Night time photography help. Need cool ideas!

levelsixtyseven

Hey I have a pretty simple question. I always have a problem with night time photography. It's always a hit or miss. But I'm sick of it always being a miss. I want to truly learn it instead of guessing my aperture and shutter speed and iso. I'm a Nikon D90 user and would like some help. I have one external flash if that helps.

I just purchased a basic umbrella set but don't know how to use it yet.

I was requested by someone to do a shoot at night time with a couple dressed up as Sam and Quorra from the latest Tron movie. They have program suits that light up and the whole shabang. It sounds super cool! I want to do a good job with this shoot and do something awesome crazy. But I know I'll get the best shots at night because I want to see their suits glow. I have a rough idea on how to execute this shoot. But note entirely.

Can anyone help me?

ziggy53

You need to invest some serious time and energy into learning how to use light for photography. Start by searching for some of the common lighting setup terms using Google. Searching for these same terms in Google Images should also gain you some sample lighting diagrams and results.

Rembrandt lighting
Short lighting
Broad lighting
Butterfly lighting

Once you understand some basic lighting techniques you should be able to translate some of that into use of your 2 flashes; the built-in flash of the D90 itself and your external flash, if it supports Nikon's wireless capability. Basically, if you can use your built-in flash for "fill" and the off-camera flash for "key" light there are many things you can do with just those 2 light sources. You may have to also apply some additional light from reflectors and such. Exactly how you set up the flashes' power and location will greatly affect the outcome but there is no simple formula or simple method to apply.

Expect to take some time sorting all of this out. Experiment with some simple non-human subjects as you learn. As you learn more and have some image example to show, come back here for additional information and you will get support.

divamum

To add, start reading www.strobist.com's "Lighting 101" - even if you will use different equipment and methods, the basic principles he discusses are the foundation of pretty much everything lighting. Fabulous stuff.

pathfinder

To shoot a couple at night for a speedlight enhanced portrait, you are going to have to be comfortable shooting in Manual mode, and adding flash via manual flash control as well.

Start with the Strobist website, That is what they do very well. You will need to understand focal plane shutter use in conjunction with flash synch speeds and how to adjust flash versus ambient exposures by altering your shutter speed or the use of a neutral density filter.

They start a shoot with an ambient exposure, and then add flash to expose the subjects properly. Frequently, the background ambient exposure is under exposed by a stop or more.


Ya beat me to it, Diva!