The Canon G7X range of point and shoot cameras has proven to be an extremely successful range of cameras that has a huge, constantly growing user base and a great reputation. The camera body is extremely popular amongst the vlogging and entry-level videography communities but many people also use the camera body for photography too.
Due to the camera body being so popular with such a wide of people using it while taking advantage of the cameras versatility using it in a wide range of situations, we are constantly seeing people reaching out and asking questions about the G7X. There is no doubt in our mind that one of the most popular questions that we see people asking these days is based around how they are able to improve their Canon G7X night photography image quality.
Due to the camera being a point and shoot, you arnt able to just flip the lens to something more suitable so we have decided to publish the below tips and tricks to help any of our readers who find themselves in this situation. We have a number of different suggestions that you are able to take advantage of but we have added tips and tricks for a number of different night photography sub-niches.
This means that some of the tips may not be applicable to you and what you are trying to get done with your Canon G7X while out and about on your night photography sessions so you should pick and choose the options that apply to you. That said though, there should be something in here for everyone and we are confident that our tips will help to ensure you are getting the best photographs possible out of your camera.
Consider An Online Night Photography Course
With many of the photographers out there who use the Canon G7X as their go-to camera body of choice bing entry-level photographers, we would highly recommend that you consider taking advantage of being able to sign up for a no-commitment trial of Skillshare premium like all of our other readers. This allows you to enroll in a bunch of world-class photography courses including one of the best night photography courses ever made without you having to spend a cent.
With many of the people who will read this article be looking to improve their night photography skillset, we would highly recommend that you at least check out the course. It has an excellent reputation amongst the community, it has been created by some of the best night photographers out there, and most of the other photographers who have enrolled on it have had to pay whereas Photography Paws readers are able to use the trial offer to enroll on it without having to pay.
Invest In A Suitable Tripod
So many people who use the Canon G7X for night photography often use it as a handheld camera due to it being able to provide you with some excellent image quality when holding it in your hands for vlogging. That said, this is definitely holding you back when it comes to improving your night photography image quality with your G7X.
Unlike other photography and videography niches, the lack of available light during night photography means that even the slightest movement in your camera body can end up causing a number of different issues with your actual photography quality. Thankfully, this is a quick and easy fix as there are a few great, cheap tripods on the market these days that you can add to your collection of camera accessories if you haven’t purchased a tripod yet to counter this.
The tripod is a quick, easy, and cheap way to add the image stabilization required to help ensure that the small amount of light available for the camera sensor on your G7X is able to be received as best as possible to produce some great image quality. At the very least, we would recommend that you try to add a cheap monopod to your camera accessories but you really should be looking at a decent cheap tripod.
Consider Getting Some Steel Wool
We know that we have been featuring steel wool in a number of our recent articles but we are huge fans of what it is able to offer anyone looking to get better at night photography. The photograph above offers a great example of just how different an image with steel wool can be when compared to one without it. If the photo above did not have steel wool in it then it would just be another boring photograph of a bridge at night.
Adding steel wool to your camera accessories allows you to add an additional light source for your night photography sessions. On top of this, it also adds a movement element to the photo too helping to make it more exciting and standout from the competition. This alone can be a great reason to start using steel wool as it lets your photographs stand out on social media when used at locations that are photographed on a regular basis.
With so many people using social media to grow their photography business or their YouTube channels being able to add that additional element to your content that catches the eye can help your social profiles grow. In addition to this, decent steel wool is very cheap too but some areas do control when you are able to use it due to it presenting a fire hazard so always check the regulations for your photography locations prior to use.
Take Advantage Of The Landscape
The photograph above is truly beautiful but it is only possible due to the photographer taking full advantage of the local landscape to ensure that they get the most out of their photograph. Unfortunately, so many photographers miss this opportunity due to either a lack of initial planning for their photograph or a lack of looking around to see what they have available to work with.
No matter where you are doing your night photography session with your Canon G7X, you will almost always have something to work with and although it may not be lakes, mountains, and the milky way, you can usually use the local landscape to your advantage to capture better photographs at night. For example, in an urban setting, tall buildings, bridges, and statues often serve as great near focus subjects with distant buildings or roads filling the middle of the photograph and the moon or stars making up the distance.
Even if you are going to be capturing your photographs in an area that you don’t know well, the internet allows you to quickly and easily search for things in that area that you are able to use. On top of this, Instagram will often have a ton of images tagged in that area that you are able to use for your inspiration too.
Play Around With Your Camera Settings
As there are multiple variants of the Canon G7X on the market, this tip will depend more on the actual version of the camera that you own as the original G7X was pretty restrictive with what you could do with your camera settings. That said though, each subsequent addition to the Canon G7X range has added additional functionality and versatility into the camera settings and has really opened up what you are able to do with the camera.
As we touched on earlier in the article, the lack of available light when it comes to night photography really does mean that getting used to tweaking your camera settings can result in a great improvement in your photo quality. We have lost count of the number of people new to photography who just Google night photography settings for their camera and then use them no matter the location.
This is a huge mistake and is definitely holding you back as each location will be using different zoom ranges while also having different lighting available so there is no one size fits all camera setting. You are able to quickly get a feel for the camera settings and the changes in image quality they offer and the latest entries to the Canon G7X range have a very easy to navigate menu system making this even easier.
We would definitely recommend that our readers put the time in to play around with their camera settings and experiment to see that they are able to get done. Although this may sound like a time-intensive task, it really is worth it as there are a bunch of additional popular photography niches outside of just night photography where being able to quickly and efficiently tweak your camera settings for your specific situation can make a huge difference in your image quality.
Plan Your Night Photography Session
This literally takes a few minutes but can make a huge difference for your Canon G7X night photography sessions, simple do a quick Google check for the cloud cover, weather, phase of the moon and anything else that is relevant for your planned session. There is no point heading out the door and potentially driving or hiking for hours to get to the location only to find out there is low cloud cover with poor lighting and heavy rain meaning your time has been wasted.
