10

CHAPTER
NIGHT AND LOW-LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY / Low-Light Landscapes

to the edge. This could include tree

branches, power lines, and bridges and

roads, depending on the angle of the image.

Curving lines. Curving lines are a great
way to keep a viewer interested in your
image because they lead the eye around the
image. These can include star trails and
curves in a road or even the patterns the
clouds or landscape makes.

■   Framing. Framing your image within a natural

frame can add a sense of depth, but more than
that, it can help to draw the viewer’s eye to
the main subject. For example, framing the
sunset with a pier or using a doorway or win-
dow to frame the subject works great, espe-
cially when the frame is darker than the
subject.

Once you have decided what to shoot, the next
step is to get the correct exposure, which is
explained in the next section.

Exposure considerations

Because you are shooting in low-light conditions,
one way to deal with potential exposure problems
is to use a wide aperture, which allows the most
light to pass through the lens. However, for land-
scapes, you most often want a deep depth of field,
so a wide aperture is not recommended. Going
back to the basics of composition, if you want a
deep depth of field, then you need a small open-
ing; this means that you need a higher ISO or
longer shutter speed to allow enough light to
reach the sensor to get a proper exposure. When
shooting the image in Figure 10-4 of the Golden
Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the wind was
incredibly strong, and so I used a wider aperture

Equivalent exposures are discussed

in more detail in Chapter 2.

x-ref

than I normally would so that I could use a

shorter shutter speed. It still took 2.5 seconds to

get the exposure, even at f/5.6.

Landscape photographs typically deal with large

areas, and during the day that can mean a very

big difference between the brightness of the sky

and the landscape below. Once the scene

becomes darker, it is actually easier to determine

the correct exposure because there is not as much

difference in brightness between the land and the

sky. This can occur right before sunrise or right

after sunset and during overcast or heavily cloudy

skies, which are all great times to photograph

landscapes. If you are photographing outdoors

during bad weather, make sure that you have the

proper clothing and protective gear for both you

and your camera and lens.

So, you are now set up to photograph your land-

scape, and it is time to get the right exposure set-

tings. There are two good options: the first is to

use manual mode and the second is to use aper-

ture priority mode. Both of these modes allow you

to set the aperture to get the desired depth of

field; the difference is that in manual mode, you

can set the shutter speed as well.

In aperture priority mode, the camera uses the

built-in light meter to read the light and then sets

the shutter speed for you. To get the results you

want, you need to make sure that the built-in

light meter reads the scene correctly. The spot

metering mode works well in this situation, as you

can make sure that the area that is most impor-

tant is the area being read by the light meter.

When using aperture priority, you can bracket

the exposures, which causes the camera to use a

series of different shutter speeds to first underex-

pose and then overexpose the same scene. This