I absolutely adore the way night time photos look, but I just can’t seem to take any. Any time I try, it won’t focus, even if I try with flash. I have a Canon EOS M10, and would love some tips on how to make it so I can take photos during darker hours! :)
Manual focus with a flashlight if you have a subject within 50 or so feet. Otherwise manual focus to infinity and cross your fingers.
What are you looking for? Nighttime shots with clear artificial light, or found lighting only?
It really depends on the type of night time photography you want to do.
I don’t know why I’m getting downvoted, basically all I do is night photography. The techniques vary wildly based on what you’re doing and there are lots of different types.
Landscape Landscape astro Deep space Astrophotography Aurora photography Night time city scape City light time lapses Star lapses Star trails
All of these need different settings and techniques and doesn’t even include that you can basically just add night to any other photography.
What kind of photography do you want to do at night?
Any camera needs light and contrast to focus. If you are short of either of those the harder it is for the camera to focus on an object. To fix this you either increase the light hitting the sensor, either by using a lens with a larger aperture (a 50 1.8 let’s in around 12 times as much light than the kit lens at 45mm), or increasing light on the subject, or finding a spot with more contrast.
Now the M10 isn’t the best focusing camera, but when taking night photos you can always zoom in and focus manually to achieve better focus. if there is a bright point in the scene you can use that as your focusing point instead of your actual subject if they are on the same focal plane. Using a tripod and the self timer to avoid any shake are good things to do as well.
Low light is hard on autofocus. If your camera has trouble handling autofocus in low light, the best you can do is practice manual focusing on those situations.
I exclusively do low-light and no-light photos.
On a tripod: iso 100, f8, and then let the camera meter the shutter speed. That should get you in the ballpark.
Adjust your shutter speed or use exposure compensation to your increase or decrease exposure
Is the AF red assist beam turned on?
I don’t know why my other comment got down voted. Basically all I do is night photography. The techniques vary wildly based on what you’re doing and there are lots of different types.
Landscape
Landscape astro
Deep space Astrophotography
Aurora photography
Night time city scape
City light time lapses
Star lapses
Star trails
Light paintingAll of these need different settings and techniques and doesn’t even include that you can basically just add night to any other photography.
What kind of photography do you want to do at night?