Night mode photography and optical zoom are the current focus of the newest smartphones today. Many of us are looking forward to better, clearer, and better-lit photos taken during nighttime from our phones without the fancy accessories and setup of photography enthusiasts. Many smartphones are trying to address this in their smartphone camera capabilities.
Most popular flagship phones from leading smartphone brands, such as vivo X70, offer night photography mode on their cameras. If you’re looking to level up your night mode mobile photography, here are some tips on how to take better photos at night.
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Activate the night mode on your camera
Many smartphones have their own night mode on their camera settings. You should activate it before shooting and assess the source of light you need to take a great photo. Some phones may enable the night mode automatically once they sense that you are in a low-light situation. If you’re using an Android phone, you’ll most likely need to find a specific shooting mode so you can capture the best low-light images.
Various phones may have their own options, so familiarize yourself with this. You may also do a quick search to know how you can activate the night mode on your smartphone camera.
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Maximize the light
When capturing photos at night, there are two major problems. First, the source of light. Since you don’t have the sun to act as your natural light source, you need to maximize the available light source you have at the moment –no matter how little the light is. Second, the quality of the photo once it was taken. Since we lack the source of light, the fear that the photo may become grainy, too dark, or unfocused.
Here, we need to utilize the light depending on the motif. If you are shooting for night street photography, using the street lights may work in your favor. If you’re taking pictures of the city skyline at night, you can use the lights of buildings and traffic in your favor.
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Timing is everything
Whether it is day or night, timing can make or break a great photo. Some breath-taking city and street photography might have some moving subjects like cars and people, and you may need to be just right in the moment when you take pictures of these variables in your photo, especially when you capture them at night.
Aside from the timing, you would need to focus on your subject and get your shot ready, with your finger hovering over the shutter button. If you’re taking a photo for long exposure, having a smartphone tripod would be helpful. Just remember to check your shutter speed on your smartphones as well. Patience and the right timing can really pay off.
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Learn to be steady
Even though your smartphone has its own capabilities for night mode photography, the way you are taking the photos greatly contributes to the captured image. Even though night modes on smartphones do not require tripods, being steady and stable while taking the photos would be your best shot.
If you really want a stable shot without using a tripod, you can be resourceful and use a timer system. You can also hold a phone steady closer to your chest as you tuck your elbows in toward your stomach. This reduces the shakiness in your hands and could be the difference in getting a clearer, sharper night photo.
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Edit your shots
As with any great photo, the part where you take the shot is only half of the story. If you are not satisfied with the photo that you took, you can easily enhance it on various photo editing apps available.
Naturally, night photos can be quite dark. With this, you can increase the exposure of the picture through photo editing apps. Just be careful though, since low-light images have the tendency to be noisy (noise appears like extremely small specks that seem like sand on the photo) and it could get worse as you increase the brightness and exposure of your image. You can also reduce the highlights of your photos and boost the shadows to balance the elements in your photo.
Many smartphones of today, especially the flagship phones, are improving their camera technologies so much that their focus shifted to improving night mode and optical zoom. If you are interested in taking great photos at night time, these tips are helpful in improving how you can capture them using your smartphone.
