Photography is an art and the real artist is the one who does it flawlessly. This includes your ability to master your position and their subtleties. The essence of any image you see is illumination; This becomes easier when there is plenty of light around you. In any case, it requires a large system to capture things in low light. This blog will introduce you to some stunts that will help you get the perfect picture without using a flashlight.
1. Use a large lens
The right lens is needed in low light conditions and that lens is a prime lens. Prime lenses have a fixed focal length (it cannot be zoomed in or out) and a wide aperture. The prime’s wide aperture allows more light to reach the camera sensor than the zoom lens, which means you can get better exposure for your low-light shots. If you’re taking a shot that doesn’t move a lot, use a prime lens that has built-in optical image stabilisation, if your camera model can take advantage of it. If your camera/lens has internal image stabilisation, it’s time to turn it on!
2. Slowing down the shutter speed
Shutter speed refers to how long the image sensor is active to capture the image on the smartphone. As long as the shutter is open, it records more light from the scene.
Shutter speed is measured in seconds. A shutter speed of 1/30 second means that the image will be captured for the first 30th time of a second and 1/3200 second faster! The shutter speed of some smartphone cameras can be as slow as 30 seconds, meaning the image is captured for a full 30 seconds.
This means it can receive more light resulting in brighter images. But there is a catch. Be absolutely steadfast. The slightest movement and the picture becomes blurry. And even if you can hold your smartphone still, anything within the frame will appear blurry. It’s not ideal but it can be used to capture some really interesting photos.
3. Add an external light source
Perhaps you will find yourself in a place where there is no light. Maybe you go camping in nature. So what? Make your own light. Fire is an integral part of camping and can be a great source of light. Other things like phones and lanterns can do exactly the same thing, but only for a limited area. Several well-positioned flashlights can actually greatly enhance your outdoor photos at night.
Whatever you do, do your best to avoid using the phone’s flash. It gives an uninterrupted illumination which makes the picture look flat and awesome. Reflective surfaces also become a problem as they create glare and hot spots in your photos. Rather use the tips given in this article and avoid using flash at any cost.
4. Try a Long Exposure
Adjusting the camera exposure of your smartphone will definitely help you to take better photos at night. To adjust exposure, you will need to set the ISO of the camera. ISO standards are usually adjustable when operating in manual mode, although this is not always the case. Let me teach you more about manual photography and its benefits because it can change your photography for the better.
ISO determines the sensitivity of the sensor to light. Low ISO means lower sensitivity, and therefore a deeper image. If you want to make the image brighter, you have to increase the ISO. You need to use your eyes to do justice and get to the correct ISO level. All you have to remember is that you want to keep the details in the spotlight. Also look for grain in the shade. If the ISO is too high, you will start to see annoying texture in your photos. You need to avoid this. Instead, you want to make sure the shadow parts of your image are really detailed in the dark and bright areas.
This will be really useful when you are editing as it will be enough to adjust shadows and highlights to improve the appearance of your photo. If you post more, you will lose the details.
5. Increase ISO Settings
A good rule of thumb is to shoot at a minimum ISO. When shooting in low light, your first reaction should be to raise the ISO to a higher number. But higher ISO will add sound to your photos, especially in dark areas.
For older cameras, see how your camera can handle such large ISO numbers online. Newer DSLRs can handle huge ISO numbers without significant image distortion. Again, it’s all about balance. You need to zoom in on this dark area to make sure the noise doesn’t damage the image.
It is helpful to remember that noise is better than blurring. You can reduce noise in the post-process, but fading will be more complicated.
6. Shoot in RAW
Of course, shooting in RAW will produce higher quality, sharper images than shooting in JPEG, so if you can shoot in RAW, do it. Also, you will have more post-processing options if you shoot with RAW.
In RAW files, the camera contains much more information than standard JPEG information. The information after the operation is very useful. The more information you have, the more you can explain.
7. Experiment and Practise
As I have gestured above, it is all about balance. When working with low-light photography, you’ll be compromising on a set. These agreements will be clear to you only when you feel them for yourself. This is because there are many ways to deal with low light without changing the style of the photo you want to capture. So find out which one is best for you and try the others because they will come in handy someday!
