How to take pictures in low-light with a Nikon D3000?

I just got a Nikon D3000 and so far it's been really useful especially because I'm a beginner in photography. I haven't had much experience with DSLR cameras. Whenever I try to take a picture outside at night time, it takes forever to take the picture, if it even takes it at all. What setting does the camera need to be on for it to be able to take nighttime pictures?

Up your ISO (not over 800, I'd suggest), shoot at wide open & switch your VR on. You *do* have a VR lens, right? I'm good for a full second hand-held. Not bad for an old coot.

Adjust the iso settings on your camera. If it is stringt black night time out, set it to around 100 iso, that will take brighter pictures, but if there's any light source near by, it will be extra bright. Also the lower the iso, the less quality the picture. So try to find a good balance between brightness and quality.

Well you need a tripod. And probably a large f stop so like f/3.5 or so and a long shutter speed.

If you're shooting sceneries at night, I would put the camera on tripod, and follow these steps:

1) rotate mode dial to P or A
2) make sure ISO is not over 400 (to prevent grainy pictures)
3) set aperture at around f/8 (shutter speed doesn't matter since your on a tripod)
4) focus, and shoot (if the camera can't autofocus then use manual).