Night photography leaves almost no room to improvise, since long exposures and low light punish anything that wasn't set up correctly beforehand.
A tripod is non-negotiable for night work, and it needs to be a stable one — even a small amount of vibration ruins a long exposure. Beyond that, the biggest preparation gap is arriving without a rough sense of the right shutter speed, aperture and ISO combination for the scene, which leads to a lot of wasted time chimping results in the dark instead of shooting.
A remote shutter release or the camera's built-in timer removes another common failure point: pressing the shutter button by hand on a long exposure introduces exactly the vibration the tripod was meant to prevent. Cold weather also drains batteries faster than people expect, so a spare, kept warm, is worth carrying even on a short session.
Location and safety deserve equal weight here — scouting a spot in daylight, knowing the terrain, and not shooting alone in an unfamiliar or poorly lit area are as much a part of night photography preparation as any camera setting.
A few things to plan for