Tripods – A Great Photography Tool

Most photographs taken at night tend to either be too dark, too grainy or blurred. This is due to the long shutter speeds coupled with high ISOs of 800-1,600 that cameras usually use. The long shutter speeds cause people in the images to be blurred when they move slightly and the high ISOs lead to random signals being captured on the sensor.

The tripod can put an end to that and is also a creative license for DSLR users or prosumer camera owners who can manually set the shutter speed and aperture. Using manual mode, one can set the shutter speed to anywhere from 1/30s to 30s to even 4 or 5mins. Using the lowest ISO possible (usually 100-200), coupled with an aperture setting of F/8 to F/11, check the meter for the shutter speed needed for a good exposure. Make a test shot and check the image in the display and most importantly the histogram. Ensure that the histogram is not bunched up at the left or right of the image, but should spread across the whole width in the ideal situation. Adjust the shutter speed to a shorter duration (e.g. from 1s to 1/2s) if the image came out too bright and increase the shutter speed to a longer duration (e.g. from 2s to 4s) if the image was too dark.

Tripods are useful in situations where there is little ambient light, such as indoors at night or outdoors in the evening. Most camera users use the auto mode, where in dark situations the camera decides the shutter speed, aperture value and then pops the flash, leading to almost black backgrounds and very bright foregrounds. With a tripod, you can choose to use the compact camera’s scene modes to choose the Night Portrait mode, where the camera will use a longer shutter speed to capture the darker ambient lighting, and finish off with a flash at the end of the exposure. All that remains for a perfect photograph is for the people in the picture to keep as still as possible till the flash fires. This way the picture has a nicely lit background, and even the foreground is not overly bright.

For DSLR users, just use the camera’s meter to expose for the background, and use rear-sync flash to light the foreground. This way you can use a lower ISO for cleaner (less grainy) images and a better exposed photograph. You may also want to dial in a negative flash compensation if necessary to control the brightness of the foreground.

Lastly, have you ever found yourself in a situation where you climbed to the top of a hill and were greeted by spectacular scenery? You would spend time snapping photos of the surroundings, until your partner calls out: “let’s take a picture together!”

When faced with such a scenario, there are a few options:
1. You hold the camera at arm’s length and snap a shot – This fills the frame with your faces, which is good, but does not capture enough of the surrounding beauty (unless your arms are extra long!)
2. You look for somewhere to rest/place the camera to set the timer function – This is highly unlikely on top of a hill, leaving you with no choice but to use option one.
3. You set up your tripod, compose the perfect frame, get your partner to stand where you want him/her, take a test shot, and adjust the exposure – This may lead to a stunning photograph, one that captures the both of you and the beauty of nature from the top of the hill.

Happy shooting!

By: Pix Asi@ Photography Singapore Professional Photographers

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