7 Tips for Stunning Night Portrait Photography

Are you struggling to capture gorgeous night portraits? Are you looking for the tips, tricks, and secrets that’ll net you consistently outstanding night portrait photography?

You’ve come to the right place.

I love shooting portraits at night, and in this article, I share my best advice, including:

• The best settings for beautiful results
• How to use artificial light and natural light for outstanding effects
• Any easy way to capture gorgeous nighttime backgrounds
• Much more!

Ready to become a night portrait master? Then let’s dive right in, starting with my first tip:

1. Get off Auto mode

Auto mode is easy to use – you can simply set it and forget it – but it’s terrible for night portrait photography.

If you use your camera in Auto mode, you’ll generally end up with one of two results:

1. You’ll get a blurry, unusable image
2. Your subject will be heavily flashed and the background will turn black

In my experience, neither of the above outcomes is ideal, which is why it’s essential to move away from Auto mode as soon as you can.

What mode should you use instead?

One option is your camera’s Night Scene mode, which will fire your flash while also selecting a longer shutter speed. This can net you some nice shots, but it won’t give you control over your settings.

Therefore, a better option is either Manual mode or Aperture Priority mode. Both Manual and Aperture Priority let you change your camera settings at will. In Aperture Priority, you select the aperture and the ISO, while your camera selects a shutter speed for a balanced exposure. In Manual mode, you select the aperture, the ISO, and the shutter speed, while your camera selects nothing (in other words, you have total control!).

If you’ve never tried Aperture Priority, then I’d suggest starting there. You can use it to familiarize yourself with the different exposure settings. Then, as you gain confidence, you can switch over to Manual and see what you think.

2. Choose the right aperture, shutter speed, and ISO

Once you’ve chosen the perfect camera mode, it’s time to pick your main exposure settings: the aperture, the shutter speed, and the ISO.

Note that these three settings together produce the exposure – i.e., overall brightness – of the photo. One goal to keep in mind when picking your settings, therefore, is to create an image with plenty of detail in the shadows, highlights, and midtones.

However, the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO also affect other aspects of each image. The aperture adjusts the depth of field of the scene, the shutter speed determines scene sharpness, and the ISO influences the overall image quality.

Therefore, you need to choose each setting carefully. Here are my recommendations:

• Pick your aperture first based on your depth of field requirements. If you want an artistic shallow depth of field effect, then choose a wide aperture, such as f/2.8. If you want a sharper background, go for a narrower aperture, such as f/8.
• Next, choose the slowest shutter speed that’ll get you consistently sharp shots. If your subject is stationary, you might choose 1/160s. If your subject is moving, you might go for 1/500s or higher.
• Finally, dial in your camera’s native ISO value (generally ISO 100) for the highest-quality photos.

Once you’ve chosen your ideal settings, frame your subject and check the exposure meter. If your image is underexposed, then you’ll need to either increase your ISO or widen your aperture further. Personally, I’m a fan of shallow depth of field portraits, so I don’t mind widening the aperture as far as it’ll go – but if you’re set on a sharp background, then go ahead and boost the ISO until you have a good exposure.

If your image is overexposed, then simply boost the shutter speed until the exposure meter is balanced.

3. Make sure you use artificial lighting

Without some form of artificial lighting, you’ll struggle to capture detailed images of your portrait subjects. The shots will turn out either wildly underexposed or very blurry, neither of which is ideal.

Note that your artificial lighting need not be a flash. It can be a streetlight, a neon sign, a phone flashlight – anything that lights up your subject and provides a bit of illumination for your camera to use. Of course, the light needs to be accessible; if you plan to use streetlights for your next photoshoot, for instance, make sure there are some nearby and on public land!

That said, I do recommend carrying an off-camera flash for nighttime portraits. This will give you the most flexibility – you can adjust the brightness and the direction – and you can use it to produce beautiful effects.

I’d also recommend buying a light stand, which you can use to mount your flash. (Alternatively, you can bring an assistant, who can hold the flash and aim it as needed.) You might even consider purchasing a modifier, which will soften the light for a more flattering effect.

4. Don’t be afraid to use a tripod

If you photograph portraits with a flash, the subject will turn out nice and bright – but the background will be unaffected (and will therefore remain dark).

