Setting up your camera
Simple steps to take for successful shot
Flash
You can use flash to blast a foreground object with light and leave the background dark, or opt for ‘slow-sync’ flash, which combines a burst of flash with a slower shutter speed to record background detail as well. Aperture Priority mode uses slow-sync by default, but this can lead to blurred photos if the shutter speed becomes too slow. To avoid this, you can restrict the shutter speeds available to the camera using the Custom Functions menu.
ISO
You can use a high ISO sensitivity to get faster shutter speeds, and in brightly lit areas of towns and cities this can make handheld photography at night possible – especially when twinned with an image-stabilized lens. But in order to reduce noise, achieve clean colours and exploit the dynamic range of the camera’s sensor, there’s no substitute for setting a low ISO, such as ISO400 or 800, and using a tripod.
exposure mode
in many situations you can shoot in your preferred exposure mode and the camera will take a meter reading as normal. Take a test shot, check the histogram and make any exposure adjustments before taking another shot. If shooting in total darkness the exposure may run longer than 30 seconds, and ’30’ will flash in the display. You’ll either have to increase the ISO, use a wider aperture to let more light in, or switch to Bulb mode and time the exposure yourself.
Aperture
wide apertures mean more light to make an exposure. So lenses with fast maximum apertures, such as f/1.4, are a good choice for handheld night photography, as you’ll be able to use faster shutter speeds for sharper pictures. Narrow apertures have benefits though: choose f/16 and points of light become stars…