night colors in the city.

What needs to be pointed out here is that sometimes the shooting angle is good during the day, which is not necessarily suitable for shooting at night, because the light and shadow between day and night are very different. To be on the safe side, imagine possible light and shadow changes during the day and night. It's best to go to the shooting point to see if the lighting is ideal and the shooting point is safe before shooting. Be sure to know what you're doing. But no matter where you choose, you should pay attention to some problems. For example, when shooting on a bridge, pedestrians or vehicles will pass by. At this time, it should be noted that the bridge may vibrate, resulting in blurred images. It is best to photograph the traffic on the roadside and try not to see the pedestrians in front of the camera, so as not to affect the picture. If you choose such a shooting location, you must pay attention to traffic safety, such as wearing bright clothes or reflective strips to remind passing vehicles.

Many cinematographers shoot the night in the city with the black sky as the background, which is lifeless and depressing. We'd better choose a good shooting opportunity and control the exposure of the sky reasonably. Generally speaking, it is best to shoot at the beginning of Deng Hua before it is completely dark. At this time, the sky will appear sapphire blue, which is very beautiful. Of course, it is also a good choice on a full moon night and when the sky is blue and purple. It's better to have some clouds in the sky when shooting, so that the picture won't look so dull. Sometimes it is dark and the lighting time is inconsistent. At this time, you can fix the camera with a tripod, make an exposure before the scene is completely dark, and then make another exposure after the lights are on to complete the shooting.

In addition, when shooting traffic, we should also pay attention to the best time to shoot. If the time is too early, the traffic may not be too big or too late. If it is late, the traffic volume may decrease; There will be traffic jams in some sections during peak hours, which will bring inconvenience to shooting. Choose the shooting time reasonably.

Night exposure technique

The exposure parameters of urban night scenes can often be described by different opinions. Some people think that the same scenery is brighter and the exposure time can be set longer; If you think it's better to be dark, then the exposure time can be relatively short. The best way is to shoot with a variety of exposure combinations and then choose. In addition, it should be played back in time after shooting and the exposure combination should be adjusted correctly. If the aperture is very small, plus a long exposure, you can get a radiant effect. When metering, you can aim the metering point at the brightest building or light source, and then choose to increase the exposure twice. However, keep in mind the principle of "less than better", and the overexposed highlight level of night photos can't be remedied at all. We can also take more photos with different exposure combinations in the same scene, which is convenient for later adjustment.

When shooting at night, we will find that the camera can't focus at all when using autofocus. This is because the ambient light is too dim, and the autofocus of the camera can't confirm the distance information to the focus. Here, we provide you with some focusing skills:

1. If you use a wide-angle lens or a small aperture to shoot a distant view, you can directly adjust the focal length to infinity (what is the focal length on the camera lens? Say).

2. Manual focusing can also be used to visually observe the distance consistent with the lens focusing indication value, so as to obtain accurate focusing. However, this focusing method is troublesome to operate, requires a high sense of distance, and is not very accurate.

It's much easier to focus on contrasting scenery (such as mirrors, neon lights, colorful billboards, etc.). ) Take the camera.

4. Sometimes, when the shooting environment is too dark and you are not sure whether the subject is in focus accurately, you can use the flashlight you carry with you for auxiliary lighting. The subject can be illuminated by his companion and confirm the focus by himself, so as to achieve the purpose of clear focus. However, if there is no alternative focus in the shot scene, we can also let our companions stand in the preset position in the picture and illuminate themselves with a flashlight instead of the focus.

Composition and skills of shooting

The key to taking an ideal night scene photo is to control the map. As we all know, choosing the best photography angle is the key to the success or failure of a photo, and so is the night scene. Before shooting, you need to know whether there are buildings in the foreground blocking the line of sight and whether the background can show the bright lights of the city. The difference between shooting city night scenes and general scenery night scenes photography is that the essence of scenery night scenes photography lies in discovery, that is, in the ever-changing nature, we should discover beauty with unique eyes; Urban night photography is the selection and refinement of existing scenery.

