Night Exposure Guide

Set-up

• Mode: Aperture Priority (A) with f/11 as the starting point, or Manual (M). Close down further if you want more depth of field.
• Tripod always; remote release or Self-timer — the shutter press alone will blur a night frame.
• Lens hood on for city scenes with bright lights, to keep stray flare off the front element.
• Focus: Manual Focus (MF) with Focus Magnifier on a bright edge; then leave it alone.
• Long Exposure NR on (or auto) for single frames — it shoots a matching dark frame and subtracts the hot pixels. Turn it off if you're stacking or shooting sequences.

Starting exposures at f/11

Scene	ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 400
Cityscape	20 s	10 s	5 s
Reflections on water	30 s	15 s	8 s
Neon signs	2 s	1 s	1/2 s
Christmas lights, outdoors	20 s	10 s	5 s
Average outdoor lighting, wide	20 s	10 s	5 s
Floodlit scene, outdoors	30 s	15 s	8 s
Landscape by full moonlight	30 min	15 min	8 min
Landscape at twilight	1 min	30 s	15 s
Candlelight, indoors	1 min	30 s	15 s
Traffic light trails	30 s	15 s	8 s
Fair rides	15 s	8 s	4 s
Bonfire flames	2 s	1 s	1/2 s
Fireworks	2–60 s	2–60 s	2–60 s

These are starting points, not answers — shoot, read the histogram, adjust. Anything past 30 s needs BULB.

Motion after dark

• Movement without blur — faster shutter, so a wider aperture and higher ISO.
• Movement as blur — slower shutter, and everything static must be locked down on the tripod.
• Architecture generally photographs better closer to dusk than in full dark; there's still shape in the sky and the building lights balance.

Subject matters more than settings

Pay attention to the artificial light in the scene and to the light left in the sky. A frame made when those two are in balance beats a technically perfect frame made an hour too late.

Consolidated from references: Photzy Night Photography (Special Techniques); Len's School Including Stars in Your Landscapes.