Road trips, drinks with tiny umbrellas in them, baseball games, weekend beach vacations, BBQs, camping, and picnics are some of the most exciting things people are going to do this summer. For the rest of us who need a little more adrenaline in our lives, we skip all the boring cliché summertime events and map a road trip to a theme park that features one of the world’s scariest and most thrilling roller coasters.

Roller coasters have been around longer than you think. Since 1794, the idea of a ride that sent you through a trip that produced negative-G’s has been around and perfected time over time. Today, we wanted to take a look at the most thrilling, or scariest, of roller coasters in the world, just in case you are looking for something else to do this summer. Buckle up!

15. Intimidator 305

• Theme Park: Kings Dominion
• Location: Doswell, VA
• Type: Steel Giga Coaster
• G-Force: 5
• Top Speed: 90 mph
• Biggest Drop: 300 feet

What do you expect from a roller coaster that is designed after the late NASCAR legend, Dale Earnhardt Sr.? Of course this thing is going to be one of the most thrilling roller coasters in the world, have you ever been inside a NASCAR going 200 mph?

14. Banshee

• Theme Park: Kings Island
• Location: Mason, OH
• Type: Steel Inverted Coaster
• Inversions: 7
• Top Speed: 68 mph
• Track Length: 4,124 feet

An inverted roller coaster means that the riders will be sitting down as their feet dangle below the open air. It is the opposite of a roller coaster in that you’re secured into the track above, not below. The Banshee is the longest inverted coaster in the world.

13. Sky Scream

• Theme Park: Holiday Park
• Location: Habloch, Germany
• Type: Steel Launched Coaster
• Inversions: 1
• Top Speed: 62 mph

Not many of the rides on this list have such a scary theme but the Sky Scream at Holiday Park in Germany features a horror theme designed to create a ride through an industrial complex you might see in an old scary movie.

12. Ultra Twister

• Theme Park: Nagashima Spa Land
• Location: Mie Prefecture, Japan
• Type: Steel Pipeline Coaster
• Inversions: 3
• Top Speed: 44 mph
• Max Vertical Angle: 90 degrees

The Ultra Twister doesn’t last very long but it gives you the chance to experience being lifted straight into the sky before blasting you through a tunnel that twists you completely around. Then, when you think it is over, it sends you backwards.

11. Goliath

• Theme Park: Six Flags Great America
• Location: Gurnee, IL
• Type: Wooden Custom Topper Coaster
• Inversions: 2
• Top Speed: 72 mph
• Biggest Drop: 180 feet

As of now, Goliath is the owner of the world’s steepest and longest drop for a wooden roller coaster while also being the fastest too. There is a ride coming out this year in Dollywood that is supposed to beat these records.

10. Hades 360

• Theme Park: Mount Olympus Water & Theme Park
• Location: Wisconsin Dells, WI
• Type: Wooden
• G-Force: 3.5
• Top Speed: 70 mph
• Length: 4,746 feet

They said you couldn’t do the things the Hades 360 does because it is a wooden roller coaster. Like, the 360 degree roll or the 65 degree drop and that nasty 90 degree banked turn. There are many reasons to ride this bad boy this year, the main is because wooden roller coasters are not supposed to do these things safely. Yet this one figured it out.

9. The Smiler

• Theme Park: Alton Towers
• Location: Staffordshire, United Kingdom
• Type: Steel Infinity Coaster
• G-Force: 4.5
• Inversions: 14
• Top Speed: 52.8 mph

The Smiler has been open since 2013 and has already had several safety incidents, including one where a cart ran into another test cart on the same track injuring 5 people. The number of incidents only makes the case for this one being dangerous and scary at the same time.

8. Full Throttle

• Theme Park: Six Flags Magic Mountain
• Location: Valencia, CA
• Type: Steel Launched
• Inversions: 2
• Top Speed: 70 mph

The vertical loop on Full Throttle is 160 feet high, a world record, and at the very apex of the loop, it almost feels as if the ride is about to stop as it slows down just enough to make your brain go into panic mode.

