Night Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots

This is one of the best books on night photography I have ever seen, and Gabriel Biderman’s instructions are easy to follow, and I appreciate how he guides the reader as if he were standing alongside gently instructing how to get the best night shots no matter if you have an entry-level digital point-and-shoot camera or a professional full-frame DSLR.Each chapter is laid out painstakingly clear, taking into consideration the reader’s skill level, so the reader doesn’t get lost in too many technical details all at once. But it is a thorough and an exhaustive handbook of everything one needs to know about night photography to move on to more advanced shooting.Biderman lists what every night photographer should have in his camera bag, as well as how to use every piece of gear. He goes over the best camera settings for different types of night shooting, and how to get the right exposure. He explains how to get the best focus even in very dark situations and he explains the rules and then goes over when to break them for some more creative shots like zooming in and out on a telephoto lens during a long exposure to create these amazing light compositions.I love that at the end of each chapter he includes a set of practical assignments for testing aperture and f-stops and focal length and a checklist of what should be in your camera bag. He also suggests creative assignments at the ends of chapters for trying out different subjects such as star trails or moon shots or just reinterpreting the city or town where you live by approaching it under different weather conditions or from different perspectives.And finally, there is a indispensable couple of last chapters on workflow and post processing in Lightroom and Photoshop that is essential to getting even more creative with easy to follow step by step instructions. Not once did I have a problem not being able to follow the author. What comes across in each chapter, besides the lucid instructions, is Biderman’s enthusiasm and passion for what he truly loves—helping other photographers to get out there and start shooting at night!

It never ceases to amaze me what versatility a modern camera offers the photography enthusiast. Even if you consider yourself a well practiced photographer, there is always something more to learn … the treasure chest is bottomless! Even if you have been taking photos for over 65 years (as I have), there is always something more to learn, especially as the equipment available to advances with the years. For me, this book is not so much useful as a beginner's tutorial as much as it is as a source of ideas for new things I have not tried before … Please don't misunderstand me, I am not saying the book is useless to new photographers, it certainly can be useful to new photographers who wish to expand beyond the "bright midday sun at the beach" to the intriguing world of night time and limited light photography. Whether you are a person who wants to expand your photographer's acumen or just see how another shutterbug searched out and took took advantage of nighttime photo opportunities, I believe you will enjoy the pages of this book.Having said all this, I admit to being one who enjoys seeing how others do interesting thing with their photography, and this book is one which I enjoyed browsing through … I'm glad I added it to my library ...

I felt the author presented a nice mix of breadth and detail. He covered several different aspects of night photography and explored each one with sufficient detail to allow a photographer to prepare adequately and have a good chance of success. His tips to help get one past fumbling around with one's camera in the dark are truly valuable. I thought he covered quite well the concepts of how to choose aperture, shutter speed and ISO to fit the situation and the available light. He did an excellent job explaining how those choices affect noise and how one can minimize noise but still achieve the desired effects. I also liked the author's explanations of color temperature from both man made and natural light sources and how that affects the images. On top of the technical advice, rules of thumb and guidance, was a healthy but subtle dose of inspiration which, in my estimation, was more than enough to justify my purchasing the book.

I have no clue on exposure times for Night-time Tripod Photography. Mr. Biderman gives exposure time guesstimates and accompanying images which will get you ball-park / Take lots of same pictures with varying exposure times and then pick the one that you want to print. I flag images and samples in the book and go night-hunting for images carrying this book as a guide. Get this book, a good Tripod, and a star filter. Terry

This is a good, albeit brief, introduction to night photography that has some excellent step by step Lightroom instruction. For beginner, I thought it was worth the purchase and the illustrations were excellent. For those with a better than average proficiency,then this book might not be helpful.

I am getting great ideas from this book. It shows hits and misses allowing you to compare settings. It gives you all the settings for each photograph. You will learn much from this book that you will adapt to your own environment.

As a beginning photographer, any time a book is written that I can understand, it gets a high rating. I can understand this and am using it to slowly improve my night photography. I think it would be good for photographers of any level as there are also advanced concepts in the book. If you're a beginner, don't be afraid of this book. It's not all photographer-speak.

It is one of the best books I have ever studied to learn more about photography. I love the photos and the straight forward teaching style. I’m not a native English speaker but this book was fun to read and easy to understand. Beside all the information about night photography I like how good it explains the basics (chapter 1 & 2), which makes it also a good book for people that just start with photography in general.

A brilliant book full of information and well executed. Plenty of examples.

I purchased this book hoping it would focus more on the aspects of shooting at night.I found the book covered the very basics of exposure triangle, metering modes, composition. This information may be of use to people new to photography but anyone who has a good understanding of these principles i doubt will get any use out of this book. I did however pick up one or two additional points for post processing in my work flow.

I loved this book. It's simple to read and it gives you tons of advices. Highly recommended if you want to learn something about night photography, even if you already know how to shoot in the dark, you can find some quick tricks that you probably didn't know.

I love the From Snapshots to Great Shots series. I have purchased several and have not been disappointed. Would recommend.

Excellent book. Goes through a little bit about every aspect of taking great night shots.