Silent Devotion

Capturing Cityscapes at Night

When taking night time photos of cities, there are a couple of planning tips you will need to bear in mind before you take any photos:

You first want to choose a good viewpoint;

And second, you need either a tripod or a solid base to place your camera on. The viewpoint - this depends a little on the type of shot you are after. My preference is for somewhere that is above the ground (a set of steps, for example), but not always. Sometimes the best shots can be had at ground level.

I recommend a tripod or solid base simply due to the fact that your camera’s shutter will be open for several seconds and you definitely want to make sure that your camera is absolutely still during that time.

Then, if you have a tripod, secure your camera upon it. If you don’t, find a solid surface to rest your camera on; propping it up with something like a bag or jumper.

Once you have your camera in place you want to set your shutter speed for a few seconds. I would recommend you start with about 15 seconds.

If your camera doesn’t let you control the shutter speed, set it to “night” mode.

You are ready to take your pictures once you have everything arranged (camera on a solid surface and self timer primed).

The first thing you want to do is observe your scene. Does it contain everything that you wanted to be in it? If you are hoping to get streaking car headlights do you notice any traffic around?

Once you are happy with things, press the shutter button.

Your self timer will count down. Special Note! - If you are waiting for something to appear in your scene, you will need to remember that your shutter speed will have to count down first - time for this.

When the shutter clicks, wait. And wait, and wait . . . until it closes again. Remember that this will be a few seconds.

Then wait some more. Because of the long exposure digital cameras take longer than usual to process the photo, so your preview on your camera’s LCD screen may take a while to show up.

If you are wanting to try out night photography but don’t have any idea where to start here are a few ideas on what to photograph:

Neon lights Streaks of car headlights and tail lights Available light For both of these you need to plan a little in advance. Find an area where you can safely photograph neon lights.

Again, you will want to find your solid spot, or put your camera onto a tripod, and then take a few shots. Since neon lights flash you will want to keep the shutter open for a while in order to catch all the flashes.

And for photographing streaks of car headlights and tail lights - find a spot with a lot of traffic, but again, be safe in your choice of locations.

One thing to try is to use something in the background as well; usually streaks of light photographed on their own can be a bit boring!

Then take your shot.

The longer the shutter is open, the more streaks you will capture. And of course, the more traffic there is, the more streaks will appear too!

Available light also plays a part in capturing a good night shot.

There are times when a scene looks its best when you set it amongst inky-black skies. There are also times when a little light works best, so photos just prior to dark really sets in are worth a try too.

The best bit of advice I can give you is to try both situations and see which captures the effect you are after best.

You also will want to play with various shutter speeds since there are times you will find that a 10 second exposure gets the look you are after. Sometimes you may need up to a minute.

If you practice you will soon get a feel for what you will need for any given situation.