7. Top Thrill Dragster

• Theme Park: Cedar Point
• Location: Sandusky, Ohio
• Type: Steel Accelerator Coaster
• Top Speed: 120 mph
• Biggest Drop: 400 feet
• Max Vertical Angle: 90 degrees

The Top Thrill Dragster is such a popular track that it has been duplicated and is now used in another park on the other side of the world.

6. Formula Rossa

• Theme Park: Ferrari World
• Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
• Type: Steel Launched Coaster
• G-Force: 4.8
• Top Speed: 149 mph
• Acceleration: 0-149 mph in 4 seconds

Until people realize that going fast is fun, they will not appreciate just how much fun the Formula Rossa ride is when it reachs the top speed of 149 mph. That is not only fast, it is stupid fast.

5. Superman The Ride

• Theme Park: Six Flags New England
• Location: Agawam, Massachusetts
• Type: Steel Floorless Coaster
• G-Force: 3.6
• Top Speed: 77 mph
• Biggest Drop: 221 feet

As of this month, one of the world’s top rated roller coasters, year after year, has added a virtual reality experience that is going to change how we ride roller coasters. Not only are you going to experience one of the best coasters in the world, you will be able to feel like you’re flying and fighting Lex Luthor at the same time.

4. The Gravity Max

• Theme Park: Lihpao Land
• Location: Houli District, Taichung, Taiwan
• Type of Roller Coaster:
• G-Force: 3.5
• Top Speed: 56 mph
• Max Verical Angle: 90 degrees

The track has to connect right before the drop because it is lifted 90 degrees into the sky. There is nothing about that part of this ride that seems safe. What if it doesn’t connect right? What if the brakes don’t hold the cart on while it is moving? The level of danger is the highest of any rides on this list simply because of this first part of the ride.

3. El Toro

• Theme Park: Six Flags Great Adventure
• Location: Jackson, New Jersey
• Type: Wooden Coaster
• G-Force: 4.4
• Top Speed: 70 mph
• Biggest Drop: 176 feet

As with a lot of the rides on our list, the El Toro owns a ton of records including being the second fastest speed, third-tallest lift, second longest drop, and fourth-steepest drop.It was also named Mitch Hawker’s Best Wood-Tracked Roller Coaster from 2010-2013, four consecutive years.

2. Takabisha

• Theme Park: Fuji-Q Highland Park
• Location: Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi
• Type: Steel Euro-Fighter
• Inversions: 7
• Top Speed: 62 mph
• Acceleration: 0 – 62 mph in 2 seconds
• Max Vertical Angle: 121 degrees

The Timber Drop at Fraispertuis City in Jeanmenil, France owned the record for the world’s steepest roller coaster for 15 days before the Takabisha opened back in 2011. It beat the previous record by a total of 8.1 degrees when the 121 degree angle was unveiled.

1. Kingda Ka

• Theme Park: Six Flags Great Adventure
• Location: Jackson, New Jersey
• Type: Steel Accelerator Coaster
• G-Force: 5
• Top Speed: 128 mph
• Max Vertical Angle: 90 degrees
• Acceleration: 0 – 128 mph in 3.5 seconds
• Biggest Drop: 418 feet

For comparisons, the Kingda Ka is a bigger, badder version of the Top Thrill Dragster. It has the similar look and feel only this one goes faster and the drop is about 18 feet higher giving you a higher G-Force than anything you will ever ride in your life.

Two years before we had kids, my wife, Cathleen, and I were on the Big Island of Hawaii, where we met a 25-year-old Colorado man and his partner, both of whom seemed relaxed, happy and sane as their toddler ran roughshod in the jungly vegetation between a rainforest hiking trail and the beach. Because I saw children in my future but dreaded the lifestyle shift they would bring, I asked this guy how he was managing it.

“If he sleeps when he needs to and eats when he wants to, we can bring him anywhere,” he replied. “So we get to do pretty much what we want, and everyone’s usually happy.”

Over the intervening years, during which Cathleen and I had two kids and dragged them along on a suite of outdoor adventures, we discovered that getting our children into natural environs indeed benefits us all.

Numerous studies support our experience, finding that time in nature reduces stress and negative thoughts and correlates with higher self-reported happiness among adults and children.

