Nightshots
Just because the sun goes down , doesn ’ t mean that you have to pack your bag and head home from the airport . It ’ s just a different set of rules , but if you follow some very basic principles , you are in for some pretty dramatic shots . Mark Zerafa shares his experience .
Equipment
The only additional piece of equipment you will need is a sturdy tripod . When choosing a tripod and the associated tripod head mount , make sure that it is rated to carry the weight of your camera and lens .
When mounting your camera on the tripod , wherever possible please mount your lens on the tripod , and not your SLR body . This reduces stresses on the lens mounting ring on your SLR and reduces the possible vibrations of the camera during the actual exposure .
The Right Settings
First of all , there is no perfect camera setting for all nightshots . You will need to select your ISO , aperture and shutter speed depending on every situation you will face :
It is generally agreed that ISO is only to be increased as a last resort . As long as you can achieve a sharp , well-focussed shot using aperture and shutter speed settings at your lowest ISO , please stick to that .
Another possible luxury is a cable- or radio-operated shutter release trigger , but that is very much optional and not really much of a necessity .
The Basics
Nightshots need the exact opposite of what an aviation photographer usually looks for – total lack of movement . Ideally , the aircraft needs to be at a complete standstill . Nothing between you and the aircraft should be moving either , especially vehicles with lights or taxiing aircraft .
The essence of any photograph is to expose your sensor to the right amount of light – not too little ( under-exposed result ) and not too much ( over-exposed result ).
There are three factors which determine the amount of light captured by the sensor – aperture , shutter speed and ISO . Aperture is measured in the F-stops on your lens . The lower , the F- Stop number , the more light the lens will let through . The best lenses can open up to F Stops as low as f2.8 or f1.8 , but this is not usually an issue with nightshots , as will be elaborated later .
Shutter speed is the duration for which the camera ’ s shutter will be open , thus allowing light to hit the sensor . The higher the shutter speed , the less time there is for light to hit the sensor . Shutter speeds are measured as fractions of a second . Thus , Shutter Speed 250 is 1 / 250 of a second , Shutter Speed 1000 is 1 / 1000 of a second , and so on . For nightshots , we will want to go to the opposite side of the range , with most cameras allowing exposures as long as 30 seconds .
ISO refers to the sensitivity of the sensor for light . Set at ISO 400 , a sensor will need much less light for a correct exposure than it would need at ISO 100 . Most SLRs will have a range from 100 to 64,000 . As a general rule , photographers try to use the lowest ISO possible , as image quality is superior at lower ISOs .
Air Malta A319 9H-AEL on a night-time turnaround at Malta International Airport
( Mark Zerafa )