So you have three options:

1. You can embrace the black-background effect.
2. You can boost your ISO until the background looks decently bright.
3. You can mount your camera on a tripod, then capture a long exposure with a burst from your flash.

A black background can look nice, especially if you’re after a moodier image (see the example below). And a high ISO will get you a good exposure (at the cost of reduced image quality).

But the long-exposure technique can produce great images, too, so I recommend you learn how it works.

First, make sure you have a sturdy tripod. I’d also encourage you to grab a remote release, which will let you trigger your camera without pressing the shutter button.

Set up your image, then choose your exposure settings based on the background, not the subject. To prevent your subject from turning too bright, dial in a shutter speed that’ll keep the background subtly underexposed. Note that your shutter speed should be reasonably long (generally 1/30s or below) in order to bring out detail in the background areas.

Finally, fire the shutter and the flash. The idea is that the flash will freeze your subject, while the lengthy shutter speed will give the camera enough time to record light from the background. You’ll get a beautiful result, one with a detailed (if slightly underexposed) background:

If your first shots don’t turn out great, that’s okay! Nailing flash brightness can take some tweaking. If your subject is too bright but you like the background exposure, then try dropping the flash brightness or taking a few steps back from your subject. Alternatively, if your subject is too dark, increase the flash brightness or get closer to the subject.

5. Pay attention to the background

When doing night portrait photography, it’s easy to forget about the background. After all, it’s often too dark to see, plus your subject is what’s really important, right?

Not quite.

First of all, even in situations where you let the background fade to black, the final image will likely include some background elements, such as car lights, street lights, or lit-up signs.

And if you use the technique I shared in the previous tip, then the background will be clearly visible in the final photo, even if it’s tough to see through your camera viewfinder.

In truth, the background is an essential part of every portrait photo, whether you shoot at night or in bright daylight. A good background emphasizes and complements the main subject, while a bad background distracts the viewer and prevents them from fully appreciating the subject.

So if you want great shots, you’ve got to get the background right.

When preparing for a photoshoot, I’d recommend scouting around for potential backdrops. Search for lots of streetlights – which look stunning when combined with a wide aperture – as well as simple walls that’ll help your subject stand out.

And then, when you’re out shooting, always pay careful attention to the area behind your subject. Make sure that it doesn’t distract the viewer. And don’t be afraid to test out different backgrounds by changing your camera angle!

6. Start out with continuous lighting

I know I’ve talked a lot about using flash for beautiful night photos…

…but while flash is very versatile, portable, and powerful, it can be a difficult light source for beginners. You can’t see the effect of the flash until after an image is taken, which means that you’ll spend a lot of time guessing, checking, and adjusting your lights. Plus, getting the exposure right when using flash can be a struggle; you’ll often need to spend long minutes shifting the flash brightness up and down until you get a result you like.

Fortunately, there is another option:

Continuous lights. These will constantly light your subject and therefore allow you to monitor their effects in real-time.

You can grab portable continuous lights for a reasonable price, and while they aren’t as powerful as flash, they work great for nighttime portraits. Plus, continuous lights often offer color temperature adjustments, which let you match the light color to surrounding light sources for a more natural effect.

Now, for the best results, you’ll probably need to boost your ISO and/or widen your aperture. I’d suggest setting your exposure based on the background, then ask your subject to step into the frame and make adjustments as required.

For the image below, I used an LED panel. It produced warm, soft light that looked amazing:

Pro tip: If your continuous lights don’t feature a brightness control, simply move the lights closer or farther from your subject!

7. Consider styling your subject

When you’re just starting out as a night portrait photographer, you’ll likely photograph your subjects as they are.

However, as you become more experienced, you may want to get someone to do their hair and makeup. You might even purchase stylish clothes for your subjects to make the shots look even better.

Even if you just use friends as models, it’s a good idea to ensure they look professional – so guide them in picking out clothing from their wardrobe.

Of course, you’ll want to keep in mind the purpose of your night portraits. If you’re shooting fine-art images, then it’s okay to push drama and unorthodox clothing choices. However, if your goal is to capture nice portraits for your subject to hang on their wall, you may want to tone down the styling. Make sense?

Night portrait photography: final words

Hopefully, you now feel ready to capture some stunning night portraits.

So set up a photoshoot. Scout out locations. And have plenty of fun!

What night portraits do you plan to capture? Share your thoughts in the comments below!