Night photography at Dutch Lake.

Photographed from the pier at Dutch Lake Campground.

Shooting landscapes can be broken down into three main times, although each of those has categories of its own.  There is the golden hour, which is basically just at sunset and sunrise.  This is a favoured time for many because of the warm lighting associated with the angle of the sun and shadows are full of details.  The day has strong light and provides good contrast; for the hiker, this is the time many shots are taken since that is when you are at that particular point.  Then there is night time.

Many of my best photos have been taken at night.  Cities may look grey and somewhat lackluster during the day, but often come alive at night offering a totally new perspective of them.  Even areas that are not directly illuminated by lights benefit from light from the moon and light from populated areas, often being reflected by clouds.  Even the atmosphere returns light to the ground; each tiny suspended particle bounces light back towards the Earth.  Think of a great spotlight sending its beam heavenward; the reason you can see its path is because of the particles in the way reflecting the light.

It takes a modest amount of planning to photograph at night.  I bring a tripod (preferably a fairly solid one with a quick-release camera mounting plate), a flashlight, and my camera equipment.  I will sometimes bring a remote release device so that I can make exposures longer than 30 seconds.  You can buy small infrared remotes for your camera for around $30.  Not all cameras can respond to these so be sure yours does before picking one up.

Taking the actual photo requires setting up the camera and tripod and adjusting the lens.  It may be harder to do this than you think because often you can't see your equipment.  This is where the flashlight comes in.  If you don't have one you can always preset your camera before going out; it may be hard to adjust settings though if changes are needed.  I like to shoot with low ISOs - high values tend to cause a lot of noise, especially with small sensors and in dark areas (a strong likelihood given what you are taking a picture of).  You may want to turn on "long shutter speed noise reduction."  This feature may or may not be available on your camera; it kicks in usually after 3 or 4 seconds.  The weird thing about it is what happens after you take a picture.  The camera locks up for a while, usually proportionate to the exposure length, as the built-in computer processes the image.

I often set my camera to spot meter and read light coming off various brighter areas.  For example, I didn't want the clouds in the background glowing white in the above image and I metered off them to determine an exposure value.  If you want to know more about spot metering look at my you-tube post on the subject (click here).  Once everything was ready to go I took my photos.  The nice thing about digital cameras is the ability to review what you did; play your shots and adjust any camera parameter necessary.  The shot above was done at 30 seconds with an f/2.8 aperture and an ISO of 100.

Thanks for reading.   www.ericspix.com   Eric Svendsen