Night Photography in Downtown Houston

City Skyline from Allen Parkway

Night Photography in Downtown Houston

1. When to go 
2. Where to go 
3. How to do it  

What do you want to photograph?
.Full Moon and skyline
.Skyline in twilight
.Buildings lit up at night
.Reflections

•
The best days of the month are the evening before, evening of and evening after a full moon.
•

Some prime locations that have great views, lights, and composition for a “wow” night photograph.

Allen Center Sky bridge

Allen Center Sky bridge


Equipment: Used:

1. Nikon D3s  
2. 16-35mm f/4 lens 
3. Tripod 
4. Cable release 

You want your camera to be rock steady during these long exposures.
Use a slow shutter speed; Manual or Shutter Priority Mode
Mount the camera on a tripod
Check your Review button and make
adjustments, keep shooting until you get
the right combination
Set the ISO to its lowest setting (200)
Exposure Mode to Manual F-stop to f/16

Manual focus: find a point 1/3rd of the
way into the scene (everything behind it
will be in sharp focus)

If you can, use the Mirror Lock-up, feature
to eliminate mirror slap

I like a slightly under-exposed scene and
you can do this by watching the meter
(usually 1/3 EV to 1 EV)


You can take HDR photos at twilight, (5-7
images: 2-3over, 1-even, 2-3 under),

but I’ve found they don’t work well when
it’s completely dark.

Use .jpg to cut down on processing time


Flashlight (Camera settings)

Small notebook (take notes)