What are the characteristics of night scene photography compared to daytime photography?

Nightscape photography includes many aspects, which mainly refers to shooting scenes under outdoor lights or natural light at night. The methods and effects of shooting under daylight and flash lighting conditions are different. Below is my carefully recommended knowledge about night scene photography for everyone. I hope it will be helpful to you.

Characteristics of night photography

1. The dual role of light (or firelight or moonlight)

When people are active at night, they always use lights, firelight or moonlight. As the main light sources, lights, firelight and moonlight not only serve as light sources for night scene photography, but also have another role, that is, they are also components of the picture. If a photo shows a night scene, there are no lights, firelight, and moonlight on the screen, but there are objects illuminated by lights, firelight, or moonlight, which will weaken the night atmosphere and make the picture lose its sense of reality. For example, when taking photos of holiday fireworks, the color and light of the fireworks themselves are not only an important part of the subject, but also make the outline of the buildings on the ground appear. In this way, fireworks serve a dual purpose.

2. Eliminate the rough and keep the essentials

When we talk about removing the rough and retaining the essentials, we don’t mean removing, blocking or artificially processing unnecessary things in the photo frame, but rather Using the light and dark at night to naturally and skillfully hide some things that ruin the picture. For example, some messy scenery cannot be avoided during the day, but it can be dealt with in night scene photography. For example, when shooting a construction site, there are often many messy things that cannot be avoided during the day and directly affect the beauty of the picture or composition. However, when shooting at night, these Obstacles that are not conducive to the picture can be illuminated by light to highlight the necessary things on the picture. Unnecessary objects avoid the light and hide them in the dark. Using these techniques, the effect is much better than shooting during the day.

3. Exaggerate the scenery and increase the atmosphere

Because night photography has its own unique shooting methods and special tone processing techniques, it can exaggerate the scenery and increase the atmosphere. The so-called exaggeration Scenery means to fully highlight what is needed in the picture and to express some beautiful scenery in a concentrated way. The so-called adding atmosphere means making full use of the surrounding environment and rendering the scenery to a reasonable degree to exaggerate and highlight the theme. Take shooting a road as an example. During the day, it seems that there are many vehicles, but in the photos taken towards the street, there are not many vehicles. The reason is that many of the vehicles we see are concentrated impressions within a few seconds or minutes. Of course, the effect is not consistent with the impression of the auditorium, but in night photography, you can take advantage of the advantages of night photography. Use long exposure methods to allow the lights of passing vehicles to be exposed to the film multiple times, so that countless light beams of car lights appear on the screen. In this way, the effect of vertical and horizontal vehicles and busy traffic can be achieved. Such reasonable exaggeration and rendering help to highlight the theme.

4. It is more suitable for shooting still scenes

Since the light of night photography is very weak, it is very different from that of daylight. Some of the scenes illuminated by the light often even have layers. It's not clear. When shooting under this kind of light, the exposure time will be extended. Therefore, shooting night scenes is not very suitable for shooting fast-moving objects. On the other hand, the light at night varies greatly. Bright places are very bright, and dark places are very dark. For example, on a road, due to the limited illumination range of street lights and uneven light reception from far and near, if you use a fast exposure, you can not only avoid underexposure caused by dim light from far and near, but also increase the level of the picture. Since the exposure time is extended, the shot will be better. The scenery must not move within a certain period of time, so that clear and layered night photos can be taken.

5. The tone contrast is relatively strong

Due to the limitation of light, it is impossible to shoot scenes with detailed lines and rich layers in night photography. For example, it is difficult to photograph a person's facial expression or photograph the detailed decorative patterns of a building. It is suitable and suitable for the combination of several rows of lights, the combination of several lines, the distinction of the outline of the building, the depiction of the character's appearance, the processing of black and white, the contrast of light and dark, etc.

Due to the above factors, photos taken at night often give people the impression that the pictures are black and white with strong contrast in tones. Exposure in night scene photography

In the photography process, whether the exposure is correct or not is a key issue for the success or failure of photography technology. Therefore, when doing this step of work, you must take it seriously, not be careless, and be careful. precise. Therefore, the exposure time must be determined according to the different requirements of different scenery, different light and themes. The exposure methods for night scene photography can be roughly divided into two types, namely single exposure and multiple exposure.

For one exposure, use a tripod to set up the camera, and then use the viewfinder to arrange the scene that should be photographed in the frame as required. After taking the view, fix the camera on the tripod so that it does not move. When shooting, use the shutter cable to control the opening and closing of the shutter (or use the lens cap to control the opened shutter) for an appropriate exposure time.

