Hi everyone! I’m Megan Alter, the albelli summer photographer. I’ve been taking photographs for a long time and one thing I’ve learnt is that night-time photography can be tricky. But not impossible. Here are my pro tips to get the most from your nocturnal adventures.

1. Negative space and darkness. Get creative and place your subject under or near a light, with a large amount of darkness behind them. They’ll really stand out in the shot and it will form interesting shapes in the negative space (the darkness).

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2. Create depth. When there’s a lack of light, night photos can lose their sense of depth. By placing something in front or behind your subject, it creates a clear foreground, middle ground and background. In other words – depth!

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3. Twilight hour/blue hour. Blue hour isn’t when you feel sad! It’s the time immediately after the sun sets and sky appears very blue. This gives the images a lovely mood and great depth.

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4. Stabilisation and blur motion. When it’s dark the camera uses a slower shutter speed, so the images can sometimes be blurry. Using a tripod, or resting your camera on something stable, will ensure your image is sharp whilst anything moving will appear blurry. For the results in the photos use a 1-10 second shutter speed. This technique will require a camera with manual functions so it’s not possible with your camera phone.

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5. Use a flashlight. Grab a flashlight and shine it on your subject. It creates creative and dramatic effects! Put your camera on a tripod and write words or draw pictures with the flashlight while the photo’s being taken. It’s called light writing and needs a slow shutterspeed of 1-10 seconds on a manual camera.

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These tips will lead you to more creative night images so give it a go! It means once the sun has retired for the day, you can keep on going into the night. I really love seeing my photos as a canvas, but it’s totally personal choice. What will you create with yours?

Until next time, Megan x

Megan Alter Photography

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