Jeanne Rawlings is an Emmy Award-winning sound recordist and documentary producer. Her former clients include the National Geographic Society, ABC and Discovery Channel.

High contrast is the definition of outdoor night scenes; the trick is to keep blacks rich and mid-tones exposed for detail. If you're working at night, scouting pays big rewards when you locate potential light sources within the shot. Keep in mind that wide-angle compositions open your iris and let more light into the camera. Of course, you can't always shoot wide, and thus you will get better images if you find ambient streetlight to bring up the background levels.

It's more practical and very realistic to create pools of light that mimic true nighttime light. Gels can simulate sources and stimulate mood. Consider blue gel for the moon or colored tints to simulate emergency vehicles. Finally, avoid using video gain to increase your exposure, because it desaturates colors and increases tape noise. After all, you are simulating night! Remember, making the picture seem brighter destroys blacks and adds a haze, or noise, if you boost the signal with the gain control. If you must use it, don't go beyond +3dB gain.

Whether you have electric outlets or need battery-powered illumination, remember that any light can be used in multiple ways. Take your three-point lighting principles into the field. Reflectors bounce a single key light and thus become the fill, if they're big enough. Frontal lighting is never a natural look, so turn your camera-mounted lights towards a reflector. But if you want the reality-TV or live newscast look, you're in luck with the headlight-on-the-camera position.