Practical Evening Notes

Andy    December 4, 2020

Following Steve´s very interesting and fun practical night (which was far less chaotic that we expected) where he demonstrated a number night time photography techniques Steve’s put the following notes together for us.

If you scroll to the bottom of the page you’ll find some of our member’s images inspired

Practical evening:

         Camera settings – to start with anyway. Once you have your camera set up in like this the important thing is then to experiment to see what effects you can get. Experiment with different light sources and shutter speeds.

  • Shoot in manual mode to have full control over the camera
  • Set ISO to 100 for maximum image quality
  • Set aperture to f11
  • Shutter speed to 5 seconds
  • Use manual focus, turn off image stabilisation as the camera is on a tripod
Image 1
  • Even if you are using a cable/remote release it can be a good idea to set the camera self timer – it gives you a bit of time to get ready before the shutter opens
Image 2

Set up 1:

Image 3
  • Pre-focus on the glass with the lights on, before you work in the dark
  • Using a wine glass or vase with water in it and a torch ‘paint’ with light  behind and around it. Using a coloured gel or piece of tracing paper over the torch can help stop highlights burning out
  • Standing the glass on black fabric or paper can help reduce the chance of distractions being lit up
  • Experiment with other light sources and shutter times

Set up 2:

Image 4
  • Use a reflective surface for the ‘base’ of this one, tin foil, crunched up tinfoil or a mirror
  • Use a watch or piece of jewelry – again focus on this before you turn the lights out
  • I used an app called Pocket Softbox for the blue light in this one and moved LED fairy lights in the image – experiment again with different light sources

Set up 3:

Image 5
  • Place your object on a reflective surface – I used a piece of mirrored perspex
  • Focus on the van
  • The camper van is lit by a torch to the right of the image
  • Use your fairy lights to create light trails

Set up 4:

Image 6
  • Change camera settings – start with an aperture of f18 and a shutter speed of 10 seconds
  • I used my phone screen to light my face
  • This is one exposure, 1st image open phone case, count to 2 close phone case, move, 2nd image open phone case, count to 2 close phone case, move, 3rd image, open phone case, count to 2 close phone case.

Members images…