Night Photography

Well Night Photography has been of major interest with My students this year so here is a few tips and Ideas to help anybody interested in Night time photography also known as star trails


1. Keep warm, take warm clothing and I normally take a flask.


2. A good strong tripod, you don't want and camera shake after a long exposure. Ensure it will hold the weight of your camera. I have seen photographers using really light duty tripods with Canon 5ds.


3. Remote triggers are a must, it means your handling to camera a lot less also certain makes and models won't hold open shutter without them or you holding your finger on the trigger, which if your doing a 10 minute exposure thats a substantial time to hold your finger on there with out shaking the camera or getting cramp.


4. This might seem and obvious one but a really good torch/flashlight more for focusing than anything else. You can do light painting a technique I'll go into at later date.


5. Preplan your shots, check out  locations during the day make sure there is easy access you don't want to be stumbling out in the  dark with out a clue of where your going.


6. Don't use really High f stops this will increase your exposure time drastically mean a much longer night.


7. Pick your night, Make sure it's not too cloudy  a little bit of cloud will really give you some dramatic shots but too much will give you a flat grey sky.
also a lot of moon light will shorten your exposure time but can shorten your star trails in the sky.


8. be creative , look out side the box try new angles, filters etc just play.


This should get you started I'll post some more short technical blogs soon


Cheers.......