Although the Canon 60d is starting to show its age, in the years since its release, the camera body has received a number of price reductions and there are a large number of Canon 60d’s available pre-owned for dirt cheap. Due to this, it has proven to see a recent resurgence in its popularity as a new wave of entry-level or beginner photographers pick up the Canon 60d as their DSLR camera body of choice.
Due to this, we are seeing more and more questions being asked on a regular basis about the Canon 60d from photographers wanting to ensure that they are getting the absolute best image quality possible. In addition to this, the night photography sub-niche has also seen a drastic increase in its popularity recently too so it is not surprising that we have noticed a ton of people reaching out for Canon 60d night photography tips and tricks.
To try and help as many of our readers as possible, we have decided to publish this article in an attempt to help as many people as possible who use the Canon 60d and are looking to capture better photographs at night. We are fully aware that the majority of our readers who do use the Canon 60d are beginner photographers so we have ensured that we have included as many free or cheap ways to improve your image quality as possible.
On top of this, some of our tips and tricks are niche specific so they will depend on what you are actually wanting to get done with your Canon 60d on your night photography session. That said though, we are confident that we have something for everyone and that our article will be able to help you capture better photographs with your Canon 60d at night.
Consider A Free Night Photography Course
As we have mentioned, large amounts of our readers who do use the Canon 60d are new to photography so we feel that one of the best things that you are going to be able to do to improve your night photography image quality is to enroll on a decent online night photography course.
That said though, a large number of the good night photography courses that are worth your time are expensive. Thankfully though, as a reader of Photography Paws, you are able to claim your trial of Skillshare premium meaning that you get full access to all of their premium courses without having to pay for access.
This allows you to enroll in a number of very popular photography courses produced by some of the best photographers in the world covering pretty much every photography niche that you can think of. That said though, we would draw particular attention to this night photography course as we feel that it is one of the best courses made.
It has a ton of excellent reviews from the previous students as well as a great reputation amongst photographers too. As we said, the majority of people have had to pay to enroll on the course but taking advantage of our trial offer of Skillshare premium, you are able to enroll on the course without having to spend a single cent.
Get Yourself A Lens That Is Ideal For Night Photography
There are an absolute ton of excellent camera lenses on the market that will mount to your Canon 60d that are ideal for night photography. Thankfully, you are able to pick-up preowned options that are dirt cheap too meaning that there is no need for you to break the bank to upgrade your camera lens.
Depending on where you purchased your Canon 60d and if you purchased a bundle, you may have had a kit lens included with your purchase. Now, make no mistake about it, these kit lenses can be great bits of kit and are well worth having in your camera accessories for most photography niches.
That said though, their slower aperture usually means that they will struggle when it comes to night photography. This is why we usually recommend that anyone new to photography who knows that they will be working in the night photography niche on a regular basis invest in a suitable lens for their Canon 60d as soon as possible.
Invest In A Suitable Tripod
This is another quick and easy fix that can be done very cheaply. As we keep mentioning, so many people who use the Canon 60d are new to photography and they may not have started to grow their collection of camera accessories yet. We see this time and time again and although the photography niches with optimal lighting can let you capture some decent photographs when holding your camera in your hand, low light niches can be a pain.
This is why we always recommend that our readers try to pick up something like the Zomei Z699c as it is an excellent camera tripod that offers some great levels of image stabilization for its price point. There really is no need to break the bank when it comes to your tripod when you are just starting out as there are a large number of decent tripods in the sub-one hundred dollar price bracket these days.
Consider Getting Some Steel Wool
We really do think that incorporating the use of steel wool in your night photography sessions is one of the most underrated tips out there. It is cheap, easy to use, and offers benefits in both additional lighting and movement that can both enhance your image quality as shown in the image above. If the photographer had not decided to use steel wool for the session, you wouldn’t even be able to see the model or bridge at all.
You are able to come up with some really creative ways to use steel wool for your night photography sessions to really improve your image quality and competition of your photograph. Just be sure to check the local regulations where you live as some counties will restrict when you are able to use steel wool due to it presenting a fire risk but this is almost always during the dry season.
With so many people wanting to grow their social media profiles these days due to the potential of them leading to future photography gigs, using steel wool can help you dominate hashtags for well-known landmarks in your area too. So many great photographs get lost in the hashtag grid but as steel wool draws the eye, it can help attract potential followers and clients to your social pages.
Take Advantage Of The Landscape
Although we would imagine that the majority of people reading this article are new to photography, even intermediate and professional level photographers all make this mistake on a regular basis. As humans, we all become fixated on our goals and with there being so many ways to check the local landmarks that are ideal for photographing when out on your sessions, we usually just focus on capturing them.
This is a huge mistake in our opinion as it leaves a whole bunch of great opportunities open that we miss. These can be truly once in a life time photographs too so try to build up the habit of looking around as you travel between the locations you are wanting to capture photos with your Canon 60d.
When out in rural locations look for mountains, lakes, hills, and rock formations and when in urban locations look for tall buildings, stadiums, statues, and bridges. They can all offer great opportunities for some truly unique photographs, especially when capturing your photographs at night.
Experiment With Manual Focus
So many people who are beginner photographs seem to be neglecting their manual focus skillset these days. Although there are a bunch of great auto focus systems out there, we would highly recommend that you put the working to ensure you have a solid foundation with your manual focusing.
When it comes to night photography specifically, the majority of auto focus systems out there will just track none stop and make it almost impossible to capture a decent photograph. This is where your manual focus skills come in as you are able to ensure that you are focusd in on the main subject of your photograph without issue.
That said though, with more and more people just letting auto focus systems deal with the majority of their focus taskings, many people are getting to a niche where auto focus is not reliable and not being able to work in it. Although it can be a bit of a pain to get your manual focus skills up to scratch if they have been neglected, once you practise for a little, you can make vast improvements in a short amount of time.
Play Around With Your Camera Settings
The Canon 60d has a ton of different settings available and although the more recent releases from Canon offer even more, many people are surprised with the amount of versatility that the Canon 60d offers. Although you are able to Google settings for your 60d and use them for your night photography sessions, this can actually work against you and spoil your image quality.
This is due to ever night photography session having its own unique lighting meaning one default setting that you always use will almost always leave room for improvement. We know that playing around with your camera settings can be boring but even just tweaking the ISO and shutter speed a little can vastly improve what you are able to capture and is well worth doing.
