Night photography can be tricky even with the best cameras. Light is the key ingredient in photography, so low-light situations are inherently difficult for photographers. Having a DSLR camera helps, because these cameras--such as the Nikon D40x--have fully customizable settings and interchangeable lenses. Some lenses are better-suited to low-light photography. Mastering night photography involves having an eye for the possible and a handle on your basic camera settings.
Set the Scene
Find a location with some light. It's next to impossible to take a picture of, say, a dark field by starlight. You need a light source with a bit of strength. A bridge over a river makes for a great night-shot practice subject. You can get a good distance from the subject to experiment with focus and the D40x's settings. Bridges are always well-lit, and you get a fantastic reflected image in your shots. If you can't find a bridge, any well-lit object will do.
Tools of the Trade
Since night shots require a longer exposure, in order to allow enough light to reach the sensor, movement can cause blurry photos. Pressing the shutter, even with the steadiest of hands, moves the camera slightly and blurs your night shots. Set your camera up on a tripod facing your well-lit subject. Set the camera to "P" mode -- programmed auto. The D40x has a self-timer button right beside the logo with one setting: 10 seconds. Press this button to engage the timer, then focus the camera as you normally would, by pressing the shutter button half-down. Press it again to start the timer, and wait.
Settings for Night Shots
The one-off shot you took to test the self-timer may be really bright or really dark, depending on the D40x's settings. The D40X has a night portrait mode on the main dial, but you may have found that this mode engages the flash and creates some pretty ugly shots. It's best to use some of the camera's advanced shooting modes: P, A, S and M, which stand for program, aperture, shutter and manual, respectively. Program mode is the most basic of the four; you can adjust the ISO speed, which is required for night shots but which causes digital noise on the D40x at the high end (1600). Rotate the mode dial to "S" to start. Press the info button, to display the ISO value on the LCD; 100 or 200 is fine for night shots. Rotate the main control dial to change the shutter speed. Experiment with these speeds and the tripod/self timer setup, until you get a shot lit as you like. It will take some time until you can read the light and know instinctively what to set shutter speed for.
Lenses
Lenses with a high maximum aperture improve night photography to an extent. The aperture setting controls how much light is exposed to the sensor over the length of time that the shutter is open. Lower numbers equal wider apertures, with F1.4 being the lowest (or widest) aperture available for D40x lenses. At this aperture, the depth of field will be very narrow but low-light shots can be snapped quickly, with a faster shutter speed, reducing blue. This means you can take hand-held shots if your lens is fast enough, but not at a great distance.
Experiment in Manual mode, to start to understand the balance between aperture values and shutter speeds with different lenses. It takes time and practice, and patience, but you have all the tools to take great night shots with the D40x.
Tags: night shots, shutter speed, D40x settings, even with, shots your
