I have always thought that a city is not fully known until it is visited at night, from the early hours of the night busy when people leave work and go home, with streets and buses full of people, noise and accelerated steps, to those that gradually go out to dinner, soaking up these same places with different aromas in the streets , increasingly empty and solitary. Or even later, when those who return late do so by accelerating the pace or enjoying the solitude of the night while most sleep, while blind windows look at them in silence. Like its inhabitants, the city changes with the hours of the night. to silence, from movement to stillness, from the crowd to loneliness?
And as a photographer, do all these moments offer you different images, different stories, and great photo opportunities?
- The contrast between the illuminated and shaded areas is very accentuated in night photography.
- So it is not easy to get a properly exposed image the first time.
- Ideally working the settings in manual and performing several tests until you get the correct result.
If you want to focus, the ideal is to do it manually, because the lack of light makes your camera’s autofocus work very difficult.
If you want general images of the city, it is best to work with a high depth of field to have more area focused on the image, this will be achieved by closing the diaphragm to values like F11 or F16.
If you are looking for a night image that retains sharpness, you cannot abuse ISO, because the higher the ISO, the greater the noise in the image. So, unless you’re looking for noise because of its artistic effect, the ideal is that you can always keep it at low values, or at least at acceptable quality values in the range your camera offers (each camera behaves differently. ISO values).
Tripod is essential in any type of photograph where you anticipate lack of light or seek clarity, using a good tripod will help you keep the ISO values mentioned in the previous point at a low level, while you can take pictures at slow speeds. avoiding the movement that comes from the camera.
The different lights you can find in a night urban landscape, can make your image with the color transmitted by some of these lights, for example, tungsten lights color the image in a warm tone or fluorescent lights in a greenish tone. white balance as another artistic effect, or you can modify it to remove the dominant image.
The RAW format will not only allow you to make small exposure adjustments without affecting the quality of your image, but also allow you to skip point 6 in reference to white balance and/or facilitate and improve image transformation. black and white.
If you can’t defeat your enemy, join him: as long as you use all the means at hand to avoid movements, you won’t be very successful if what’s in front of you is a low-light scene and moving objects, or so instead of despairing or missing out on big scenarios, take advantage of this move to give your images a creative touch.
Taking advantage of the lights offered by the city, you can achieve this artistic effect by simply playing with the opening of the diaphragm and the lights. Here’s an article that explains step by step how to get it.
Another way to portray a city is through its reflection, if you have a river, a fountain or even a puddle on the ground, don’t ignore it and think about how you can integrate it to enrich your image.
A classic of urban photography is the use of moments called “blue hour”, which combine the remnants of natural light and the first night lights of the city. The blue hour gives us images with an intense blue sky that contrasts at the same time with the multicolored lights of any city at dusk.
A high and quiet place where you can plan your frame, place your tripod, perform your tests, etc. , is ideal to get a good overview of the city.
Don’t limit yourself to the typical panoramic scenes, dare to close the frame and look for new and original compositions in different parts of your city.
Remember that the essence of any city is the people who bring it to life. You can take very interesting night photos with street photography. Forget the tripod if you’re looking for mobility and discretion, dare to climb ISO or play with the movement and energy of shaky images.
In other words, beware of which cities and in what corners, no one knows your city better than you, so much common sense?
The night is the other half of a city’s life, and the scenes, sensations and opportunities it offers are unique: silence, loneliness, energy, emptiness, agitation, mystery or fear can be represented by simply walking with a camera in hand. We always talk about the importance of storytelling in photography, right?The night is filled with illuminated windows in dark buildings, of silence, of a void that is accentuated in a stage where moments before life bubbled, like the courtyard of a school on summer holidays. , so abnormally empty and silent.
Although unfortunately not all cities allow night walks, there is always the possibility to enter the one that allows it at least once in a lifetime, so I hope that this article will be of use to you at least this time and if you think someone else might be interested in these tips to get excellent night photos in the city , share them on Google, Facebook or Twitter. And as always, thank you and next time?