For multiple exposures, the operation process is the same as above, except that the exposure is not completed at one time, but on the same film, after more than two exposures, the shooting is completed.

Multiple exposures are a method used when one exposure cannot complete the shooting. If the conditions are met (lighting, environmental conditions, timing, etc. all meet the requirements), one exposure is the most ideal. But sometimes in order to achieve a certain special effect, multiple exposures are used, and it is necessary to capture certain scenes in each exposure. When shooting, you should pay attention to the following aspects:

(1) When controlling the exposure, you can separate the scenes such as light intensity, so that the darkest scene is exposed first and the brightest scene is exposed first. Expose later and expose less, which can make up for uneven exposure.

(2) When encountering certain scenes, when it is not possible to use first exposure or multiple exposures during photosensitivity, artificial light can be used to subsidize the darker scenes to make the contrast better. weakened.

(3) Some scenes cannot be avoided during shooting because the light is too strong or too weak. After shooting first, occlusion can still be used to correct them when zooming in.

Whether you use one exposure or multiple exposures, you must master the accurate exposure time and choose the appropriate exposure time. Under normal circumstances, the exposure time of night photography is more than one second, usually from one second to one minute. In some special cases, the exposure time may be several minutes. The shooting must be completely controlled by the photographer himself. If overexposed, the light itself will spread to the surroundings due to long time, causing the surrounding buildings or sky to produce large white areas, increasing the contrast, which will destroy the lighting effect of the night scene.

Underexposure will have the opposite effect on the photo. It is difficult to distinguish the outline of the scene and there are no layers. In the photo, except for a few lights, the rest is immersed in a dark tone. When shooting night scenes, if there is some afterglow in the sky (evening or dawn), be especially careful. Make the sky less sensitive and do not let the light sensitivity reach its peak, otherwise the atmosphere and characteristics of the night will be lost. How to shoot night scenes

1. Night scenes at construction sites

Construction sites generally refer to reservoirs, power stations, mines, bridges, factories, buildings, etc. that are under construction in the wild. When shooting, you should pay attention to the following points :

(1) Determine the shooting angle according to the characteristics of the project. You should understand the relevant conditions and the rules of night activities during the day in advance;

(2) Choose the appropriate shooting time to shoot this Such themes are best used when the project reaches its climax, when the face of the large-scale and intense project is basically visible;

(3) Pay attention to using the surrounding natural conditions - mountains, water, trees, bridges, etc. Buildings, etc.;

(4) The sky should not be exposed to too much light;

(5) When expressing the scene, the angle should be high rather than low;

(6 ) may take one or multiple exposures.

2. Night scene of city streets

Photographing market streets can be done during festivals or at night during normal times. It is generally better to do it during festivals. Because during the festival, streets, shops, cityscapes, and windows are organized and decorated.

Larger buildings have also been added with colored lights, neon lights and slogans, and the demolished images will look more prosperous and beautiful.

Choose an appropriate angle. An angle that is too high or too low can easily deform the building on the roadside. The camera should be placed in a place that is not easily collided and does not hinder traffic. It is better to choose a location with concentrated lights, concentrated vehicles, concentrated buildings, and a place with certain characteristics.

3. Photographing fireworks

Photographing fireworks in night scenes cannot be as easy as photographing construction sites. It is more stressful. During the entire process of shooting fireworks, set up the half-camera. When the fireworks are about to rise, open door B and let them bloom and float in the night sky within the shooting range until they go out, so that the entire process is recorded on the film.

In the shooting part, after the fireworks start, open the shutter when it is about to bloom or bloom, and capture the most representative moment. You can shoot with the multiple exposure method, using the same negative film and exposing it in two or more times. When shooting fireworks, the exposure time can be shorter, and when shooting ground scenes, the exposure time can be longer.

In addition, you can also shoot separately with two negatives, that is, one negative to shoot fireworks and another negative to shoot ground scenes and people. The exposure times are different. After they are developed, stack the two films together and make sure that the fireworks and scenery you want to shoot are not in the middle of the film. It is best to have the fireworks on the top of the film and the scenery on the bottom of the film. It saves you a lot of trouble when enlarging the negatives together.

4. Photographing moonscapes

To photograph moonlight scenery, you can use the following methods:

(1) Use long exposure and shoot alone in the moonlight The illuminated scene; use a short exposure to photograph the moon alone, and then stack the two negatives together to enlarge.