Night Photography & Long Exposures

Night photography is probably my favourite type of photography, away from the computer, its dark, usually quiet and hardly anyone is about!

Here are the items I recommend that you need:

• Tripod
  Can't really be done without a sturdy tripod. Make sure you clips are closed when the legs are extended, easy to miss when setting up in the dark! A sand bag on a wall/top of car can get you by but does limit you to angles etc.
• Cable release
  A lot of the time I will forget this so am limited to use the longest setting of 30seconds. There are two kinds you can get, a simple one with a lock for bulb setting, or a digital one where you can watch your time, or set the length of the exposure you want. If you don't have a cable release use the self timer to avoid any camera shake, even though over 30 seconds it really shouldn't matter.
• Torch
  To see where you are going! And to light paint foregrounds etc. Be careful not to attract unwanted attention, and be prepared to tell police you are not signaling drug smugglers!
• Timer
  If your cable release doesn't have one use your watch (or simply count!), I find the iPhone too cumbersome, and too bright (which can also attract unwanted attention).
• Warm clothes
  Depends on your location/time of year, but standing around for long periods of time even on a summer night can get chilly.

Here are some samples, with camera settings and any other relevant details.

This was a perfect night, clear sky with a few whiskey clouds and a full money just rising. Any later and the moon would have been too high and would have lit up too much of the sky and taken away from the stars. This a place I drove by in day time and took note of it to return when the right night came along.

Exposure 30 | Aperture f/9.0 | ISO 800

Making use of the city lights against the clouds and the sea at low tide.

Exposure 92 | Aperture f/8.0 | ISO 200

Short long exposure! using a ledge as a tripod, being careful not to knock the camera down the 100 floors!
Exposure 2.5 | Aperture f/2.8 | ISO 200

A somewhat cloudy night. Using a torch to light the rocks in the  foreground, starting half way through the exposure, waving the light along the rocks (from behind the camera).

Exposure 30 | Aperture f/10.0 | ISO 200
A boosted ISO for a change to make use of all the lighting sources - moon, star, city, nearby street lamp, and subjects head-torch.
Exposure 30 | Aperture f/4.5 | ISO 1600

This was dusk, and taken from a bridge. The exposure was limited to 4 seconds as this is from when a car came into sight to when it came on to the bridge and started shaking it too much, ruining the photo.

Exposure 4 | Aperture f/16.0 | ISO 200

Another one of those perfect nights, with clear sky and a few fluffy clouds scattered about. Forgot the cable release, but 30 seconds gave enough time to blur the clouds and waves.

Exposure 30 | Aperture f/2.8 | ISO 200

Going after three subjects in this photo, the stars, the light house, and the foreground rocks lit with the torch.

Exposure 30 | Aperture f/2.8 | ISO 200

A simple one taking advantage of a nicely lit night, with the waves breaking on the shore lit using the torch. 

Exposure 30 | Aperture f/3.5 | ISO 400


Get your cable release (timers) here.
Cheap but the source of my torches!

Vanguard Nivelo 204SL Tripod

The Nivelo range of tripods are aimed at the smaller sized camera market - bridge / 4/3's / mirror-less etc. For this review I'll be using my Fuji X100. The first thing that stands out is the size of the tripod, very neat. At first look/feel it seems too light, but I'll explain all in the review.

The box!

Tripod & Case

Tripod in case

I've had compact tripods before, but the legs were locked in place with the usual clip, adding to the size of the tripod. The Nivelo uses the leg itself, swiveling it to lock the leg in place, this also makes it nice and fast to do. I've read some reviews that don't like this system and that the legs are prone to collapse when you think they are locked in place. Well I've often forgot to snap the clips back on my Manfrotto and seen the leg collapse, so its up to the user to ensure things are locked in place before throwing a camera on top!

Another great part about the Nivelo is that the centre column ( Quick Fold Central Column) inverts without having to remove the camera, or even remove the column, you simply pull it up, release the safety catch, swivel it around, allowing you to get close to the ground or your subject. Fast and hassle free. I rather like this even though I probably wouldn't have need for it, but for macro shooters this is probably the best feature of the tripod besides its size/weight.

Tripod - legs collapsed

Tripod - legs collapsed

Tripod - legs collapsed

A nice neat head, since this is aimed at smaller cameras, big heavy handles aren't needed. Spins 360 on the horizontal, and unto 90 on the vertical. I've always had a removable shoe on my tripods, so it will take a bit of getting used to having to remove the camera from the tripod by unscrewing it rather than a release catch, but this style does help keep the size down. And of course you wont be searching for the head when you forget to replace it! In this area theres also a spirit level, handy if you cant get that horizon straight!

Front

Side

Back

I know some people would say, why would you need a tripod unless you're using an SLR, well a lot of the mirror-less cameras are only a step behind SLRs, theres no reason why you can't achieve the same results. I use the Fuji for a lot of video and long exposures, but it looks lost on top of my Manfrotto, but on top of the Nivelo it looks right at home!

Quick Fold Central Column

Spirit Level

90 degrees

I nearly always have the Fuji with me these days, so this would be the perfect tripod to have under the seat of the car (which it fits under very nicely!) for those spur of the moments pulling the car to catch that long exposure or to catch some video.

And as for travel I wouldn't hesitate to take this me, any other tripod I've had has been too bulky/big/heavy to bother bringing. This will easily fit in a carry on bag.

Centre column reversed	Centre column reversed

Fully extended the tripod mightn't go as high as you'd like, but this is what you sacrifice for the collapsed size & weight, I can live with that!

Given its size and weight (very light) it doesn't feel cheap like I'd expect - aliminimum for the legs and center column, tough plastic for the other parts, and the feet being slightly rubbery to give a bit of grip - all the parts feel solid and look well, and with the legs in the collapsed position, this makes a great table top tripod too!

It also comes with a nicely padded case that I nearly missed, as it is stored at the bottom of the packing! The User Manual is part of the packaging, should you need to use it, but the tripod is mad easy to use, a few seconds fiddling and you'll have it down.

Specifications Extended height: 1000mm Folded height: 300mm Weight: 0.6kg Maximum load: 2kg Panhead movements: 2 Price: $68 / €54 / £43

Buy on Amazon