If you like photography, which I understand you do because you are reading this, I am sure that you have had more than once (and more than two) to photograph a person at night. There are many events or gatherings between family and/or friends that are held at night and that one wishes to immortalize (or be portrayed on these occasions for posterity). But of course, it is night, there is no light, the camera flash causes an unflattering effect… The fact is that the portraits you take at night do not convince you at all and you do not know very well how to solve it, and that you may have even read our Mastering Portrait Photography guide. If this is your case, you are in the right place because in this article I am going to try to give you some tips and tricks to improve this type of photography. You may already know some tips because they are general, but that does not mean we can forget them, so a little reminder never comes in handy, and if you had not heard or read them before… well, now is the time! I am going to start with the most general and basic ones and later in the article we will focus on those tips that are specific to night portraits. are you coming with me?
1. Focus on the eyes
This is basic in a portrait and as much as you know it, we cannot ignore it because if you forget this point, you will almost certainly ruin the result. Unless what you want is another creative effect, of course (in this case you have total freedom to unleash your artistic and creative vein). But if you are looking for a “conventional” portrait, keep in mind that the eyes must be very well focused. And in the case of using such a shallow depth of field that you only focus on one eye, remember to focus on the one closest to you.
2. Apply the law of the gaze
Of course it is not mandatory and you will not go to jail for not complying with it ;p However, if you do not know it and do not apply it due to ignorance, it is most likely that the portrait will not be as natural as you expect. You can play with the space in front of your eyes as much as you want, but always with a purpose. Normally, you leave more space in the area where your model’s gaze is directed. To dig a little deeper, do not miss this article.
3. Tell something
As a last basic and general advice that you can apply to any type of portrait, be it day or night, indoors or outdoors, I will tell you to tell something about the personality of your model. Do not limit yourself to photographing a mannequin, you have before you a person who has feelings, fears, expectations, past experiences… His mind and heart are overflowing with them and his body and face are the means through which he communicates. express. Never forget this and try to tell even a little bit about that person with your camera. For a reason, photographers earned the fame of “soul thieves”… 😉
4. manual mode
Use the manual mode of your camera, if you use the automatic one, no matter how much you use the portrait or night portrait mode (if your camera has it), the result will never be better than what you can achieve in manual, configuring all the settings to your liking You can use the automatic mode when you have no choice, but not as a general rule.
5. Wide opening
Use a small depth of field or, what is the same, a wide aperture. In this way you will blur the background, something that is useful for all types of portraits, but you will also be able to capture much more light, very useful especially when taking a portrait at night, and achieve the well-known Bokeh effect with the background lights.
6. Manual focus
Autofocus tends to work less well in low light, so I recommend you focus manually. In case you have to shoot someone who is in motion, manual focus is difficult, try autofocus and AF-C/AI Servo mode (Nikon/Canon).
7. Flash
I’m sorry to tell you that the flash that comes built into your camera will not do you much good, to say the least. If you don’t have an external flash, you’d better look for other resources because otherwise the only thing you’ll achieve is a “flash” all over your face, like the well-known “zap, all over your mouth.” By this I mean that the only thing this flash does is illuminate very much just what is in front of it (your model if it is close, if it is not) and leave the background completely in the dark. In addition to temporary blindness, which is not pleasant, the resulting effect is usually not pleasant either, especially when ambient lighting is very low. To solve this you can either use a bounced or diffused external flash, if you want a softer effect, or directly if you are looking for more drama, such as the following image:
You can also make use of the available lights around you, a streetlight, a spotlight, the light of a shop window, a lamp if you are indoors… Any light that can illuminate your model continuously and without glare, will be much more comfortable. for both of you and will allow you a much closer and more direct connection, without light interruptions. This is very important when it comes to “stealing” his soul 😉
8.ISO
We are terribly afraid of raising the ISO value because of the noise it can cause in the photo. This has its justification on many occasions, on others not so many. When it comes to a macro, a photo where sharpness is important, a professional job, or you simply consider that noise can spoil the photo, it is important to take it into account. However, there are other times when you can ask yourself what you prefer, whether to take a flash, use the external flash (with what that entails) or simply raise the ISO value and be able to shoot relaxed, in the middle of a chat with the person who you have in front of you, without having to suffer the flashes and feel photographed or “besieged”. The image may have more noise, but in return you may also gain soul. Observe this photo, according to its author, to the eye, the figure could hardly be distinguished due to the lack of light. I’m not going to ask you to go up to 12,800 like in this photo, it’s you who should know your camera and know how far you can go and when 😉
9. Play with ambient lights
The lights that are around can serve both to illuminate your subject to be portrayed and to give it a creative and aesthetic touch. Play with them and include them as the main element of the image, you can make bokeh or use them as natural framing, as in the following images, or you can do whatever you think is best, but don’t forget about them!
10. Tripod
Whenever you can, use a tripod. In this way you will be able to have the shutter open for more time, not so much that your model will not be able to move!, but enough so that it allows you to capture more light from the environment.
To finish, I leave you some tricks I hope they help you 😉
- Look for a very bright place that adds something to the portrait.
- Try black and white portraits, the result can be very intense due to the contrasts between light and dark areas.
- To draw a luminous silhouette of your subject, place a light source behind it, either a spotlight, flash, or lamp. You will have a result similar to the image below.
As you can see, not only is the day a good time to take portraits, the magic of the night can also help you achieve them and give them a touch of mystery, fantasy or whatever you want. Use the resources you have around you (lights, backgrounds…) and display all your art to steal the soul of your model in the moonlight or neon lights 😉
If you think this article can help someone else, don’t forget to share it on Facebook, Twitter or Google + (or all three 😉 ). This is not the only favor that I am going to ask you today, the other is that as soon as it gets dark, take your camera and grab the arm of whoever you have available to practice, because if you don’t, everything you’ve read, in a few hours (or less) you will have forgotten and you will not have served anything to read all this text. So… let’s practice! Thanks for getting here and until next time.