Photographing Niagara Falls at Night

Review of Tips for Photographing Water after Dark

In past articles I have discussed photographing at night and photographing water falls.  In this post I will be combining the two.  In September we stayed overnight at Niagara Falls in New York and I was able to photograph the beautiful falls at night.  The photograph above shows the American Falls in the foreground, the Bridal falls in the mid section and a glimpse of Horseshoe Falls in the background.  The building you see in the back are the Canadian side of the falls. In order to capture the smooth look to the water I used a tripod and a remote shutter release.    Here are my tips for shooting smooth waterfalls at night.  It helps when they are lit up in beautiful colors like Niagara Falls.

• Always use a tripod for best results
• Use a remote shutter release for extra stability
• Use a slow shutter speed...the photo above was shot at .4 sec  This gives you the smooth look of the water.  If you want a less smooth look than increase your shutter speed.

In the photo above and the one below I was using a wide angle 24mm setting and an ISO of 3200 along with an aperture of f11.

Rapids Leading to the Falls

Another great photo at Niagara Falls is shooting the rapids leading up to the falls.  In the photo above I was able to capture the rapids and a beautiful full moon in the sky.  For this photo I held my camera open for 2 seconds and got the bursts of light from the moon and the lights on the bridge along with the smooth look to the rapids.

For another view of Niagara Falls see the mug below.  On this photo I shot during the daytime without a tripod an used a faster shutter speed.

Niagara Falls Ringer Mug
by mbgphoto

Niagara Falls at night Metal Ornament
by mbgphoto

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Sunrise-Sunset and Night Photography

Taking  photos in low light can present challenges, but if you keep a few tips in mind you will be rewarded with some wonderful photos.  To get really clear photos in low light settings a tripod is a must.  Here is a photo that I took in my front yard on the 4th of July. 

Taking photos of fireworks can be a fun adventure. There seems to be lots of fireworks around our neighborhood so each year on Independence Day I set up my tripod on our front walk and wait for just the right shot.  I have found that the tripod is a necessity to get a clear shot.

In this photo I used my Canon SX40 camera.  For my settings I used a F8 aperture and held the camera open for 2 seconds.  The ISO setting was 100 and I zoomed to the 80mm setting.




I also enjoy taking photos in low light settings.  The time just before and for about 30 minutes after sunset can produce some beautiful photos.  I give you hints on taking photos during this time at How to Take Sunset Photos. 

I am not usually an early  morning person but the beauty of a sunset can get me out of bed and behind the eye of a camera.  Here is a shot I took at sunrise in Juno Beach Florida.  I arrived at the pier about 1/2 hour before sunrise, set up my camera and waited for the perfect shot.  I was able to take about 20 photos before the sun got too high in the sky.

I have been fascinated by sunrises for quite some time and have written about other encounters with photographing sunrises on this page Beautiful Sunrises.

As I visited the pages of other photographers this week I found two that I particularly enjoyed their takes on night time and low light photography.

• Patgoltz is a wonderful photographer.  On this page Night Photography , she gives us great hints on taking photos at night.  She also suggests some interesting night time subjects.  I would think of photographing the moon, fireworks, and Christmas lights; all of which Pat gives some wonderful tips.  But how about subjects like flowers, birds, lightning and even snow?  Those are some of the interesting night subject Pat explores on her lens.
• EditionH gives 5 tips for taking photos of the sunrise and sunset.  This lens was granted a Lens of the Day on 2/10/14 Sunset and Sunrise Photos  Be sure to stop by to see some beautiful photos and learn how you can take these photos.  My favorites are the photos with the morning fog!

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