Tips for photographing in Low Light conditions

Try putting these tips into practice. Grab your camera and tripod and try to get as creative as you can with your low light photography.

Shoot at Higher Shutter Speeds to Avoid Blurry Images. As light levels drop, you’ll need to watch your shutter speed to be sure you can get away with hand-holding your camera. A rule of thumb is to take the focal length of your lens and turn it into a fraction to get your slowest hand-held shutter speed. For example, if you’re shooting with a 50mm lens, you’ll need a shutter speed of 1/50th of a second or faster to safely hand-hold your camera.
Set Aperture to the Lowest f/Stop Number. Opening up your aperture by using a low f-stop number such as f/2.8 or f/4 will let in the most light possible which is usually what you want when dealing with low light levels. 
- Most smart phones have a very open aperture at either f/1.8 or f2. Remember, you won't be able to adjust this even with a camera app.
Use a Faster Lens. A ‘fast’ lens means a lens that has an aperture that opens very wide. For low light photography, you’ll want to use whichever lens you own that opens up the widest (has the lowest f/stop number), thereby giving you the fastest shutter speed possible. 
Use Image Stabilization. Many lenses have a switch labeled IS or VR. This stands for image stabilization or vibration reduction. Turn this on when hand-holding your camera and it will help offset camera shake. 
Increase Your Camera ISO. If you’ve opened up your aperture as wide as it will go, and you’re still struggling to get a fast enough shutter speed, then your best bet will be to raise your ISO. Doing this will brighten your image and allow you to achieve faster shutter speeds while still getting a properly exposed image.
- Take caution though that an ISO higher than 1600 will result in noisy film grain, making you image appear less sharp and muted colors.
Position Subject Closer to the Light Source. You’ll likely need to brighten up the shadows on your subject by moving closer or turning towards the main light source in your scene.
Stabilize Yourself. If you’re trying to hand-hold your camera you’ll need to find a way to steady yourself. Try resting your elbows on something sturdy and holding your breath when you take the shot.  Use a Monopod or a Tripod. Stabilizing your camera with a tripod or monopod is the most sure-fire way to get sharp images in low light. It’s also much easier to manually focus if your camera is on a tripod, especially if you switch to using Live View. 
Use the RAW file setting. RAW files will give you the maximum amount of detail and image quality possible. Learning to process RAW photos in a program like Adobe Lightroom will allow you to bring out shadow detail that wouldn’t be possible with a JPEG image. 
Be Careful About Autofocus. Your camera’s autofocus system will likely struggle as light levels drop. If you hear your autofocus motor searching around for focus, this is a sign that you need to switch to manual focus and turn the focusing ring on the lens yourself.
Use a remote release or self-timer. You don’t want to wiggle the camera when you press the shutter button, so the best way to avoid this is to turn on your camera’s self-timer or use a remote release so that you don’t have to touch the camera to take a photo. 
Practice, Practice and Practice! Night and low light photography is all about experimenting and playing with both slow and fast shutter speeds. Although there is a bit of a learning curve, it’s well worth it to create some truly unique images!