Assignment A06: Night and Low Light Photography Directions

Objective:

To illustrate and capture the city at night. To produce a series of photographs that can only be made in near darkness, in which the light itself is the subject.

Materials:

DSLR camera, your choice of lens, 400 to 800 ISO or higher if your camera allows setting on digital camera. Optional: tripod or other means of holding the camera steady.

Note: You do not need to steady the camera for every shot in this assignment; camera movement at night can be fun.

Procedure:

Begin shooting at least 20 minutes past sunset and stop no later than 20 minutes before dawn. Refer to the chart for basic exposure settings (Kodak PDF Download Kodak PDF). It is almost impossible to meter light sources themselves at night with any accuracy. Most Photographers refer to charts like this or create their own charts after extensive trial and error testing. You would be well advised to bracket your exposures at least +/- 1 stop in full-stop increments.

Try to choose areas where there are many lights, especially lights of different colors. The Santa Monica Pier and the Third Street Promenade are just two examples (though could be considered cop-outs as to locations to shoot).

For the most part, you will not be able to make realistic photos. Let your imagination run and try to come up with fantastic images. Exaggerated camera movements can be very interesting, if completely random. Reflections can make a scene more interesting (rain and fog are great allies in this assignment). Long exposures with lighted objects like automobiles moving through the scene; zooming in or out during long exposure are a few ideas to make the image more exciting.

Commercial storefronts can be interesting at night if the store has an interesting window display that has lights at night. For a scene like this, go up to the window and take a meter reading, set the camera and use this reading when you take the photograph. Now step back and try to find an interesting composition of the storefront, sometimes you can include people walking by for a documentary or "street" photography look.

Internally lit signs can also be interesting. A shot like this could be an old-school movie theater marquee sign that has light behind the letters. This shot must include an internally lit sign, but your composition can contain more of the building the sign is on. Be sure that no lights are shining on the sign. Look for a sign that has a good amount of contrast in its design.

You may also create scenes with colored lights, or candle flames or flashlights waved around in the dark. You may think about “painting” with a beam of light during a long exposure. (Even though I mention painting, what we do not want is "light writing or drawing", paining is the light is illuminating something else to make it interesting.

There are no rules for this assignment, other than experiment and be creative. If you are planning to work on a street, please take a friend to watch your back. Keep your mind on safety at all times.

Don't be boring and just take pictures of cars creating light trails. Include the cars with the trails in an urban or suburban cityscape type photograph.

Note: 2 of your final shots must be an accurate depiction of a night-lit scene. That means proper exposure and no special effects or camera shake.

To Be Turned In:

Your 5 best images (see note above).

Use the file naming protocols, and file structure as described previously.