That makes sense, says Patricia Hasbach, a psychotherapist in Eugene, Ore., author of “Grounded: A Guided Journal to Help You Reconnect with the Power of Nature—and Yourself.” “We evolved as part of the natural world, but at this time in our history, we have never been more removed from it,” she says, with about 80 percent of Americans living in urban environs and our society-wide dependence on technology. “It’s all very primal, … and we need this re-engagement with the natural world.”

I never analyzed it to that degree, but I knew that I was happiest when out in the wild and that I wanted to share that transcendental joy with my family. Here are some tips gleaned from my 13 years of trying to shape outdoor-loving kid travelers.

Start early. Toting infants and toddlers outdoors is as much about sustaining your own outdoor travel cadence as it is about engendering a love of nature in them. Because if you start using your spawn as an excuse to loll around sidewalk cafes, malls or (gasp!) your house, you might forever lose your mojo.

Admittedly, dragging tiny humans outside for extended time entails Eagle Scout-level planning — diaper bag, nap time, snacks, toys — which makes it wise to …

Start local. The path to 1,000 awesome trips starts within reach of the panic button. Which is to say, when your baby still has that shiny new maternity-ward smell, get your nature reps nearby. For us, that meant walks in Rock Creek and Great Falls parks, during which we realized that Colorado Man was right: Babies have very simple needs.

Thus emboldened, when Kai was 5 weeks old, we slung him out to southern Arizona, where we cradled his tiny mass on numerous hikes, including one into the depths of Kartchner Caverns. Over the ensuing years, Kai, now 13, and his sister, Christina, 10, have dug in (and surely eaten) sands from such disparate locations as Cape Hatteras to St. Martin, hiked and skied all over the country, surfed waves in Hawaii, and biked, canoed, caved and rock-scrambled throughout the Mid-Atlantic.

They might not vote to repeat it all, namely the 2010 camping trip to a music festival outside Cumberland, Md., when hurricane-force winds and hail drove Cathleen and Kai into a sponsor’s RV for refuge. Or the time 5-year-old Christina rocketed down a natural waterslide in a Shenandoah streambed, lost her footing and disappeared around a blind corner. (By the grace of Mother Nature, she landed in another pool, unscathed, just after I lost sight of her.)

I shudder every time I recall that episode, but, as Hasbach says: “Our species has always been adventurers and risk-takers. That’s part of our deep memory, and when young people don’t get those opportunities to have close calls in the wild, they’re going to seek other channels of risk: drugs, promiscuity and other things. If a kid falls out of a tree and breaks an arm, it can be set. But what if the kid never gets to be in a tree? What are we missing?”

Still, it can be tough to pry children away from sedentary entertainment, which is why you must …

Think like a kid. Maxims such as “We’ll all feel better after we do this,” “No pain, no gain!” and “GET IN THE CAR THIS INSTANT SO WE CAN GO HAVE FUN!” don’t resonate well with the under-10 set.

One tactic: Channel your inner child. On an early-pandemic Saturday, as Kai and Christina were upending our living room in a medieval battle and fiercely resisting our plans for a hike, Cathleen suggested relocating the drama to the evil lord’s fortress — in George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. By midday, armed with foam axes, plastic swords and a convoluted storyline, we were powering through an eight-mile tromp with nary a complaint.

When all else fails, invite their friends. Kids would rather crawl across broken glass in a vacant lot with their friends than ski in Aspen, Colo., alone, so recruit accordingly. And once you’re out there …

Don’t push it too hard. My cousin Timmy, a former ski patroller in Utah, recounts the time he led his 4-year-old son, Griffin, down a double-black-diamond run after Griffin had successfully skied a couple of single-black-diamonds. “I knew he had the skill to ski it, but he just freaked out,” Timmy said. “I had to carry him down. He refused to ski for three years after that.” Although now, Griffin, at age 16, is a world-class competitor in the grueling sport of ski mountaineering, so make of that what you will.

In general, it’s best to open the door to possibility and let the child determine the intensity level. Have patience, grasshopper: They’ll ramp it up soon enough.

