Take Your Best Night Mode Photos on Your Phone With These Expert Tips

The best camera phones you can buy today can take great pictures even after the sun goes down. The flagship phones of 2024 like the iPhone 16 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra have unique night photography modes that allow them to take bright, sharp photos in low light conditions, while Xiaomi’s 14 Ultra has already impressed with night photos from its main sensor. Affordable phones like the Pixel 8A are equipped with amazing night photography capabilities.

This type of night photography used to require a DSLR on a tripod to take long exposures of several seconds. Today’s phones can take great-looking pictures at night without the need for additional equipment. That’s great because it means you don’t need to carry a heavy camera and tripod into town every time you want to get a good shot after the sun goes down.

Finding a photo you like enough to print and hang on your wall isn’t just a matter of waiting for darkness and pulling out your phone. You’ll still need to put in some work to get a gun you’ll want to look back on for years to come.

I have been a professional photographer for years and I often take pictures at night with my professional camera and my phone. So here are my top tips on how to get great night photos on any phone.

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1. Know how to enable night mode

If your phone has night mode, it’s important to make sure it’s actually activated before you start shooting. On phones like the iPhone 16 series, or other recent iPhones, night mode will automatically enter when the phone detects that you are in a low-light situation. Some Android phones have automatic night mode as well, while others will require you to use specific night photography modes (in the Galaxy S24 range it’s called Just Night; in the Pixels Night Vision).

Different phones may have different options or naming conventions, so if you’re not sure how to use yours — or if your phone has one — a quick Google search for the model and “night mode” should answer your questions. Night modes are increasingly becoming a must-have feature on camera phones, so chances are if you bought a new phone in the last few years, it will have some sort of night mode built in.

2. Look at the light

Although the latest iPhones and Galaxy phones can take bright photos, you still have to have them others lighting in a picture to make a compelling picture. So, going to the darkest part of the forest is unlikely to give you good results. Instead, try going to more populated areas like city centers, where you’ll find light sources in the form of street lamps, shop window displays and maybe some festive lights during the holidays.

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3. Wait your turn

The best city and street photography often includes a person as the subject of your photo, and night time can be a great time to take those photos. If the light is limited, you need to make sure the person is exactly where you want them to be, and that may involve some patience.

For example, imagine you are taking a shot on a street lit by streetlights. Each lamp casts a pool of light, and when someone walks through it, they are briefly illuminated before they become effectively invisible in the dark. In that case, my advice is that your gun is ready, your finger is hovering over that shutter button. It may take a few minutes to wait, but eventually, someone will walk right into that pool of light and you can take your shot. Patience can really pay off.

4. Be strong

Even though night modes on phones don’t require a tripod the same way multisecond exposures on a DSLR do, you’ll still get your best results if you keep the phone as quiet as possible while taking your photo. If you don’t have a tripod with you, look around for a low wall, trash can, or anything you can steady your phone on while you’re shooting.

If there is nothing nearby, you can help stabilize the phone by holding it firmly in both hands, holding it close to your chest and tucking your elbows in towards your stomach. This will help reduce some of the natural shake in your hands and may make the difference in getting a sharp image.

5. Use Motion modes, if you have them

The Pixel 9 and 9 Pro (as well as the previous Pixel 8 and 7 series) can take great standard photos at night, but they also have a long exposure mode that allows you to get creative shots that can only be achieved when using. a tripod. While the mode works well during the day for blurring things like waterfalls, it also works very well at night, especially for subjects like cars driving down city streets.

Long exposures dim the headlights and taillights, turning them from static balls of light into ethereal lines, sweeping across the scene. You’ll need to use the phone’s motion mode to get this effect and make sure Long Exposure is turned on. Long exposure photos like this work best if you keep the camera still and take a picture that includes both stationary subjects (like buildings and street lights) and moving subjects (like cars, buses or cyclists). It can take some practice — and the results can be hit and miss — but when it works, it works really well and adds an extra creative element to your night shots.

Not all phones have this as standard, though, and while there are third-party apps that aim to replicate it, I haven’t found many that actually work or come close to the quality I’ve achieved with the Pixels.

6. Edit your photos

As with any good photo, taking the photo is only part of the story; it’s how you arrange it that can be a big way to turn it into a real piece of art. I use Adobe Lightroom Mobile for most of my editing, but Google’s Snapseed is really powerful and completely free for iOS and Android.

By their very nature, night photos can be dark, so you may want to start by raising the exposure. Note: Low light photos, even good night mode photos, will have image noise (faint character) that will look worse and worse if you overexpose the image. You may need to reduce some of the highlights (especially if you captured bright street lights) and improve the shadows a touch to balance things. Pay attention to the details and make sure you don’t push it too far.

From there, it’s entirely up to what feels good, so spend some time playing around with the available tools and see what you can come up with. I personally find that night scenes can often look as good as black and white photos because the natural contrast of the bright lights and the dark background brings out the monochrome transition well.

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