The Canon 1300d is an extremely popular camera body that has managed to stand the test of time and continue to go from strength to strength and grow its core customer base with each passing month. Due to the Canon 1300d having a huge customer base, we always see a large number of different questions being asked regarding how they are able to get the best image quality possible from the camera.
With so many questions being asked about the 1300d, we have decided to answer as many of the commonly asked questions about the camera as possible to try and help as many of our readers as possible as we know we have a large number of readers who own the 1300d. Out of all of the questions about the camera we see asked each month, questions regarding Canon 1300d night photography stands out the most as people seem to be constantly reaching out about it.
Our goal with this article is to try and share as many different tips and tricks to help you improve your night photography with your Canon 1300d. With night photography having a number of different sub-niches within it, we have decided to cover a wide range of tips to try and help as many of our readers as possible.
That said though, we know that some of our readers may be specifically working in a set sub-niche of night photography so we would recommend that you check all of our tips but only implement the ones useful to help you reach your goals. Additionally, we know that a large number of our readers are on a strict budget so we have also tried to include as many free tips and tricks as possible too.
Consider An Online Night Photography Course
With the Canon 1300d being an entry-level camera body, we know that a large number of the photographers who use the camera will be relatively new to photography in general, never mind to night photography. We even see some intermediate level photographers struggle to make the switch over to night photography from regular photography niches due to the lack of available light turning some photography principals on their head.
Although there are an absolute ton of great night photography courses online, most of them are very expensive. Thankfully though, as a reader of Photography Paws, you are able to take advantage of a no-commitment trial of Skillshare Premium without you having to spend a single cent.
This means that you are able to use the trial to enroll on one of the best online night photography courses available that has managed to grow itself an outstanding reputation over the years amongst the community without having to pay for it. Literally, thousands of photographers have completed the course over the years with many of them having to pay for it too, and judging by the large number of excellent reviews the course has, the vast majority of the previous students are really happy with the course content.
Get Yourself A Lens That Is Ideal For Night Photography
Although this may sound like basic advice, investing in a lens that is actually suitable for night photography for your Canon 1300d with a faster aperture can be a quick, easy, and relatively cheap way to improve the image quality of your photographs captured at night. Thankfully, there are an absolute ton of suitable night photography lenses that will mount directly to your Canon 1300d without the need for a lens adaptor or converter too.
Invest In A Suitable Tripod
Again, with the Canon 1300d being aimed towards entry-level photographers, many of the people who we do see reaching out for assistance on how they are able to improve their night photography with the Canon 1300d don’t actually have a tripod in their camera accessories yet. If possible, we would highly recommend that you try get your hands on a cheap, decent tripod that can provide you with some excellent levels of image stabilization.
Unfortunately, holding your camera in your hands can be suitable for many photography niches that have optimal lighting, it is not really a suitable option for night photography or any other niche that has low light. The lack of available light means that even slight movement in your camera body can result in blur in your photographs and spoil them.
This is why a cheap tripod can be an excellent camera accessory to add to your collection as it adds some quick and easy image stabilization to your capability. This will help to keep your Canon 1300d steady during use and ensure that the camera sensor has the best possible conditions to capture all available light to get you a great photograph.
Consider Getting Some Steel Wool
With decent steel wool being so cheap and easy to use, it can be a great addition to your night photography camera accessories to really help turn your photographs up to eleven. The additional light and movement in the photograph help to make something that would otherwise be boring and normal into a surprisingly good image such as the photograph above.
There are absolutely tons of ways that you are able to integrate the use of steel wool into your night photography sessions and with different colors being available, you can get some pretty creative ideas going if you think out side of the box. Steel wool really can help to draw the eye to your photograph on the Instagram grid too making your image stand out amongst the competition for some popular hashtags.
As so many photographers get large chunks of their work from their social media profiles, you are able to use this to your advantage to get attention to your social profiles as fast as possible and potentially help them grow. We would like to quickly say that some local governments do restrict when you can use steel wool as well as what you are able to actually do with it, especially during the local dry season as it can present a fire hazard so always check local regulations prior to use.
Take Advantage Of The Landscape
We commonly see this same mistake being made by both intermediate and professional level photographers as they get so focused on the night sky, the moon, or other subjects during their night photography session that they forget to look around. Almost every location has something on the landscape that you are able to use to help bring your photograph to life and add that additional layer as shown in the photo above.
No matter what your goals are for your night photography sessions, you are almost always able to think outside of the box with something from the local landscape and improve your overall photograph competition. You may not have access to mountains or rock formations but if you are in an urban setting then things like bridges, high buildings, and statues can all come into play to the same effect.
Experiment With Manual Focus
In our opinion, this is definitely one of the main problems that we see with entry-level photographers these days as they usually build up the bad habit of letting an autofocus system on their lens deal with the majority, if not all of the focusing requirements. This often leads to them neglecting their manual focus skillset but using the manual focus ring on your lens is definatley the better option when it comes to night photography.
Even the best auto focus systems on the market right now still have issues when being used in low light due to them not being able to track the main subject of the photograph correctly and tracking none stop going in and out of focus. This is why your manual focus is the better option as it allows you to easily focus in on the main subject of the photograph without having to worry about you
Play Around With Your Camera Settings
Although the Canon 1300d does only offer limited versatility when compared to some of the higher price point camera bodies on the market, its camera settings can still offer some solid customization for your situation. One mistake that we often see entry level photographers make is that they will just Google some night time photography settings for the Canon 1300d and use them no matter the situation.
Every single location that you work in will have its own unique lighting as well as the distance from you and the main subject of your photograph will almost always change too. This means that although these initial benchmark settings can serve as a starting point, this is all that they should ever be used for and you should try to get used to tweaking your camera settings as soon as possible for optimal image quality.
