Complate Tips for Shooting a Night Landscape

A watchtower across a river at night
by Syed Alfandi (www.syedalfandiphotography.com)

Shooting landscapes during the night can make for a stunning photo, sunrise and sunset are not the only times of the day when natural light is at its most interesting.

But Shooting outside at night is no easy task if you don't enjoy the unprofessional and merciless glare of a built-in flash.

These tips, given in no particular order, will help you on your way to making some stunning night landscape images.

Tip #1: Planning

The planning in advance on how to best use the available light to your advantage is very important to take good pictures. Although dark, wonderful variety of lighting conditions is still possible, and this will affect the images you produce.

Weather conditions and light pollution are two such factors that can have a dramatic effect. For star-trails it’s important to choose a clear night, but that does not mean you should ignore cloudy weather. Although cloudy weather means you will not be able to record star trails, moving clouds can still make amazing shots, especially when they take on the colours of light pollution from built-up areas.

Tip #2: Get to know the landscape

Know the landscape will help to determine what you want to include (or not included) in the composition. So get out there early, even if it is a place you have been before.

Another benefit to arriving early is that you will have time to set up the camera in daylight instead of groping in the dark and will also allow your eyes to slowly adapt to changing lighting conditions.

Moon light is an important factor when shooting nightscapes, so it’s important to plan ahead and know the time of moon rise and set and the appearance percentage. Moon light has advantages and disadvantages.

When the moon is shining, it lights your foreground and it doesn’t look very dark, but it also lights the sky and the stars don’t stand out as much. When the moon isn’t shining, your foreground will be darker (unless you paint it with artificial light), but the stars stand out the most against the sky.

Sometimes the best conditions are met when the moon is shining but in the beginning or the end of its cycle at about 10-20%.

A good quality flashgun, meanwhile, will allow you to illuminate a relatively small section of an image with the bonus of being able to control the power output. When fitted with coloured gels a flashgun can add a splash of colour to scenes.

Tip #3: Find a strong subject to anchor your image

A good landscape image typically has something of interest in the foreground to grab the viewer’s attention. Whether it is an old barn, hollowed out tree, or windy creek, try looking for something to make your image visually interesting. Also keep in mind the rule of thirds when composing your shots.

Tip #3: Avoid artificial light

The farther away you can get from city lights, the better your images will turn out. shooting in nearly pitch-dark conditions using long shutter speeds pulls out colors and tones not generally visible to the naked eye. Nearby artificial lighting will not kill a decent landscape image; however it can overwhelm the subtle ambient light that is naturally present. Remember that you can adjust the color temperature of your images later in processing so do not let a nearby light spoil your evening.

Tip #4: Equipment

DSLR with Bulb Mode

To achieve successful night images that allow a long enough exposure to capture movement you will need to check that your camera has the facility to lock open the shutter using B or Bulb Mode.

Almost all DSLRs and a small number of compacts have a Bulb mode

Lenses
Wide angle lenses with fast aperture are highly recommended. A wide angle lens will allow you to capture a very wide view angle of both the ground and sky and will also allow long exposure time without smearing the stars. Faster apertures let more light through the lens.

A Sturdy Tripod

A sturdy tripod is important so the camera will be stable and won’t move during the long exposure. Another advantage is a tripod that can get really low and allows you to compose with the camera pointing towards the sky.

Battery Grip

Night landscape photography - Battery gripNot essential, but if your camera can accept a battery grip it will allow you to use more than one battery in your camera at a time, so you can take longer exposures before the camera’s power runs out.

Remote Release

A remote or cable release is essential to allow you to lock open your camera’s shutter button over a long period of time and allow you to walk round the side of your subject to illuminate it with your chosen light source.

Light Source

Night Landscape photography - High power torchA light source is vital to allow you to illuminate a subject. A flashgun that can be used off camera, and a powerful torch, will both come in handy. Remember to carry a spare torch with you to find your way back to your car.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105mm L IS & 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM Lens + 64GB Card + Backpack + Flash + Battery/Charger + Tripod Kit

Kit includes:

Canon EOS 5D Mark III Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105mm L IS USM Lens
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM Zoom Lens
Canon 200EG Deluxe Digital SLR Camera Backpack Case
Canon 62" Deluxe Photo/Video 300 Tripod with 3-Way Panhead & Case
Canon EF Lenses Microfiber Lens Cleaning Cloth
PD 6-Piece Camera & Lens Cleaning Kit
Transcend 64GB SecureDigital SDXC 300x UHS-1 Class 10 Memory Card
Spare LP-E6 Battery for Canon
Battery Charger for Canon LP-E6
PD DSLR300 High Power Auto Flash
Vivitar BG-E11 Pro Series Multi-Power Battery Grip for Canon EOS 5D Mark III DSLR Camera
Vivitar RC-6 Wireless Shutter Release Remote Control for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
PD 77mm UV Glass Filter
Additional PD 77mm UV Glass Filter
PD HDMI to Mini-HDMI (C) Gold Audio/Video Cable (6')
PD SD/SDHC & MicroSD HC Card Reader
PD 8 SD / 2 MicroSD Memory Card Case
PD Universal LCD Screen Protectors

Tip #5: Exposure Settings

ISO

There are 2 options for dealing with High ISO noise:

Using a higher quality camera that can produce high ISO photos with minimal noise (e.g. full frame cameras). This solution is obviously not going to work for you if you have a different type of camera so option 2)
Using editing software like Photoshop or Lightroom, Topaz Labs Or Noise Ninja.

Aperture

In order to get the largest depth of field possible, one which includes both the sky and as much foreground as we can get, we will have to use something called hyper focal distance. The hyper focal distance is the closest distance we can focus on while still maintaining Depth Of Field that lasts to infinity.

Here are some examples with numbers, you can always calculate the DOF using a DOF Calculator. For example, if I use a 14mm lens with 2.8 F-stop, the hyper focal distance is 2.5 meters. That means I can focus on 2.5 meters and the in-focus area will stretch from 1.5 meters to infinity. Each focal length and aperture combination has its own hyper focal distance which can be calculated with a DOF calculator available in the internet or a smart phone application.

Shutter speed

Using slow shutter speeds and making long exposures is probably one of the easiest to get more light in the camera. Depending on the camera, long exposures can generate some noise but the more advanced the camera is, the less noise it produces. The bigger issue with long exposure is that earth is rotating on its axis and the sky moves relatively to our position.

Here are my recommendation for maximal exposure time: