Long exposure night photography is the best way to capture the magic that happens every day when the sun disappears. Landscape photography is my favorite genre, and nighttime photography is undoubtedly one of the most exciting things to shoot.
Capturing photos at night can seem daunting. Shooting in the dark might even frighten many people, but trust me: once you attempt long exposure photography at night, you’ll discover an entirely new world!
With this long exposure night photography guide, you’ll lose any concern of venturing over to the “dark side”. You’ll obtain inspiration from some night photography ideas, as well as all the answers that you are seeking: How can I take long exposure night shots?What is long exposure night photography?
Simply persist with reading below and you’ll find a breakdown of the whole methodology so you can start capturing the long exposure nighttime photographs you have always envisioned!
Table of Contents
What is long exposure night photography?
The core notion of long visibility night photography refers to the technique of snapping pictures at nighttime by using a moderate shutter velocity. As we explained in our guide to extended visibility photography, the shutter velocity is the cornerstone of long visibility photography. When you’re shooting at nighttime, extended visibility photography helps you offset for the lack of light by opening the camera shutter for a specific length of time and capturing scenes that your eyes cannot perceive.
When capturing photographs at night for extended periods, you can record starry skies, fireworks, vehicle trails, or breathtaking landscapes illuminated by moonlight. No matter the goal, the basic concept involves taking a long exposure under low-light conditions. I strongly advise examining our guide to photographing the milky way and our Northern Lights photography manual if you want to delve deeper into those specific photography styles.
How to do long exposure night photography
Capturing long exposures at night is not as straightforward as it seems. Photographing in the midst of darkness surrounded by nothing but night brings challenges. Working with camera settings under such conditions adds to the difficulty.
But don’t worry; having an idea of how to conduct long exposure night photography in advance makes everything simpler. Below, I’m breaking down the 10 basic steps for long exposure night photography:
1. Plan your long exposure photography at night in advance
Planning your location and considering the subject matter you want to capture before embarking in low light conditions can help steer you towards success rather than unaware wandering in the dark.
Careful planning is key for long exposure photography at night, as most situations benefit from good preparation. Be sure to pack extras like batteries, memory cards, warm clothes, and a headlamp for lighting needs!
When planning events such as moon or Milky Way shots, I advise using any style of Astro calendar. A quality example is our Milky Way Calendar, which is also perfect for scheduling night long exposure photographs.
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2. Choose your long exposure night sky composition
Employing your headlamp or flashlight to locate the parts you want in your composition. If you wish to capture a extended direct exposure of the stars, using an program like Photopills will aid you in finding and predicting the motion of the Milky Way.
Check our guide on techniques for arranging visual elementshere.
3. Set your camera on a tripod to take long exposures at night
Establish your tripod by confirming that it is steady in a protected location and mount your camera onto your tripod. This is fundamental for avoiding any unintended impacts, such as vibrations, if you wish to capture sharper visuals.
4. Adjust the basic long exposure night photography settings
Reduce the luminosity of your LCD screen to avoid underexposing your images, ensure you are shooting in Raw and Manual mode, turn off the image stabilization of your lens, and attach the shutter release or activate the delay mode in your camera.
5. Set your ISO and Aperture
As we delve into below, these adjustments will fluctuate as per the circumstances. They assume a central part in prolonged uncovered night photography.
6. Focus on your long expo night shot
Possibly the most testing part of conducting long exposure photography at night relates to focusing accurately. While the method may differ based on the subject matter ( focusing to photograph car trails has a separate approach than focusing on the milky way), getting the focus precisely right is particularly important during low-light situations. Be sure to disable the Automatic Focus feature once establishing the correct focus.
7. Calculate the shutter speed
The shutter speed is the most crucial setting in long exposure photography at night focused on subjects with low light, and it’ll be reliant on the item being photographed, ambient lighting conditions, and the goals. Below we’ll delve into the ideal shutter speed for nighttime long exposure photography as per the scene.
