Tips for Night Photography

(Part One)

There are many types of night photography; but I tend to break them down into manipulating light and not manipulating light.  For example there is astral photography, night landscapes and night architecture, which do not tend to use extra light sources, but may use extra processing, like HDR Pro Effect 2 for architecture or StarStax  or StarTrails for blending pictures of star movements at night.

While they may take an enormous amount of patience, the results of each can be quite stunning.  Here are a few:

C. Kimo’s very cool hdr of a night shuttle

or L. Trocciloa’s awesome night carnival hdr shot

S. Ember’s night architecture. (love the vantage point and leading lines!)

Or this awesome San Fran architecture by J. Fike

Or this amazing landscape with star trails by Matt Payne

Or this beauty of Joshua Tree Park by Jim Patterson

 

Besides looking up some amazing photos from these photographers, there are tons of sites out there to help you on this journey. Everyone will have their own opinion and their own formulas; just like in class, take what you find helpful and play around until you find what perfects your own technique.
For night sky tips: http://www.exposureguide.com/night-sky-photography-tips.htm
For night landscape tips: http://news.smugmug.com/2014/08/13/essential-night-landscape-photography-tips-from-chris-burkard/
For night architecture tips: https://iso.500px.com/cityscape-night-photography-tips/
For specific moon photography tips: http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/459/how-do-i-set-the-proper-exposure-for-nighttime-moon-photos

More to come later on light painting tips!  :D