How to take good night photos?
How can I take better night photos with my DSLR? I'm going to D. C. Soon and I plan on taking many night shots. I have a Nikon D3000.
Added (1). Thanks for all the good answers. Unfortunately I will not be able to bring my tripod because it is a school trip and I won't have enough time to set up a tripod and carry it around all day.
Tripod, remote release/self timer, full manual setting, not too high ISO.
Since getting the right exposure can be between tricky and impossible, do an exposure sequence (-2, 0, +2 EV works for me) and either select the best shot or do a (gentle) HDR.
I'm assuming you're looking for building photos in DC at night? Time exposure is the best way.
For example this shot.
Tripod. Shot with: Canon Rebel XS 1000D
Lens: Tamron 18-200
Star Filter
Manual: 10 Sec, f/10, ISO 100
Focal Length: 31
Those are some specs to consider.
Another way to get clear night time exposures is set your aperture at f/10 and let the camera decide the shutter speed. Set your ISO at either 100 or 200 to avoid noise in the darker areas of the shot.
Then, mounted on a tripod use your 10-second self timer because even the motion of you pressing your shutter release will cause blur.
Try that.
Use a tripod and a low shutter speed, lower iso too
You may want to take some of your shots at twilight. The eye has more dynamic range than the camera. That means that night scenes that look impressive to the eye can be disappointing in the camera with overexposed highlights and/or blacked out shadow areas.
Ken Rockwell gives a good explanation of this phenomenon here:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/...timing.htm
Put it on flash
First, you will definitely need a tripod.
Second, put your camera in Manual and turn the VR and AF on the lens to OFF.
Third, have your camera set to its highest resolution and use ISO 100.
Fourth, for exposures of up to 30 seconds use your camera's self-timer to release the shutter.
I use and recommend this site for low light exposures: http://www.calculator.org/...osure.aspx
I used the Scene 'City skyline in distance or floodlit buildings' and ISO 200 for these pictures of the Louisville skyline as seen across the Ohio River from the Indiana shore:
100mm @ f11, exposure of 30 seconds.
200mm @ f11, exposure of 30 seconds.
If you use ISO 100 you'd be shooting at f8 for 30 seconds.