Learn Digital Photography .. Photographing Cityscapes at Night

There are a couple of planning tips you will need to bear in mind before you take any night time photographs of cities: 

You first want to choose a good viewpoint; 

The second thing you will need is either a tripod or a solid base to place your camera on. Your viewpoint will depend a bit on what kind of shot you are after. I usually try to aim for somewhere that is above the ground (a set of steps, for example), but not always. There are many times that the best photos are taken at ground level. 

You need a tripod or solid base because your camera's shutter will be open for several seconds, and you need to make sure the camera doesn't move during those seconds. 

You will also need to make sure you secure your camera onto the tripod. If you can't find a solid surface to rest your camera on you can always try propping it up with something like a bag or jumper. 

Once your camera is in place, make sure your shutter speed is set to a good few seconds. Start with about 15 seconds. 

If you are unable to 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. 

This is just my opinion, but here are a couple of things that I think make a good night photography shot: 

Neon lights Streaks of car headlights and tail lights Available light There is some advance planning that you need to do for these ideas. Whatever you choose for you subject you want to find an area where you can photograph safely. 

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. 

For photographing streaks of car headlights and tail lights you will obviously want to find a spot that has a good bit 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. 

One thing to remember is that the longer you keep your shutter open, the more streaks you will capture. Obviously the more traffic you have the more streaks you will have! 

Available light also has a part to play in creating a good night photography shot. 

You will find that there are times when a scene looks its best when you set it amongst inky-black skies. By playing around you will also find that there are 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 around with your shutter speed 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. 
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