Night photography settings your camera wants you to use

Final tips for your night photography shoot

Plan your shoot
If you live in a town or city, it's best to get as far away from street lighting as you can. If you don't, you'll find that sodium lights create a strong and disagreeable orange colour cast. For the best results, choose night scenes as far from urban areas as possible.

Prefocus
Switch off autofocus and make sure the camera is focused at infinity. The slightest error will create soft-focused images. After you've taken the first shot, check that your focusing is correct by reviewing the picture on the camera's LCD.

Find a solid base
Make sure your tripod is mounted on a solid base, preferably a rock surface. This will prevent any movement during the exposure times. If you don't have a heavy tripod, hang your camera bag from the centre column (most modern tripods should have a hook for this purpose).

Disable in-camera noise reduction
In-camera noise reduction takes a blank exposure, which doubles your exposure times and applies indiscriminate noise reduction. This can have a detrimental effect on image aesthetics. Use specialised computer software to handle the problem back home.

PAGE 1: Options for night photography settings
PAGE 2: 3 key night photography settings every photographer should use
PAGE 3: Control your colours
PAGE 4: Final tips for your night photography shoot

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