The most common mistake in shooting city night scenes is to be confused by the colorful scenery in front of you and pursue more and more perfection. At this time, you should keep a cool head and get a better view selectively, especially to avoid shooting something that looks colorful but has no actual content. We can make full use of the reflection formed by the water surface of rivers and lakes in the city or the ground after rain, or the horizontal and vertical extension lines of car lights to render the atmosphere at night in the city. The background can be colorful buildings, or it can be the blurred night provided by the city night scene composed of red trees and silver flowers. As long as the lines, shapes, colors, etc. of the scene are selected. If there are attractive lines of sight and elements that can show beauty in the photo, then this night view photo is successful.

Vehicle optical flow trajectory

No matter which city you are in, the most striking feature in the night is the gorgeous trajectory of traffic on both sides of the street. We can make full use of the long exposure function of the camera to shoot colorful optical streams. However, the longer the shooting time, the better. The exposure time depends on many factors such as the speed, flow, light intensity and ambient light of the car. If there is enough time, more exposure combinations can be taken to determine the correct parameters. Sometimes, when the camera is exposed for a long time, the traffic will suddenly be too large, or the light ratio of some light sources will be too large, which will greatly affect the shooting effect. At this time, it is absolutely necessary to properly block the picture.

We can use black cardboard and lens cover, but we can also block the position where strong light appears in front of the lens by hand and remove unnecessary light sources in composition. However, it is worth noting that you should pay attention to the time and position when blocking the net. Generally, don't cover it at the beginning of exposure. When blocking the lens with black cardboard, don't put it there motionless, but shake it slowly so that the border won't be too hard. Don't touch the lens and tripod when blocking, otherwise the camera will shake and the shooting will fall short.

Architectural outline

The city is composed of various buildings, and the exterior decorative lights, neon lights and landscape lighting on these buildings form different points, lines and surfaces, which constitute the main body of the night scene. We can make full use of this feature and create many masterpieces of city night scenes. There are many beautiful overpasses in every city. At night, in addition to street lamps, some are decorated with beautiful neon tubes by the bridge. Good results can be obtained by shooting the bridge body and traffic at the top of a tall building far away from the bridge, or shooting local curves under the bridge. But when choosing the shooting angle, we should pay attention to the deformation of the building in the picture. Using too high or too low an angle will aggravate the deformation of the building. When setting the camera aperture, you can't blindly pursue the effect of small aperture. Although stars can be photographed with a small aperture, when the aperture is less than F 16, even the top-grade lens will have a decline in imaging quality and an increase in image edge hairiness. Generally speaking, the aperture of F 16 can meet most depth of field requirements.

Reflection in the water

In fact, when shooting night scenes, don't just think about the buildings and streets in the city. We can look for the night view of the city by the rivers, lakes and waterways of the city. At night, the buildings in the city blend with the reflection in the water, leaving dazzling lights on the water. The vague scenery in Shui Ying will give the audience more room for reverie.

In composition, it is the most common way to divide the reflection and the actual landscape into two halves. Remember that the scenery and reflection in the picture should not be completely symmetrical, and it is best to use the composition method of more reality and less virtual or more virtual and less real. In shooting, you can also hide the scene, let the reflection occupy the whole picture, and the real scene hides the head and tail, which makes people think and add some charm that can only be expressed.

If you can't find a shooting scene with water, don't miss the water after the rain. You can get your favorite reflection works by lowering the shooting angle with a wide-angle lens. In fact, the mirror in the window and the bright car can set off the gorgeous night of the city, depending on how you play.

Pay attention to the change of wind when shooting the water surface. The calm water surface can reflect the scenery in the sky and present a mirror-like image, while the breeze blowing over the water surface will always disturb the ripples on the water surface. When the wind blows, the waves on the water will make the reflection colorful.