The Nikon d7000 is a very popular entry level DSLR camera body from the Nikon range that offers some solid image quality relative to its price point in the market making it a great first camera for anyone new to photography. Due to the excellent performance and image quality that Nikon have managed to deliver with the d7000, it really is no shock that a large number of people new to photography have chosen it as their camera of choice and that it has managed to rapidly grow itself an absolutely huge core user base since its release onto the market.
Due to the Nikon d7000 being one of the few dominant cameras in this price range, it sees very strong sales month in month out steadily growing its already massive user base of photographers. This is why we constantly see people reaching out and asking for advice on the d7000 with a whole range of different questions trying to ensure that they are able to capture the very best image quality possible. One question that we have been seeing asked more and more frequently is based around how to improve your Nikon d7000 night photography so we have decided to focus on this for today’s article.
The Nikon d7000 is definitely a very capable camera body when it comes to nighttime photography and the vast majority of the issues and problems that we see from entry level photographers is that they are actually at fault and not the camera. You can’t treat nighttime photography like regular photography due to the low lighting conditions so the principals are slightly different. Out suggestions below should be able to help anyone get a much better image quality with their d7000 that they would be able to without implementing them and we feel that we have been able to include something for everyone.
Consider A Free Night Photography Course
With so many of our readers who own the Nikon d7000 being new to photography, we would highly recommend that you checkout this nighttime photography course on Skillshare. As one of our readers, you are able to take advantage of a full, two month, no obligation trial of Skillshare premium and complete their highest rated photography courses that other people have to pay for without having to spend a cent. That night photography course is probably the best one online right now and it has glowing reviews from the other students who have completed it while also having an excellent reputation amongst the community.
As the trial offer allows you to enroll on any of the premium courses on the Skillshare platform for the full two month duration, it is well worth taking advantage of as you can enroll on some of the best photography courses available in pretty much any niche that you can think of. This allows you to rapidly increase your photography skillset without having to spend a cent working to the favour of many Nikon d7000 users often want to keep their initial costs as low as possible.
Get Yourself A Lens That Is Ideal For Night Photography
Another common problem that we see from many people reaching out for assistance on how they are able to improve their Nikon d7000 night photography is that they are often using the 18-105mm kit lens and although this can be a solid lens for day time photography, its aperture can cause issues with night photography. This is why we often recommend that our readers try to upgrade to a decent general-purpose lens that is also excellent for night photography such as the Rokinon 14mm.
We often recommend the Rokinon 14mm to our readers as it really is a great little entry-level lens that has managed to rightfully earn itself an excellent reputation amongst photographers due to its outstanding performance and functionality. Although its image quality for night photography with your Nikon d7000 is excellent, you are also able to use the lens in a large number of other popular photography niches without issue too, all in all it really is a great little lens.
Consider Getting Some Steel Wool
One problem that we see reported time and time again with entry level photographers is that they struggle so hard to get their initial business. With so much business being drawn from social media accounts these days, this really is not surprising but there is a quick and easy trick that you are able to use with your Nikon d7000 night photography to help your photographs stand out. Get your hands on some cheap steel wool for your night photography sessions and it really can work wonders when it comes to getting attention on social media.
The image at the start of this section serves as a solid little example of this as the image would just be a very badly lit bridge with little to nothing going for it. Add in a little steel wool to add some light and movement though and then you have a photograph that really catches the eye and can help you dominate hashtags for popular locations that are photographed on a regular basis. This simple, cheap, and very easy trick can really help your image pop and draw the eye and if you get creative, you can end up with some excellent looking steel wool photographs with your Nikon d7000.
Take Advantage Of The Landscape
Another massive mistake that we often see people new to night photography make is that they will simply miss the opportunity to integrate the local landscape and landmarks into their night photographs. Although a basic example, the photograph above shows how a mountain and some trees are ale to be used to help add to the image and offer a sense of depth and scale without the photographer really having to do much at all.
In a similar way to the steel wool tip above, this same trick can be used to help you capture photographs of commonly photographed landmarks in your local area while helping them stand out against what other photographers have been able to produce. Statues, bridges, tall buildings, and monuments all work very well in an urban location so you don’t have to stick to mountains and trees too.
Experiment With Manual Focus
We really can’t stress this one enough but you really should be putting the time and effort in to getting better at using your manual focus on your lens of choice for your Nikon d7000. Although auto focus systems on modern lenses are decent for normal, well lit photography niches, they quickly become a pain in niches will little to no lighting due to the auto focus systems trying to track constantly as it is unable to detect the subject of the photograph.
This is where your manual focus skillset comes in and so many entry level photographs fail to develop it these days due to so many people only using their auto focus. You really should be putting the time in to get better at using your manual focus on your lens as it is an important skill to have in many photography niches and it really doesn’t take that long to develop it.
Play Around With Your Camera Settings
Another very common issue what we see with people new to photography is that they will just Google settings for their camera and their photography niche and stick to them blindly. This is another huge mistake and although you can Google for “night photography settings for the Nikon d7000” and find some base settings to build from, you should not just blindly stick to them.
Every location that you work in will have different lighting meaning that you should, at a bare minimum be tweaking the ISO and shutter speed of your Nikon d7000 to be getting the best image quality possible. You will quickly develop a feel for the type of settings that you require for your Nikon d7000 depending on the lighting for your night photography session and it will only take a few seconds to make the tweaks to see the improvement to your image quality.
Test Different Levels Of Exposure
We arnt going to be spending much time on this one as there are tons of dedicated guide out there on how you are able to play with the exposure of your camera to get different effects. We would highly recommend that you read some of those guides and see if you like the outcome of implementing them and if so, start to use the exposure techniques in your own sessions.
Plan Your Night Photography Session
This one isn’t specific to people new to photography, even professional level photographers can grab their camera and head out of the door on a photography session only to have it ruined. Do yourself a favor and spend a minute checking the weather, cloud cover, the phase of the moon, and anything else relevant for what you need for your Nikon d7000 night photography to prevent this from happening to you.
