The Magic in Photography
The magic in Christmas. As the holiday season approaches and I contemplate how to create magic for my own two sons this Christmas, I find myself thinking back to my own childhood Christmases and the magic that they brought. One memory in particular, my favorite to recall, took place on Christmas morning when I was just five years old. Having hardly slept, with the anticipation of it mere hours away, I woke in the early hours to see a large plush Cookie Monster sitting on the chair next to my bed. Cookie Monster, a beloved Sesame Street character who loves cookies, was a favorite of mine. I vividly remember peering over my bed to see him looking right up at me. My father would later tell me that as he was about to walk into my bedroom, he could hear me talking to Cookie Monster and asking him if he was real. Cookie Monster and I then went on to have conversations about cookies, Christmas, and the adventures we would have. It’s a story that my father continues to tell to this day with a smile on his face. It is a story that, for me, portrays the magic of Christmas.
Fast forward to today. Christmas is almost here. The weather is getting colder, decorations will be hung, lights will go up, and the magic will soon begin. I love driving around town at night looking at the Christmas lights and seeing the glow they cast and the magic they create in the scene around them. As in the lights at Christmas time, I too find magic in Photography, and one of the ways I like to illustrate this magic is through capturing light in night photography.
Capturing a scene at night portrays a completely different perspective than during the day. At night, the ambiance and warm glow from the lights reflected off the surrounding surfaces reveals the scene in a unique way. The stark contrast between light and dark conveys a certain tone giving you the power to control the mood of the scene using the light that you project. Such light could be in the form of light panels, flashes, or color gels, as well as harnessing the given light surrounding the subject at hand through your camera settings.
In night photography, a general rule of thumb is that the camera will only capture what is shown in the light. A few tips that have helped me capture great night photographs:
Scout out your location. I use Google maps when locating interesting places to shoot at night. If it is not a public place, make sure you have permission to go there, if unsure, ask.
Shoot in RAW format. This affords you greater editing abilities later when using programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom.
Shoot in manual mode. A photograph can take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes or more to capture a night scene correctly, so I use the bulb setting. You can then experiment with your ISO, Aperture to get the desired effect.
Use a tripod. Since you must delay the shutter to capture your image, you must keep the camera completely still or it will cause the image to blur through movement.
Use a remote shutter switch. This allows you to control the camera trigger without touching it, allowing for greater stability. I used both a corded, and a full wireless remote, such as the CamRanger Mini, for its portability and full camera control through your phone.
Plan for the time of night. Much like the sunset and sunrise, I have found that different times of night cast different hues and tones to your image and sky. My experience is that in the early to late evening hours you will get more yellow or orange hues in your image and in the early morning hours you will get more cool hues with shades of blue in it.
Experiment with different light pollution reduction lens filters. Such filters can greatly reduce light pollutions spectrum of light and can be especially helpful when trying to capture a starry night’s sky in an area in or around a town or city.
Experiment with the use of color. I sometimes use color gels over my light panels, which can add colorful and artistic tones to your image.
Be safe. I went through a 6-month period where I photographed a great many locations in Washington D.C. at night. I would tend to go during the early morning hours between three and five in the morning. There were less people awake then and less chance of an incident. I always keep a keen aware of my surroundings and my ears at full attention when venturing into any part of town.
Night photography for me has created a similar sense of magic and wonder I often find in Christmas. Like my father gave me a great many holiday seasons ago, this Christmas I plan to create some of that magic for my own two sons. Perhaps my oldest will wake up to a Cookie Monster of his own for Christmas this year.
365 Art+ Magazine Case 10: Christmas