For the photographer, a camera is like their Master Card; they never leave home without one. If you are a serious amateur photographer or a professional photographer, your camera of choice is a DSLR but DSLRs are bulky and heavy so you may not want to carry one if you’re simply heading to the supermarket to do some grocery shopping. On the other hand, you feel naked without a camera so you carry a point and shoot camera on those expeditions. Point and Shoot digital cameras are light and in the hands of a skilled photographer, they can make pictures that really pop.
Not all Point and Shoot cameras are created equal. Some have more features than others do. I have used many different point and shoot cameras but favorite today is the Nikon Coolpix P90. I reviewed the P90 for Factoidz a few months ago, you can read it hereNikon Coolpix P90. The P90 is a good compromise between your bulky DSLR and the compact point and shoot camera, it won’t fit into a pocket but it’s light enough to not be a burden and with its 12.1 Megapixels resolution it will produce great pictures. The tips I will give in this article will be generic in nature and not based on the features of any given point and shoot camera.
When shooting night pictures you need to use a slower shutter speed for a longer exposure time. All digital point and shoot cameras allow you to control shutter speed to one degree or another, if you are lucky your camera, like the Nikon Coolpix P90, will have a manual exposure mode or a “Shutter Priority” mode that allows you to set the shutter speed manually. Almost all cameras have a “Night Scene” programmed mode which gives an extended exposure time. Some cameras, when in the “Night Scene” mode will allow you to manually dial in an exposure time of up to 30 seconds.
If your camera allows you to adjust the shutter speed, experiment with using different shutter speeds to learn what works best in any given situation. If your camera has a manual mode as the P90 does, you can combine slower shutter speeds with smaller lens apertures to increase the depth of field or faster shutter speeds and larger lens apertures to lessen the depth of field.
When shooting night pictures you will need a sturdy support for your camera to eliminate camera shake. Some cameras, like the P90 has a stabilization system built in the lens to reduce blurring caused by camera shake but those systems have limitations and they aren’t miracle workers. Tripods are the tools of choice but if you weren’t on a shoot you probably wouldn’t want to carry a heavy tripod around with you. Unipods, on the other hand, are relatively light, easy to carry, and do a great job. If you have neither, brace your camera against something like a tree, telephone pole, the corner of a building, or dome other immovable object.
Another way of handling the low light of shooting at night is by shooting at a higher ISO setting. Some point and shoot cameras, like the P90, allows you to dial in an ISO as high as 6400. Just keep in mind that the amount of electronic noise in a picture increases with the ISO setting. The higher the ISO the higher the electronic noise.
Some of you high end point and shoot cameras have a built in noise reduction program, check your cameras manual to see if your camera has such program and if it does make sure it’s turned on. Again, these noise reduction programs aren’t miracle workers but they do a remarkably good job at decreasing the amount of electronic noise in pictures caused by shooting at high ISO settings.
One final tip before I leave you to go out and shoot breathe taking night photos. Take a tip from the sharpshooters, keep your finger on the trigger and breath. Take several deep breaths before pressing the shutter release and then press it as you slowly exhale. The body is most relaxed as you exhale and you are less likely to jab the shutter release button. Press it slowly while applying an even constant pressure just as the sharpshooter fires his weapon on the range.
