Create bold and eye-catching photos with these bright retro lights.
Although custom neon signs are rapidly disappearing from streets and storefronts across the country, many remain and continue to be a magnet for photographers who want to capture their bright colors. These fluorescent tubes can be used to give a retro touch to portraits and street photography.
How to photograph neon signs
Even on the darkest nights, neon shines brightly. This is how to capture neon in its full glory.
- Wide aperture: Although neon signs are bright, it is best to capture them at night. This means that you need to allow as much light as possible into your camera.
- Increase your ISO to capture the custom neon sign’s environment. This will bring out the details in the darkness.
- Manually adjust the white balance. neon emits bright but unnatural colors. Manually adjust your white balance on your camera to capture the neon glow.
- Shooting in RAW: Photographing night-lit neon requires that you balance very bright areas with very dark ones, something which can be difficult to do on camera. RAW allows you to save more data, which you can use during editing and create professional results.
To create unique effects using your custom neon sign photography, try experimenting with many photo methods. To create unique, fun images, you can incorporate models and reflective surfaces into your photos once you have mastered the camera settings.