Taking a great picture in poor lighting condition can be an easy task when you know how to work your camera. Since night photography involves longer exposure periods, equipment-wise we require for night photography a camera capable of supplying us with longer exposure periods as well as changes in the ISO level. It is better if the camera is manually operated with an external flash and a handy tripod.
Let us proceed to a number of terms and definitions we have to consider when filming at night.
Nikon D3000
Stability of camera. Long exposure require the camera to be stable at all times. Using a tripod is advisable and in its absence, lay the camera on a stable surface.
Shutter. The shutter determines the exposure period, affects the colors and field depth of the picture. With an open shutter we may notice effects of spreading lights. Bright lights also result in spreading. The shutter speed is the length of time the camera's sensor is exposed to the light. It is somewhat more complicated in professional cameras where the shutter is always open unless otherwise defined. It is advised to take a few shots with different exposures and then select the best.
External flash. External flash will result in better performance than a built in one. We can operate the flash at wish. In a smoky place for instance we shall refrain from using a flash as the smoke will return the light to the lens resulting in a blurred picture.
Focus. Cameras generally use focus according to contrast. In poor lighting conditions it is difficult for the camera to determine the distance from the object and find contrast in the picture. In these conditions we will prefer manual focus or fix it at an infinity status when we take landscape pictures. A hyper focal space is the distance between the closest point we have with a focus to the farthest one.
White balance. We can understand colors as from their sources of light which is measured in Kelvin units. It is not advisable to depend on the automatic status of the camera and it is better to use the RAW status of the camera.
Composition. The creative element is very important, locating the frame and angle and perspective. Changes can be made later in the dark room or Photoshop.
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