night photography
i've devoted a lot of my photography to shooting at night there's this happy sadness
that i try to capture in my photos and i think it's easiest to find that at night
i'm going to share some tips that i've learned over my time of doing street photography at night
and these are all based off of scenes that i like to capture
but i hope everyone can take something away from them
motion
your goal as a photographer should be to try and tell the story through your images
and to try and invoke an emotion whether that be a feeling of nostalgia
sadness and one way i like to do that is through motion
a popular rule of thumb when shooting knife photography is to shoot your shutter speed
at double your focal length or to just use a tripod this will result in an as clean of an image
as possible but if there's one thing that i want you to take away from this video
it is that sharpness does not dictate a good photo
adding motion into your photos can make them feel and look more real and compelling that's not to
say that you still shouldn't take still images but i urge you to allow yourself to get creative
and instead of trying to fight against a lower shutter speed use it and have fun with it
i usually add my shutter speed between 1 8 to 1 50th of a second
with my iso and aperture as low as possible i find that this range allows me to
take a sill image or if i want to incorporate movement and motion into my photos
a technique that i also really like to use is a panning shot in order to get this kind of
photograph you need to track your subject at the same speed they are moving at and snap a photo
as they are zooming right past you this technique can be used on any type of moving
subject and it's actually really easy it's just a matter of trying it out you can experiment
with different environments different colors different subjects and get really cool results
shadows
everything is darker at night and it's okay to showcase that in your photos
you don't need to have detail all across your photos let your shadows
and blacks showcase the night the way we really see it too many people are concerned with shadow
detail and are afraid of having nothingness in their photos but in my opinion there's just no
there's no emotion there so use your shadows they are evocative
and can add a really beautiful element to your photos and because you're shooting
at night all you have around you are light sources so shadows are really easy to find
seek light
if you're not sure where to start when it comes to knife photography you just
need to go out and look for light street lamps neon signs building lights they're all capable
of providing enough room for you to find an interesting composition
a big way i like to use light at night is using it as a backlight all you gotta do
is just wait for a subject to move in front of a large light source
and take a picture it's an easy way to add depth and curiosity to your images
while using a resource that is present in pretty much any low-light situation
filter
i was debating whether or not i wanted to include this in this video because
i don't think a diffusion filter is required for a good photo but what i do think they are good
for is igniting a desire for you to shoot they're just so cool and can make your photos look really
cool i use a tiffany glimmer glass filter but there are so many for you to choose from and they
pretty much all do the same thing they'll soften your image and bloom the highlights and because
all you have at night is light sources this is where i think this filter really comes to life
they add a different element than when you use it in daytime i try not to use it all the time
because i don't want it to become something that i rely on for my photography but it's really
cool to just experiment with it especially when you need to find a motivation to shoot
anxiety
if you're struggling to photograph people at night i'd suggest that you ask them before you
take one or try and initiate a conversation after you have taken the photo you need to realize that
people are more vulnerable at night which in turn leads to them having more of a guard up
and rightfully so you should be trying to make them as least uncomfortable as possible
i'd also suggest you try and stick to places where there's a crowd of people i think that'll relieve
some of the anxiety off of you and for the people that you're taking photos of most people can pass
off a photographer taking photos at a pier or mall more so than they would in an alleyway so just
try your best to evaluate the situation and be empathetic towards people you're taking photos of
more than anything i just hope you all have gotten an inspiration to go out and shoot because most of
this stuff you'll kind of just build up an eye for it as you take photos but if you made it to the
end of this video i just want to say thank you and if you're going to be trying on live photography
and have any questions feel free to message me on instagram and yeah just be safe and thank you all
"photography is the story I fail to put into words."