8. Take a test shot of your night sky image
Utilizing a shutter release or your camera’s integrated delay mode can help avoid any shaking. Also, if you’re shooting with a DSLR, I suggest activating the mirror lockup to minimize the vibrations.
9. Check the test shot to make sure that the settings are correct
Don’t forget to check the focus,histogram, and composition once you have taken your initial photo. If you’re shooting the stars, zoom in to verify that they’re sharp, especially in the outer regions.
10. Take your final long exposure night photo
Recalibrate settings if necessary, capture, and appreciate the magic of extending exposures at night!
These are the fundamental steps to perform long exposure at nighttime, but depending on your circumstances, equipment, and conditions, you may need to change or omit some steps. The best approach to finding your workflow is through practice and patience.
Bear in mind that huge disparities exist between accomplishing long exposure night street photography, like capturing photos of light trails at nighttime, and taking photos of the stars in a totally dark environment. Consequently, the basic settings (ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed) will vary depending on the long exposure night photography being undertaken.
Long exposure night sky photography settings
The optimum camera adjustments for long exposure photography rely on the illumination conditions and the subject that you’re capturing; the key is to have the accurate exposure and to record the subject as per your preferred depiction.
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ISO for long exposure night photography
ISO is a pivotal setting when undertaking extended exposure night photography. Often, photographing at night implies generating digital grain in your images because of high ISO’s. To establish the appropriate ISO, you should take into account certain factors:
- Your camera: It is essential to understand the limits of your camera to prevent digital noise in your photos. Generally, if you are shooting with an entry-level camera, don’t raise your ISO above 3200. If, however, you’re using a top-of-the-line camera, you can handle the noise up to ISO 6400 or perhaps even higher in the latest professional models.
- Ambient light: If you’re in an urban area or location with external lights, the light pollution will be intense, so you can use a mid-range ISO like 400-800 to prevent overexposing the highlights. If you are shooting the stars, you can set higher ISOs like 3200-6400. Keep the moonlight in mind too and adjust your ISO accordingly.
Do not hesitate to utilize high ISOs within your camera`s parameters, and be sure to review our guideto avoiding digital noise in your images and the best noise reduction software in case you need to remove noise. I presently use Topaz DeNoise AI.
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Aperture in long exposure photography at nighttime
Unlike daytime prolonged exposure photography, a wide aperture is usually needed while shooting long exposure night pictures in most situations. Night photography necessitates using a faster aperture to gather more light with your camera sensor.
Choose the widest diameter of your lens’ aperture if you’re doing astrophotography, such as f1.8 or f2.8. If you’re shooting long exposures at night in cities, you can close your aperture to f5.6, f8 or even f11 when external lights are strongly illuminated.
Shutter speed for long exposure night photography
As we mentioned earlier, shutter speed is key for low-light photography at night. The shutter speed you set should correspond to your subject:
- Light Trails: Employ an exposure longer than 30 seconds to capture additional paths in your photograph, but be watchful not to overexpose the highlights.
- Star Trails: You have two options for capturing star movement – taking an ultra-long exposure over several hours to record the trails in a single photo, or stacking multiple shorter 20-30 second exposures of the stars. More details are available in our Star trails photography tutorial.
- Fireworks: Employ a shutter speed somewhere between 2-10 seconds to seize the magnificence of extended light trails. You can stack numerous images in Photoshop to exhibit diverse fireworks in the identical image.
- Milky Way: Utilize the NPF standard elucidated in our Milky Way photography guide to comprehend the maximum shutter velocity you must establish relative to the focal distance and camera you are employing. It will likely lie somewhere between 12-30 seconds if you’re employing a wide lens. This is exceptionally critical for capturing sharp stars instead of streaks.
- Northern Illumination: With faint Northern Illumination, you can employ a shutter speed between 8-15 seconds. If the Northern Illumination are more active, you can utilize a faster shutter speed to capture the motion of the Aurora, between 1-5 seconds. You can check our guide to discover the best shutter speed for Northern Illumination photography.
If you are acquainted with the fundamentals of long exposure night photography, I suggest attempting some tracked astrophotography using one of the highly rated star trackers on the market. The difference in quality that you’ll observe in your images will be massive!
Long exposure night photography tips
We’ve covered all the essentials for conducting night sky long exposure photography, but in order to help you take your night images to an advanced level, I’d like to include a few additional tips for long exposure photography during nighttime:
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- Invest in a quality tripod: While seemingly evident, you`re highly likely to return home with blurred photos without the use of a stable tripod. You can check recommendations for the best tripod for extended exposure photography at nighthere.
- Utilize a capable camera: While a superior camera will not necessarily develop one`s abilities as a photographer, it certainly can offer advantages for nighttime photography, especially when capturing the Milky Way. I previously examined optimal models in this .
- Add stationary aspects to your structure: If you are taking long exposure night photos to capture light movements, include static elements like constructions, rocks, or mountains to make your arrangements more fascinating.
- Capture in Raw: To obtain files with the best quality and sufficient data to edit in post-production.
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- Use a long exposure calculator: You can find numerous helpful applications to determine the shutter speed for long exposure photography at night. You can verify how to employ them with a pair of illustrations in our long exposure photography guide.
- Take advantage of the moonlight: When you’re snapping the Milky Way or doing long exposure night photography for the stars, you need to avoid shooting when the moon is too luminous, but the moon can sometimes illuminate your long exposure landscapes and create a nicer ambiance.
- Decrease the noise in post-production: Don’t eliminate your images if they are noisy. Instead, you can use any of the top noise reduction software to reduce the noise while modifying your long exposure night photos.
- Remember to bring warm clothes and a headlamp: Even hot days can be quite cold after sunset, and feeling constantly cold while night shooting photos is unpleasant. A headlamp is key, not just for safety but also to aid focusing and highlighting scene elements if needed.
- Employ an intervalometer: An intervalometer is a handy device while doing long exposure night photography, especially if you’re planning to shoot time-lapses or star trails. It is similar to a shutter release but with additional features and allows you to customize settings and to program shooting intervals. You can find many inexpensive models online.
Long exposure night photography ideas
Motivation is crucial when embarking on long exposure night photography. Sometimes, it’s difficult to foresee the outcomes that can be achieved, so, in the interim, all that`s needed are some ideas of long exposure pictures at night to envision the assorted graphics that can be produced.
However, I encourage making an effort to try something different. While copying is acceptable when beginning in prolonged exposure photography, capturing an original and personal photo is much more rewarding.
Below, you can check our selection of ideas related to night sky photography with long exposures:
STAR TRAILS PHOTOGRAPHY
This is one of the most spectacular long exposure techniques at night. To learn how to capture them, I highly recommend checking our guide for star trails photography.
Long exposure night SKy photography examples – Milky Way
Long exposure night photography ideas – Car Trails
Long exposure night SKy photography examples – Fireworks
Long exposure photography at night ideas – light painting
Long exposure night Sky photography ideas – City Lights
Long exposure night SKy photography examples – Northern Lights
Long exposure photography at night ideas – Meteors
Long exposure night photography ideas – Lightning
Long exposure night SKy photography examples – Light Shows
Long exposure night photography ideas – fireflies
Conclusion
Capturing long exposure night photographs is no simple feat. There are numerous variables that may seem daunting, but by following the straightforward steps and tips for long exposure night photography outlined in this guide, you’ll pave the way to dipping your toes into this wonderful photographic genre.
I hope this guide helped provide an understanding of the process for undertaking night photography with longer exposures and that you succeed in capturing all the long exposure night images you desire.
I also recommend reviewing our other long exposure photography guides:
- Ultimate Guide to Long exposure photography
- Daylight exposures that extend over a long period of time
- Landscape photography using long exposures
If you have any inquiries relating to long exposure at night, do not hesitate to leave a comment below!
