Before you start shooting night photos, here are the three most important things to remember:
Disable your flash
Bring out breathtaking detail in low-light conditions by using a long exposure (the time your camera
takes to collect light).
Select Flash from the capture menu, then select
Flash off. Press Menu/Ok.
Use a tripod
Long exposures require you to hold your camera perfectly still to avoid blurring. A tripod really helps.
If you can't get your hands on one, you can try bracing yourself against a stationary object like a tree,
or a wall.
Use your timer
Even when a camera is on a tripod, your finger pressing the trigger can cause enough movement to blur
a photo. You can avoid touching the camera altogether by using the timer.
Select Timer from the capture menu and press Menu/Ok.
The key to getting a successful night shot like this is wide aperture, low ISO, and a slow shutter speed.
Aperture
If your camera has manual settings, you can widen the aperture to allow more light to come through
the camera lens (see above), which is vital at night when there isn't much light to begin with.
Select either the Av (Aperture priority) or M (Manual)
shooting mode on your camera to adjust aperture. The widest opening for most lenses is f2.8.
Learn more about aperture, lighting, and flash.
ISO
A camera's ISO number dictates its sensitivity to light. A higher ISO (a "fast" ISO) will make your
camera more light-sensitive, but will add more grain (or "noise") to your photo. If your camera allows
you to adjust ISO, set it low (somewhere around 50 or 100) for sharp detail in low-light. This setting
will increase exposure time slightly, but will produce a much richer photo.
Shutter speed
Because you're not using your flash, your shutter speed has to be a lot slower to get enough light.
The shutter speed in this shot was at least a few seconds-pretty slow in camera terms.
Select either the Tv (Shutter priority) or M (Manual)
shooting mode on your camera to adjust shutter speed. The slowest shutter speeds on most cameras range
from a few seconds to a "bulb" setting (shutter remains open as long as you want).
Several HP digital cameras feature a Night Scenery shooting mode.
This automatically disables the flash and uses a long exposure time.
Experiment with your camera settings and shoot a lot of photos. Soon, you'll get a feel for which settings are
best for each low-light situation. Here are some quick guidelines for how each of these conditions will affect
your picture taking.
Dusk and dawn
The early evening and morning hours are a perfect time to catch a nighttime glow from the city skyline,
or the bright moon. And because there is some light in the sky, shutter speed can be set a little higher,
lowering the chance of blur.
Evening
Darker is better when you want to get strong contrast in your photos. But the darker it is, the longer
the exposure will have to be. The result is more breathtaking shots.
City streets
Significant amounts of light can be emitted in bustling public places, reducing the need for really
slow shutter speeds. Use this to your advantage when taking night photos.
Here are some suggested exposure times for different types of subjects:
Christmas lights: 1/4 to 3 seconds (pictured) of exposure.
Cityscapes: 2 to 30 seconds of exposure.
Moving water or fountains: 2 to 5 seconds of exposure.
Portraits: 3 seconds with flash. With some HP cameras you can use the Night Portrait shooting mode, which automatically adjusts your shutter speed for night shots and adds a quick flash at the end of the exposure to capture your subject in detail.
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