But definitely push it. Children are factory-set for adversity, insulated with fast-healing bodies and an innate sense of adventure and danger. “Things rarely go as planned out in the wild,” Hasbach says. “So kids have to learn flexibility, problem-solving, resilience, and all those things contribute to self-confidence.”

A couple of years ago, we found ourselves pedaling mountain bikes up a seemingly endless Appalachian fire road, and the long, flowy, downhill trail we’d heard about was nowhere in sight. With a mutiny brewing, I recalled the Navy SEAL tactic of assessing a big challenge as a series of smaller ones.

“If we make it around that next bend, it’ll get easier,” I lied to Christina. (Cathleen, with far more sincerity, promised her a cookie.) When the next bend, and the three after it, revealed only more uphill and Christina summoned curses upon my soul, I pushed both of our bikes while singing show tunes with her until we crested the ridge and rolled, to her audible woo-hoos, down a laurel-lined, three-mile trail and back to our campsite.

Never show you’re worried — especially when you are. Lost in the Adirondacks? Out of water in the desert? Fighting upriver in a canoe as a thunderstorm bears down on the gorge? Been there, and even as the hair on my neck sprang to attention, I managed a cheery, all-in-a-day’s-fun demeanor. Ask my children for the first rule of adventuring, and you’ll hear, in two-part harmony: “Never panic.”

What matters most to children is the same thing that matters to us: sharing invigorating experiences with the people we love. And for that, I have yet to find anything that measures up to the outdoors. One day way too soon, Cathleen and I will be excluded from many of our children’s adventures. But until then, they’re stuck with us, somewhere outdoors, living wild.

Are you about to spend hours cramped in coach? You’ll want to use these airplane hacks to make the long-distance flight super comfortable and stress-free.Twelve Airplane Hacks that will allow you to have a better time during your next Long-distance Flight.Take a look at these Airplane Hacks.

Are you wondering how to survive long flights?

Flying can be stressful for anyone and having to sit in a cramped cabin with a bunch of strangers is just unbearable for some people.

Luckily, there are certain things that you can do during your flight to make it easier on yourself!

You may be interested in learning about some airplane hacks that will give you new motivation to fly. Keep reading and see if some of them may be just what you need.

12 of the Best Airplane Hacks for Your Next Flight

No one likes a long flight and some people don’t even like short flights. Here are some things that you can do to make your flight a little bit more tolerable.

1. Charge and Load Your Devices

Charge up any device you may want to use on the plane before you even leave for the airport. Make sure that your chargers or extra batteries are with you during the flight as well.

You need to double-check that you have any downloaded music, movies, or TV shows that you plan to watch ready to go as well.

It can also be helpful to download the airline’s app just in case you may decide you want to use their service.

2. Dress for Comfort

You want to be comfortable when you fly.

Remember that you want to go for clothing that is breathable and easy to move in. You want to be able to relax on your flight!

While you can be comfortable, you may not want to look like you just rolled out of bed.

If you’re wondering why you should wear leather sandals on your next flight, you should know that they go with a lot of different outfits and they are easy to relax in.

3. Get a Good Seat

Your definition of a “good seat” will depend on what you need.

If you want to sleep, you should go for the window seat closer to the front of the plane. The front of the plane is quieter and by the window, you aren’t disturbed as often by others.

If you need extra legroom, you need to choose an aisle seat or (even better) the exit row.

If you’re looking for the best service, you should try to get an aisle seat that is close to the back of the plane. This is where the flight attendants are generally placed in the plane and you can get their attention easily.

4. Bring a Travel Pillow

Although a lot of people associate a travel pillow with sleeping, it is also about comfort. Your body needs support and the pillow can help you better than the back of the seat can.

You also may want to consider a lumbar cushion for your long flight if you have lower back pain.

5. Drink Water

One of the most important things to remember when flying is to drink water.

You get dehydrated very easily from flying and drinks like coffee or alcohol make matters even worse.

Get a large bottle of water at the airport or even bring an empty one through security to fill on your own.

Try to finish the whole thing before the end of your flight and you’ll feel better than you would have without it.

