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Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Digital Capture After Dark – New Book

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Digital Capture After Dark

Digital Capture After Dark is a new book from Amanda Quintenz-Fiedler and Philipp Scholz Rittermann.

“Their coverage goes beyond the “how to” of capturing digital images at night and addresses the “why to” of long-exposure photography, including the importance of understanding how we think and see at night compared with during the day.

Also discussed are hands-on image editing techniques that will help photographers prepare their images for output. Detailed descriptions cover color balancing, expanding dynamic range, controlling flare, dealing with noise, converting to black-and-white, toning, and much more.”

Digital Capture After Dark retails for $39.95; however, it is currently available for pre-order for $24.31 on Amazon.com. It is also available in a Kindle edition for $9.99.

 

Fundamentals of Shooting Stars

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Ever try to get a cool shot of the night sky and failed miserably?  If so, this video from Ben Canales is worth a watch.

I’ve never tried to capture these types of shots, but Ben sure makes enticing.  Of course, I’m not a real fan of cold weather (apparently, when the sky is the clearest).

[via Fstoppers]

Shooting Big Cities at Night While Traveling Light

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Serenity

You’re in a big, dreamy city at night. Mesmerized by the bright lights contrasting with the beautiful, deep blackness of the night sky, you want to take pictures and capture the stunning gorgeousness before you. However, if you don’t have a Full-Frame DSLR like a Canon 5D MK II or Nikon D700, then chances are that you will have a harder time capturing cleaner images as the smaller sensors don’t have the pixel density or algorithms programmed in to them to deliver the shots that you want. Here’s a couple of things to remember when you go out shooting at night and to get the image almost perfect the first time around with little post-process development.

The following article has been written after many trials with a Canon XSi and Olympus E-510. The former has an APS-C sized sensor while the latter is a 4/3rds camera. Each has their own limitations and differences that can be overcome while traveling with a small kit. I never shoot on Auto: it’s either Manual, Aperture, or Program for me. [Read more…]

Night Photography

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Here’s one of my more recent Knoxville photography night shots. A shot of the Henley Street Bridge with Christmas lights all lit up. I’ve really been enjoying night exposures over the past several months. You can see a few more here.

So what do you need to take photos at night? A good tripod is a must have, along with a remote shutter release (or set the timer). Most of all, you need patience. Night shots are different. Exposures are much longer. The shot above was a 30 second exposure at f/20. Also consider reading a bit of the Night Photography Blog and some recent recommendations of books on the subject.

Most importantly . . . have fun: