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I would like to start with taking photos at night. Can anybody recommend me a good book or an online resource as a starter?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Really basic, so there are probably better out there and I won't add it as an answer, but there's Jeff Cable's B&H Event Space presentation on the subject on YouTube. \$\endgroup\$
    – user28116
    Commented Aug 3, 2014 at 10:52
  • \$\begingroup\$ I'm also a book person, try and type "night photography" on amazon.com... I've found plenty of nice books that will certainly help you... \$\endgroup\$
    – Andy M
    Commented Aug 3, 2014 at 16:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ That is the main problem there: There are so many of them, that I don't know which are good. Thats why I asked for recommendations. \$\endgroup\$
    – Karolas
    Commented Aug 3, 2014 at 16:36
  • \$\begingroup\$ We shouldn't "sell" books here. Nonetheless, having a look at customers' ratings never disappointed me on Amazon... I usually do like that when looking for a book... If you're a beginner with night photography, it's even easier, I guess you're going to learn from any well rated book... \$\endgroup\$
    – Andy M
    Commented Aug 3, 2014 at 16:46
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    \$\begingroup\$ And you could connect on the chat for more buying advices like that, you probably will get better chance to get some... chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/14/photography-chat \$\endgroup\$
    – Andy M
    Commented Aug 3, 2014 at 16:48

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The elements of shooting in available light, or as I like to call it, available dark:

  • Learn to hand-hold. With practice you can get 25% of your shots to be usable at 1/4 second shutter speed. Yes that's far beyond the standard rule of thumb but it's easily achievable by learning how to hold your camera steady and practicing constantly. Like playing the piano. You get better by practicing.

  • High ISO.

  • Noise reduction in post.

  • There's more light out there than you think. Street lights, car headlights, neon signs.

  • Did I mention practice?

More on hand-holding. Here's one article but there are many. http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-avoid-camera-shake/ The idea is to turn your body into a solid platform for the camera. Then you relax your breathing, concentrate, and when you press the shutter button, apply equal pressure on the opposite side on the bottom of your camera.

You will really be amazed at how slow a shutter speed you can shoot at with confidence, once you master the basics of hand-holding and then practice practice practice.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Instead of hand-holding, don't you think using a tripod, low ISO and shooting in RAW would be a better advice ? I'm no expert in night photography but that would be how I would handle it... By hand holding with high ISO, you're likely get nothing but blurred, highly grained images... \$\endgroup\$
    – Andy M
    Commented Aug 3, 2014 at 16:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ @AndyM Yes to Raw, I forgot to mention that. Personally I almost never use a tripod, but that's a personal choice. Of course having a tripod with you is a great idea. Or if I need a long exposure, I'll just find something to rest my camera on and use mirror lockup and the self-timer. \$\endgroup\$
    – user4894
    Commented Aug 3, 2014 at 18:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ @AndyM another option, aside from the tripod (with all its ceremony of setup) is the monopod This can let you get longer exposures than handheld, with faster setup/take down than a tripod. If you are after stable, repeatable, level shots its not necessarily the right answer (get a tripod), but if you are after better than handheld stability, it can be a worthy contender. \$\endgroup\$
    – user13451
    Commented Oct 13, 2014 at 2:04

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