6. Enjoy the In-Flight Entertainment

There are generally a lot of great movies that you can watch with most airlines and they are provided with the price of your ticket.

This is great news for people that like to be distracted while flying because you can easily take the time to see that flick you haven’t had time for when you’re on a long flight.

7. Prepare Your Mind

A lot of the time we get so stressed about the flight that it ruins part of the travel experience.

When flying, you are generally going to visit a new location or somewhere you haven’t been in a while. Fill this time with stuff that you enjoy doing so that you don’t have to dread it quite so much.

Use your time to prepare for your trip, read a book, listen to music, or even just have a good snooze.

Think of things that make you feel relaxed and try doing some of those activities during your flight.

8. Bring Anti-Bacterial Wipes

Let’s face it. Planes can be pretty gross.

Minimize the amount of risk you are exposing yourself to by wiping off all of the areas that you might touch around your seat during the flight.

Long flights mean being in the same space with lots of people for a long time, so staying healthy while flying is as important as being comfortable.

This will help you relax a bit easier and give you one less thing to worry about.

9. Have Some Snacks

It’s a good idea to have some snacks with you in case the in-flight service doesn’t start for a while. You want to eat on your own schedule, so come prepared.

10. Be Friendly to Others

This may seem kind of strange, but when you’re nice to other people, it makes you feel better.

It’s a good idea to be kind to all of the people that you come across on your journey and that includes the people you may meet before you get to your destination.

So, put on a smile and remember the golden rule. You’re all going to get through this flight together!

11. Try Not to Sit By Kids or Babies

It may not seem like a big deal, but sitting by an infant that won’t stop crying halfway through the flight or a kid that is so restless he can hardly focus is not fun.

Avoid the hassle by trying to find a seat farther away and scope out an empty seat before the plane takes off to ask if you can move.

12. Get Plenty of Rest

No one likes to be grumpy, but people especially don’t want to be grumpy before a long flight.

There are too many other things that can potentially irritate you, so put your best foot forward and get a good night’s sleep the night before take-off. It will raise your spirits and help you feel more positive about the journey ahead.

Take Charge of Your Next Long Flight

With these airplane hacks, your next flight should be a piece of cake.

The name of the game is relaxation, comfort, and a peaceful demeanor. Flights don’t have to be terrible and doing at least a few of the mentioned things will help.

For some more travel tips, keep browsing our website and see what else you may be able to learn!

Mastering natural light is one of the fundamentals of photography. Contrary to popular belief, you can take good photos even when it’s not the “golden hour” or when there’s no available light. Even as a beginner or aspiring photographer, you can definitely shoot at any time of day and still achieve good quality output. You simply have to learn how to distinguish the characteristics of the lighting that you get during different times of the day so that you can optimize your specific conditions and use the right camera settings or photography tools to help you achieve the best photo possible.

What are the different times of day for photography?

• Golden Hour
• High Noon
• Afternoon and Mid-Morning
• Blue Hour
• Nighttime

Golden Hour

Alternatively referred to as the “magic hour,” the golden hour is the period shortly after sunrise and before sunset. Many photographers see it as the best time to take photos as it is when the sun gives off a softer, reddish-pink light that effortlessly makes for dramatic and artistic images that are perfect for various photography niches like portraiture, landscape, and wedding photography.

Taking photos during other times of the day may require you to use additional lighting equipment and other accessories to achieve the color, saturation, and exposure that you want for your image. But during the golden hour, you get your desired effect—as well as a gorgeous wash of color—with little or no help from any additional gear.

High Noon

Direct, downward lighting produced during midday or high noon creates photos that look flat, thus making photographers shy away from shooting during this time of the day. The effect of harsh lighting in photos is due to the fact that the light is undiffused, which often discourages many photographers from shooting outdoors during this time.

However, this can actually be a good time for shooting subjects with reflective surfaces, like bodies of water or glass. Water normally presents unattractive reflections during other times of the day when light is bouncing from different angles. When shooting at noon, light penetrates deeper into the water, making it appear more transparent.

