A week of night photography tips…
Since blue hour and night photography are my favorite times to shoot, I’ll be posting a week of night photography tips, techniques and creative effects with you, called digital Deb after Dark! I’ll be sharing tips here on the blog, on Google+, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Hashtag #debafterdark
My first tip is to start with a sturdy tripod, and reliable tripod head. Support is essential to making great photos with exposure that extends from seconds, minutes to hours of time. The support system needs to be rock solid reliable for long exposure, HDR, star sequences, or time-lapse shots shots. As I do much of my photography work with a tripod, it has to meet a variety of height requirements, from close to the ground to capture a low point of view, yet quickly adapt to eye level. It also needs to fold up quickly as I move on to the next destination. Lightweight yet sturdy is key, as I carry a tripod all day and night when traveling.
There’s nothing worse than a tripod head that sags, resulting in blurry pictures, or a stiff, heavy tripod with leg segments that are difficult to adjust. I’m sure we’ve all witnessed photographers struggle to set up a tripod, and attempt to adjust a complicated tripod head to shoot a subject that is by then, long gone. A lightweight, sturdy, easy to use tripod that you can set up quickly helps you create fantastic photographs.
A recent trip to south Florida coincided with a beautiful full moon rising in South Beach, Miami Beach. A vintage lifeguard stand makes an interesting foreground element along the Atlantic Ocean. 30 seconds of exposure conveys a sense of motion with the clouds, yet allows the stars to shine through. With a full moon and lights from the city, night can look like like day!
On a side note, I’m trying out two Induro tripods that I’m very excited about. One is the Induro CGT114, a lightweight travel tripod, and the other is the Induro CT113 with the BHD2 tripod head. They are similarly sturdy and lightweight with different features. I’ll keep you posted on my experience through photographs as I work with them over the next few months. I’ll definitely give the tripods a workout during the next workshop I’m teaching in Las Vegas!
Have fun shooting!
#debafterdark
Love your work! I have a question about tripod. Everyone recommends a sturdy tripod for long exposure, and also a light weight tripod. Can a light weight tripod be sturdy in a windy situation? I live in the san francisco bay area and interested in doing long exposure, evening bay area pictures, but it’s often windy. I have an old Manfrotto tripod that’s sturdy but weighs a ton. I’m not sure if I should invest in something lighter. What do you balance between lightweight and sturdy?
Thanks!
Hi Rebecca, wind can be a real issue, I’ve shot in San Francisco before and understand your concerns. I am able to weight my tripod from a hook in the center which provides stability in windy situations. In that case, I may not fully extend the tripod and hang my backpack from the center which makes it rock solid. The Induro’s I mentioned feature a retractable hook which comes in handy for windy situations. Thanks so much for your kind words!
The blue hour in Havana…that city and your technique are made for each other…sigh…so when are you leading this tour again? Are you setting the white balance by adjusting the Kelvin temperature? If yes, generally what temperature are you settling at? Still frozen to the ground up here. Thank you. JH
I’s love to go to Cuba again! It’s a photographer’s paradise. Yes, that’s another blog post, but set the white balance for the mood of the photo. Notice the warmth of the sunset photo compared to the cool blue of the cityscape. I like to use degrees Kelvin, (the cityscape is about 4000K) but you can use a setting on the camera that works for you. Compact cameras can produce amazing blue hour photos with Fluorescent. Hope your area warms up soon!
Thank you Deborah, and sorry I finally realized I commented to the wrong photo. All yours are beautiful! I SEE the warmth in the sunset photo and the cool blue in the cityscape and I get the connection with modifying the white balance. I struggle with connecting those things with the “mood”. I know I’ve looked thru my viewfinder at sunsets and modified the Kelvin degrees to where I liked it but never understood what mood I was trying to create. This has always bugged me, maybe my interpretation of “mood” is off? I’ll stop here, but any thoughts you have on this would be greatly appreciated!!