10 Tips For Taking The Best Neon Sign Photographs
Introduction
Neon signs are a fantastic choice whether you’re a blogger or just trying to come up with a fresh method to liven up your picture. Although difficult to capture successfully, they are the ideal setting for eye-catching images, and your efforts can produce amazing results. Neon signs are a fantastic way to add some color to your photo and a wonderful way to energize your house or place of business. Here are our top 10 tips for your neon sign photography:
1. Use Manual Focus
To capture your neon sign in the best light, consider using manual focus. In low light, auto-focus generally doesn’t perform well, so you’ll have to make manual adjustments. Simply take a few test pictures to see which one looks the best if you’re unsure of how to proceed.
2. Use Shutter Priority Mode
If you want to take pictures of neon signs that are of great quality, you must switch to shutter priority mode. In this mode you can select the shutter speed, and the camera will choose an aperture and ISO setting accordingly. So instead of bothering about manually adjusting these settings, you can focus on taking amazing pictures.
3. Shoot in RAW
Instead of only using JPEG compression to conserve space on your memory card, this will guarantee that you capture the best-quality image possible. You can manually alter any white balance settings, exposure compensation, and other variables when shooting in RAW to get the ideal photo each and every time.
4. Take Pictures at Night, Indoors or Out
The best time to photograph a neon sign is at night, when it’s dark enough. Your images will appear fantastic since the lighting will be brighter and the colors will be more vibrant.
Use natural light rather than artificial light when photographing neon signs that are indoors (such as those in pubs or restaurants). By doing this, you can prevent your images from seeming to have been taken at 4 AM on a Monday during a power outage.
5. Avoid Using Flash
The best neon sign photos are taken without flash because a DSLR camera’s high-speed shutter can capture the lights’ lovely motion and produce a distinctive lighting effect. Try to use a diffuser and reflector to soften the light if you must use flash, such as while taking nighttime photos.
6. Take Advantage of Leading Lines and Reflections
Leading Lines
Neon signs can appear more three-dimensional due to the lines that give them a sense of depth. Try to incorporate some leading lines or reflections in your photos of neon signs if you can.
Reflections
Similar to this, you may employ reflections to give neon sign photographs more depth and texture.
7. Applying a long exposure + low ISO is the key!
Although neon signs are vibrant and brilliant, they can be challenging to photograph. The secret is to use a low ISO and a lengthy exposure. By doing this, you can prevent overexposing your photograph while still getting all of the sign’s intricacies.
8. Consider Using a Wide-Angle Lens
Wide-angle lenses are well when photographing signs. You’ll be able to photograph the entire sign as a result, providing you additional options for cropping the picture later.
To ensure that the entire neon sign is in focus when using a phone camera, zoom out as much as you can. Zoom in with a DSLR camera until the sign takes up the majority of the image.
9. Get Your Camera Closer to the Subject
The way your neon sign photographs can be greatly affected by moving your camera closer to the subject. Simple proximity to your subject allows you to more easily record its finer features, which is why this is the case. For instance, much of a neon sign will be fuzzy and hazy if you photograph it from across the street.
10. Turn off HDR Mode
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and will help your photos look more vibrant by combining multiple exposures into one image (like when one part of your photo is too light and another part too dark).
CONCLUSION
Neon signs are captivating and beautiful, and the colors are always a treat for the eyes. Since it is inevitable that neon signs will continue to be part of our civic spaces, we should work to ensure they endure as long as possible. It’s also worth noting that several of the tips apply to taking other types of photographs, not just those of neon signs. So when you’re ready to take your next photo, remember these tips!
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