Five tips for great night shots with or without a tripod

It's the magic hour, that half an hour window of time after the sun goes down. The sky turns to dusk. An amazing cobalt-blue colored atmosphere reveals itself in the twilight. Lights twinkle in the city and street lamps flicker on for their evening shift. This may be the time that you think to yourself, "Wow! I wish I could capture this scene with my camera."

Wish no more. Grab your camera, pull over somewhere that inspires you, and get ready to take your own postcard-worthy night pics. In this article, I'm going to show you how this can be done, with or without a tripod.

Is your camera night-worthy?

First of all, you must have a decent camera. Decent means that it should be at least an SLR with shutter or aperture priority capabilities and creative modes. The fact is, of course, that good night shots can be taken with even the least capable cameras, but an SLR will provide you with a lot more options.

If you're a professional photographer, you may be able to master this technique in manual settings with great results. But if you're just an amateur or hobbyist, listen up. While it is partially true that an expensive camera takes better images, a talented photographer can do this regardless of how average their equipment may be.

It's all about timing

Time is of the essence. The magic hour occurs only once each day and only for a short time. Either scope out a scene that galvanizes you in advance, or instantly pull over somewhere that offers you an opportunity to work quickly. You don't have very many precious minutes to waste before the sky turns black. I would suggest, for the purpose of learning, to choose a street scene with any combination of buildings, cars, lamps or significant architectural objects (like bridges). Water is awesome because it provides reflection of light bouncing back. Once you have chosen the subject matter, grab that camera and let's roll.

If you have a tripod, that's great. Bring it along and set it up quickly. Pay attention to your composition. You want to capture just enough of the sky, lighting and street that your image will be interesting. A common mistake is to focus too much on the sky and not enough on the details. Don't worry, your sky will be noticed even if there's only a hint of it in the image, as you can see in Figure A.

For the sake of learning, I want you to try pointing the camera right at the street (never mind those unsightly cars or people walking by... we'll take care of that). Allow a little bit of street lamps or fixed objects to stay in your range of focus. If you have a cable that permits you to have "hands-free" clicking of the shutter, then you're probably a pro -- or well on your way to becoming one. But if you're not a pro, don't worry, you can still do this.

Assuming you don't own a tripod or don't happen to carry one around in the car with you, find something else that is solid. A retaining wall, a trash can, a park bench, a pole, or anything fixed. You have to avoid motion at all costs with the camera, but not with your subject matter. Motion is actually a good thing when shooting an awesome dusk photograph because it lends interest and movement to the photo. Once you find that solidity, set the camera up and look through the lens. Prepare your subject matter quickly. You can move around a lot more once you master the art of the quick setup.

Don't be a flasher

If you have an automatic flash, turn it off! Flash will not help you achieve the results you want. We have all been trained that darkness equals needing flash. Not so. It will be better without it. Once you master the art of night scenes, you may be able to experiment with flash for some really cool tricks.

Popping the flash on a person after taking a long exposure, for example, is a really neat effect. But let's not worry about that or confuse ourselves with flash for the moment. Find the off switch and leave it at that. Also, remember that a flash only reaches out 20 feet or so. If you're shooting a building a thousand feet a way, the flash will have no effect whatsoever.

Set your settings

Next, make sure the digital ISO is set to a faster speed. In layman's terms, when we once used film, you would have chosen a film speed of about 400 for dark scenes. That formula still works with digital technology. If you make a mistake and leave it on a daylight setting, such as 160 -- no worries. The camera will adjust the length of time it takes to let enough light in for a properly exposed photo.

Set your SLR camera to aperture priority. If you don't know what that means, well the basic concept of photography is that the greater the opening, the more light you are allowing into the camera. You need to be somewhat familiar with your lenses and with the dials on the camera. If your lens is a 2.8 or 3.5, you will be able to allow light into the camera faster. A fast lens is one with a smaller number. It usually has a wider opening. Once you figure out what the aperture priority means, set it on the lowest number (like 2.8 if it goes down that far). And then click! The camera will choose the length of time that it needs to take the exposure. The darker it is outside, the longer it will take. Your camera should have a built-in meter. Don't necessarily follow that as if it were one of the Ten Commandments. I like to keep my camera set at about a quarter to half a stop over the halfway mark.

Bracket

There is a term the pros know as bracketing. This is good practice for the aspiring photographer. It will teach you how to know your camera and what settings work best. Bracketing means taking each shot with the meter in the middle as the first shot with one stop over and one stop under as the second and third frame of the same image. Try this, because sometimes the middle meter that the camera chooses is not the most accurate.

A few tricks

Once you have tried a few frames, have fun with this. Wait for a streak of cars to approach and click the shutter. Don't press it as they go by; snap as they are approaching. Once they race by and the camera is done shooting the frame, you should see a really cool effect of the streaking cars.

If there are people in the way, give them the disappearing act. Did you know that if you take a long enough exposure with your camera, you can actually make people disappear? You don't have to be a magician to try this trick. Remember basic principles. Still objects will remain in the photograph. Moving objects will show up only as a blur. If you leave the shutter open long enough, the motion will actually cause them to disappear. I have used this trick many times with great results, especially when shooting scenes where it is almost impossible to take the people out of the photo any other way. If someone lingers too long (like if they are sitting on a bench relaxing and not walking) then they are going to be your picture. Keep that in mind when composing your subject.

With that said, one more trick I would recommend is your camera's self-timer mode. This is particularly helpful if you don't have a stable object to place your camera on. Don't handhold your camera. It is too difficult to keep completely steady and you will not achieve the desired results. One exception: sometimes you can stabilize yourself and your camera against a stiff streetlamp or tree. Take a deep breath before you click the frame, and do not move! Don't breath for the entire second, two seconds or five that the camera is sucking in the light. Once you hear it click to the next frame, you can let out your breath. This tactic has worked for me a few times when I didn't have a tripod or a pedestal. You will have to master this because it is difficult not to flinch for a full few seconds.

Lastly, if you're feeling creative, then purchase a star filter. They come in 4 points, 6, 8 and more. I would say four is adequate. Star filters are nice for candles, street lamps, and subtle lights on bridges or windows in buildings. Not necessary, but nice to have. Like playing with too many fonts on a page, don't overdo the star filter. Once in a while, the effect is magical. Done on every picture and the effect is just overused.

Five tips for fabulous pics

Since you can't bring this information with you while you're on the fly -- remember five important tips.

• First: take advantage of the magic hour. Indigo Blue is the sky for you.
• Second: work quickly setting up the scene and finding adequate stabilization for your camera.
• Third: choose interesting subject matter.
• Fourth: Use aperture priority.
• And fifth: bracket.

That's it! You should be well on your way to stellar, award-winning photographs. I'll look for your samples at the postcard boutique. Good luck.

Anne Violette is a freelance writer and photographer in Delray Beach, Florida. Find her at http://www.ifreelance.com/pro/24979 or http://www.photomaine.com.