Focusing in the dark can be one of the trickiest aspects of night photography because autofocus often struggles to lock onto subjects in low light. The best way to focus when photographing night scenes is to switch your camera to manual focus.
You can then use live view mode to zoom in on a bright object within your frame, such as a distant streetlight, the moon, or a star, and adjust the focus manually until the object is sharp. This method ensures more precise control over focus than relying on the camera’s autofocus system.
Another useful technique is setting your lens to infinity focus, which works well for photographing stars or distant objects in the night sky. However, the infinity marker on your lens isn’t always accurate, so it’s still a good idea to zoom in and fine-tune the focus using live view. Many cameras have a focus peaking feature, which highlights the in-focus areas in the viewfinder or on the screen, making manual focusing easier.