Low light photography is a bit more complicated, but don’t let that deter you from experimenting. The results are well worth the extra effort. And, in truth, so long as you keep a few key things in mind, it’s not very difficult to achive that great glowing photo.

Hold Still

No, not the pumpkin, they are pretty stationary by default. Well, unless they’re sentient wandering jack-o’-lanterns, but that’s an entirely different topic.

With any night time or low light photography, the more steady your camera the better. Even if you think you are pretty good at holding still, really, nothing beats not holding your camera at all. This means go pull out that old tripod, or if you don’t have one of those, finding a nice spot on the ground or table, or even pressing your camera body up against a stationary object. This will afford you the opportunity to get a greater depth of field, minimize any camera jitter that would cause fuzziness, and not have to use the flash.

Experiment

Now that your camera is nice and still, play around with the composition. Get close, use the rule of thirds, fill the frame, and try different angles and perspectives. If your camera will allow tweaking of the aperture settings, try using a small depth of field (low number for aperture - like 3 or 4). You’ll never know if there is a cool shot hiding in your subject if you don’t try different things. In the world of digital photography the only thing this will cost you is a few extra minutes.

Flash

I for one am the first one to say “Argh! Yuck flash! Blerg. Evil evil awful flash!” That’s not to say that it has its time and place. If you are able to adjust the strength and/or position of your flash, this can actually add an interesting lighting element to a low light photo. Sometimes a little flash actually does work, just remember to keep it gentle. Bright harsh flash will drown out the wonderful orange glow of jack-o’-lanterns and destroy the creepy otherworldly atmosphere of the photo. Again, experiment.

Have fun this Halloween, and happy spooky photo shooting.

Technical Details
Aperture Value: f/10
Focal Length: 105mm
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/500 sec.
Location: International Rose Test Garden, Portland, Oregon

Technical Details
Aperture Value: f/2.5
Focal Length: 50mm + macro filters
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/4000 sec.

The purple cone flowers in my garden are still going strong despite this being their first year in the ground.

Technical Details
Aperture Value: f/7.1
Focal Length: 50mm + macro filters
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/600 sec.
Location: Home

Technical Details
Aperture Value: f/7.1
Focal Length: 50mm + macro filters
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/100 sec.
Location: Home

Technical Details
Aperture Value: f/2
Focal Length: 6mm
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/200 sec.
Location: Near Rhododendron, Oregon

We went up to Timberline on Mt. Hood on Aug. 6th amidst rumors of the Aurora Borealis being visible very far south. Alas, no northern lights that night (the photo is of the northern sky, of course the mountain could have been in the way, or too much light pollution), but the stars were quite lovely nonetheless. There were quite a few people gathered that night to gaze at the sky. Also, unexpected, were the number of nice telescopes setup for public viewing. The owners of these scopes were very friendly and more than happy to explain the various targets in their equipment. One fellow was even dressed as a wizard. The twelve year old me wanted to look into his telescope, exclaim “My God, it’s full of stars!” then slink off into the night mumbling “They should have sent a poet.” Perhaps next time.

Despite the lack of northern lights, I did find out how well my little compact handled long exposure. Not to shabby, although after post processing, I realized I should have kept the ISO set to 200 instead of bumping it up to 800 for most of the shots. Now I know and knowing IS half the battle, at least where star-field photography is concerned.

Also, in case you were wondering , the lights on the mountain are two snowcats grooming the runs for the morning (yes, there are still runs open in the middle of the summer). That’s Cassiopeia in the lower right.
 

I think that bright star near the center is Vega. Although, I could be wrong. My amateur astronomy skills could use some improvement. Also this last image is extra big for all your starry wallpaper needs.

So, did anyone catch the aura this past weekend?