Just a quick post to show what can be done with just a flashlight at night. This requires no special technique really and more just a bright flashlight. We went for a night shoot at Kokubunji Temple in Okayama, Japan. There was a full moon high in the sky so not many stars are visible.

Compare the 2 shots below. The top one is without a flashlight and the bottom shot the temple has been lit up with a flashlight. For both shots the settings and equipment are exactly the same. f/5.6, ISO 400, for 30 seconds. I exposed for the sky knowing I could use a flashlight to expose the foreground to my liking. Some side notes; it was freezing so I made it look even colder by setting my white balance to tungsten. This gave the sky a nice color but also made the things lit up look blue or “cold.”

I used a LED Lenser X21R.2 to light the bottom one. This flashlight is extremely powerful but this exact same image could be done with any other flashlight but it would require more lighting time.

Here is another set of images to compare. Again the same settings of f/5.6, ISO 400 for 30 seconds under a full moon. The top is just under moon light and I exposed for the sky. The moon is just out of frame directly above the tree.

In this frame the same LED Lenser X21R.2 was used to add some light to the foreground. It was shone towards the camera from behind the tree and was also shone on the temple to add some light to that. Not an amazing image but it clearly demonstrates what just one flashlight can do.

The effect of adding some light from a flashlight can dramatically alter the look of your night photography. I highly recommend investing some money into a decent torch. It should be bright but also have the ability to focus and be dimmed.

We plan on working hard in 2015 by releasing more tutorial and bts style content as well as reviews etc.

Feel free to share this content by using the buttons on the left. Any questions? …just leave them in the comments.