Afternoon and Mid-Morning

This time of the day is best for general photography as it is when the sky casts a slightly more yellow and subtle light that enhances skin tones, reduces blown out highlights, and eliminates harsh shadows.

With exposure worries out of the way, it’s perfect for taking photos of all sorts of subjects and sceneries. However, you’ll still have to pay attention to proper framing and the composition of your photos because lighting often appears flat and doesn’t highlight the features of the subject.

Blue Hour

Also known as dawn, dusk, or twilight, the blue hour is the period before sunrise and after sunset. During this time, contrast is typically low, and the lighting casts a cool pastel undertone. The direction of the sun’s rays comes from below the horizon so lighting is more subdued.

The blue hour occurs only for a couple of minutes, so you have to be quick when capturing photos during this period. Images occasionally appear a little too blue, so warm filter gels and the tungsten white balance feature on the camera are often used to neutralize this.

Nighttime

Shooting at night presents a different kind of challenge for a photographer, since sunlight is completely absent during this time. But thanks to customizable camera settings, shooters can capture beautiful and unique nighttime photos of the city and starry skies by taking long-exposure shots.

The absence of natural lighting can also give you some of the best dramatic portraits and glamour shots, since you have the freedom to choose your light source—car lights, street lamps, external flashes, what have you—and direct the way the light falls on your subject.

Here are more tips for shooting during a specific period of the day and achieving beautiful, well-exposed photos:

Shooting During Your Favorite Time of Day:

We now know that we have more creative control of the photos that we take during the golden hour, high noon, mid-morning or afternoon, blue hour, and nighttime. On top of knowing how to make use of the natural advantages of shooting during these specific times. there are ways that we can further improve our photography style and the quality of our photos taken while shooting during these times of day.

Tips for Shooting During the Golden Hour

Shoot in RAW format

Should anything go wrong—especially in terms of exposure and white balance—while shooting your subject, having your image files in digital RAW format instead of compressed JPEG will give you more control and freedom to make major edits during post-processing, since all the pertinent details of your photo will be retained.

Set your white balance manually

The temperature and color of the sky during the golden hour will change by the minute. As you shoot, you’ll get more of that unnatural yellow undertone in your images. Instead of choosing between fixed white balance options like Fluorescent, Daylight, Cloudy, or even Auto, you’re better off setting your white balance manually so you can get the colors in your photos as accurate as possible.

Choose the best times for shooting

To yield a more pleasant and even softer effect for your photos, it’s usually advised to take your shots 15 minutes before the golden hour ends for mornings and 15 minutes after for afternoons. The reddish-pink hue won’t be as strong, but it effectively prevents excess light from washing out your subject.

You may also want to chase after the morning golden hour, which is clearer than the afternoon golden hour due to reduced haze in the atmosphere. At the same time, it has a cooler undertone that can enhance the color of your photos.

Tips for Shooting During High Noon

Minimize unsightly shadows

As much as possible, we refrain from placing subjects in positions that could possibly create unnecessary shadows in the frame. Shooting portraits and objects during high noon makes this incredibly difficult since the light source comes from above, thus creating blown out foreheads, sunken eyes, and harsh downward shadows everywhere.

One approach you can take is to have your subjects face downwards or upwards just enough for the light source to properly expose and bring out prominent facial features. Or, you can use a reflector to bounce harsh lighting and create a more diffused fill light to eliminate shadows on your subject’s face.

Shooting scenes at this time will also give you high contrast, washed-out landscapes, but neutral density or polarizing filters can help you improve your color saturation, make image elements pop, and reduce the dynamic range in your noontime photos.

Experiment with your photographic approach

Another way you can make this type of lighting work is by focusing on various aspects of the image instead of just on your subjects. You can choose to show a different perspective, specific details of a subject that you can zoom in on, or just make the shadows work for you. See how you can approach around your subject under this kind of natural light or come up with a composition—perhaps dramatic or abstract—where the presence of high-contrast elements in your photos can be appreciated and perceived as art.

Change your focal point

Despite midday lighting being difficult to work with, it has one major advantage—it brings out the many different, stunning, and brilliant colors that we don’t often see together during any other time of the day. Take advantage of this by take photos of colorful surroundings.

