# how to take night photography and reduce noise without using any software



## junqi (Dec 24, 2014)

how to take night photography(low lighting) and reduce noise without using any software?

yesterday i did try to take a photo. i set the iso speed to 3200 and shutter speed to "1. Aperture 5.6.  but the outcome not very nice. Is there anyway to take a nice night photography(low lighting) without using any software.


kindly advise.

thank you.


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## snowbear (Dec 24, 2014)

If it's a static scene, use a tripod, lower ISO and a long shutter speed.  If things are moving, you have to keep a higher ISO or go with a larger aperture / faster lens.

This was ISO 1600, f/8 at 1/25.  I didn't have the tripod with me so I braced the camera against a handrail.  There is, what I consider to be an acceptable amount of noise, though the focus is soft.


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## Edsport (Dec 25, 2014)

Also you can use in camera noise reduction. If you do use it you will have to wait for it to do it's thing. Eg. If you take a shot that is 30 seconds then it will take the camera 30 seconds after the shot is taken to reduce the noise, a 60 second shot will require 60 seconds after the shot is taken and so on...


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## junqi (Dec 25, 2014)

snowbear said:


> If it's a static scene, use a tripod, lower ISO and a long shutter speed.  If things are moving, you have to keep a higher ISO or go with a larger aperture / faster lens.
> 
> This was ISO 1600, f/8 at 1/25.  I didn't have the tripod with me so I braced the camera against a handrail.  There is, what I consider to be an acceptable amount of noise, though the focus is soft.



thanks for the advice. if i will go for longer shutter speed meaning that it will take longer for the photo to process. how can i go about this without tripod. because with longer shutter speed i might afraid i will encounter camera shake.

how can i take this kind of photo as attached.


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## junqi (Dec 25, 2014)

Edsport said:


> Also you can use in camera noise reduction. If you do use it you will have to wait for it to do it's thing. Eg. If you take a shot that is 30 seconds then it will take the camera 30 seconds after the shot is taken to reduce the noise, a 60 second shot will require 60 seconds after the shot is taken and so on...


how do i use the in camera noise reduction. there is low and high. i do not know which is the best for it. able to advise me on this. appreciate your help


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## snowbear (Dec 25, 2014)

Please replace the photo with a link; you're not allowed to post photos without permission of the owner, but links are OK.

Borrow a tripod, if you can.  Look for any flat surface that you can set the camera on - short "barrier" type walls or newspaper vending boxes. for example.


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## bribrius (Dec 25, 2014)

junqi said:


> snowbear said:
> 
> 
> > If it's a static scene, use a tripod, lower ISO and a long shutter speed.  If things are moving, you have to keep a higher ISO or go with a larger aperture / faster lens.
> ...


more often than not, I put my camera on the ground, on the sidewalk, on a rock, on the hood of the car, on the roof of the car, on a railing, on a bridge beam, pretty much anywhere I hardly ever use a tripod. And then I use a pack of cigarettes and my car keys to hold up the lens and put it on the timer. kind of walk along, think okay this looks about right, and there ya go. I have a tripod, but to be honest the headache of carrying it around and fiddling with it seems like a real waste of time for me. I can swap out ten different point of views between ground and on objects at will. Tripod I would be TRYING to adjust it and moving the p.o.s. around with each one of them. Primarily I use a tripod for static portrait family shots, about it. I am much more likely to just put the camera on the ground and think "well this looks good". I did have a small issue in which I put the camera on a tied down boats roof last week and as I pushed away waiting for the shutter the boat drifted out a little from the dock in the ocean bay and I had a little trouble getting the camera back. I thought I was going to end up swimming for it. And I had it on the roof of the car a few weeks back and the wife jumped in and almost drove away with it. But all good.  Just how I shoot though. some people are really into tripods and monopods  I am just not one of those.


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## ully2000 (Dec 26, 2014)

Get a monopod.


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## PWhite214 (Jan 3, 2015)

Bean bags can be handy for rest.  Easy to make.  

Phil


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## matthias bader (Jan 3, 2015)

You need something where you can hold your camera in place. Most likely a Tripod (GorillaPod for DSLR are great and very handy), Monopod or something of that kind. And you need to lock your Mirror (if you use a DSLR) as well as a cable-release (or infrared). If you don't have one of both, use the selftimer. This way you reduce the camerashake to (nearly) zero and get a sharp picture. 

If you lower the ISO, the less noisier the picture will be...of course, the shutterspeed gets longer and personally I wouldn't go under ISO 1200. 

But why wouldn't you remove the noise with a software? Its the easiest way, isn't it?


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## Tailgunner (Jan 3, 2015)

junqi said:


> how can i take this kind of photo as attached.



The above attached photo was most likely taken using a tripod and remote cable shutter button. I can't read the photo's info file but if I was to take a guess, I would say the ISO was set around 100-200 and the shutter around 30-90 seconds. Se how calm and perfect the water is? Thats from a longer exposure...or editing. 

I would have to crank my ISO up around ISO 12,500 to get anything close to this without a tripod...and i promise you it will be noisy and the water wouldn't be that calm. 

Your only other options was pointed out above, bean bags or a Joby gorilla grip mount. You're most likely not going to get this shot with a Monopod, I'm sure someone here knows the math but i can't see getting much more than 5-10 second shot using one. The same thing with leaning against a pole or building. Those things work good when its a quick 1-5 second shot but their not going to do much good on a 30-90 second shot. You really need a tripod and remote shutter button if you're going to pursue this form of photography.


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## mcap1972 (Jan 5, 2015)

Shoot in RAW and do editing with dedicated software.


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## KmH (Jan 5, 2015)

junqi said:


> *how to take night photography and reduce noise without using any software*


Nail the exposure.


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## Michael Robinson (Jan 6, 2015)

Tripod and a wireless remote. Use Bulb mode.  Helps a ton. After awhile a tripod doesn't seem that much of a hassle when you get good photos!


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