Should you wish to include a subject in your shot, you can also frame it so that it takes up only a small portion of the frame, by either zooming out or placing it in the background. This way, the audience’s primary focus will be on the bigger and more colorful negative space in the photo, instead of on your subject.

Tips for Shooting During Afternoon or Mid-Morning

Select your background carefully

When choosing a background for your subject, make sure that it complements your subject’s appearance or features well. Diffused, natural lighting during the afternoon or mid-morning does this effortlessly, but it’s a different story when you use the sky, sun, or reflective and bright backdrops as your subject’s background. You’re likely going to end up with shots of your subject blending in with the bright backlight (especially if they have bright-colored hair and clothes) or appearing as a silhouette instead of giving them a lovely rim light.

If you really want that slightly washed out look, you can counteract bright backlight with ample fill light—with a flash or reflector—in front of your subject. This also ensures that there will be enough contrast between your subject and background, since not having enough of it among elements within the frame can sometimes result in a dull-looking photo.

Use the spot meter

Shooting portraits under afternoon and mid-morning lighting can sometimes be a challenge, especially when you’re trying to keep your subjects properly exposed or hoping to achieve that hazy, slightly washed-out look. In this case, you can use a spot meter to manage the probability of overexposure. This is also particularly important when shooting faces of your subjects up close.

Control lights and shadows

Aside from properly exposing your subject with lights or camera exposure settings, you also have to consider the position of your subject and the shadows casted within your frame so that they do not interfere with your shot. Before you click the shutter button, check if there are shadows hitting prominent parts of the face like the eyes, nose, and lips.

When shooting multiple subjects, make sure that no shadow is hitting another so it doesn’t end up ruining the appearance of your subjects and distracting your viewers from your focal point.

Tips for Shooting During the Blue Hour

Use the Shutter Priority Mode

Shooting during the blue hour is a lot like shooting in the dark of night—light will be your main element and saving grace. In order to capture somewhat brighter photos before sunrise and after sunset, you’ll need to rely on your camera’s shutter to allow a greater amount of light to enter the lens. Under this mode, you can set the shutter speed to your own preference (typically between one to six seconds) and avoid getting underexposed photos.

Shoot as steadily as possible

Shooting under low-light conditions can make it difficult to get good quality photos as is. You’ll definitely need all the help you can get to alleviate factors that can contribute to poor image quality, which in this case is camera shake from holding your camera or manually clicking the shutter. You’ll need to use a tripod or monopod as well as a remote shutter or your camera’s timer to prevent motion blur and help you produce clear and sharp long exposure images.

Capture more available light

Since there is barely a hint of sunlight during this time, you’ll mostly get blueish photos during the blue hour. Including parts of a scene where there is some visible light, such as cityscapes, introduces more (hopefully warm and contrasting) colors that will add life to your image and make it appear more dynamic.

Tips for Shooting During Nighttime

Capture the unseen

The best thing about shooting in the dark of night and having a highly-capable camera is the ability to see what the naked eye can’t. Instead of sticking with cityscapes and night skies for your nighttime photography, go ahead and use even slower shutter speeds to capture sceneries where there is seemingly no available light. Allow your lens and camera sensor to do its magic and deliver you some of the most interesting, peaceful, and even desolate shots of the ocean, mountains, or deserts.

Experiment with exposure settings

Unlike when shooting during the blue hour, shooting at night often requires the use of much longer shutter speeds, higher ISOs, or even infrared filters to be able to gather enough light for your image. You’ll be surprised how the difference of a just few seconds of exposure can give you different results. For these reasons, it will definitely take you some time to understand how different exposure settings can affect your shot and give you your desired results. Invest your time in night photography and you’ll be amazed with the quality of photos that you can deliver.

Use motion blur to your advantage

To be able to achieve a sensible nighttime shot, you’ll obviously need to use much slower shutter speeds and accept the presence of possible motion blur, depending on your choice of scenery. Instead of going for photos that are sharp all across the frame, you may want to be creative and capture images with moving cars, clouds, or stars. You can even use light play using flashlights or even fireworks to create artistic shots during nighttime.