{"id":7213,"date":"2008-11-05T15:48:55","date_gmt":"2008-11-05T21:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/2008\/11\/05\/capturing-cityscapes-at-night\/"},"modified":"2008-11-05T15:48:55","modified_gmt":"2008-11-05T21:48:55","slug":"capturing-cityscapes-at-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/?p=7213","title":{"rendered":"Capturing Cityscapes at Night"},"content":{"rendered":"
by Dan Feildman<\/div>\n

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:<\/p>\n

First, you need a good viewpoint;<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

A tripod or solid base is recommended because your camera’s shutter will be open for several seconds, and you want to make sure your camera is absolutely still during that time.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Once your camera is in place, make sure your shutter speed is set to a good few seconds. Start with about 15 seconds.<\/p>\n

If your camera doesn’t let you control the shutter speed, set it to “night” mode.<\/p>\n

Once you are set up (camera on a solid surface, self timer primed), you are ready to shoot.<\/p>\n

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?<\/p>\n

Once you have your scene figured out you can finally press the shutter button.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

When the shutter clicks it is actually opening up so you will need to wait. And wait, and wait . . . until it closes again. Remember that this could take a few seconds.<\/p>\n

If you don’t see the preview right away on the LCD there is no need to worry. Due to the long exposure time digital cameras usually take longer than usual to process the photo.<\/p>\n

If you are looking for some ideas on what to photograph here are a few things that I have used which make a good night photography shot:<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Find your solid spot (or put your camera onto a tripod), and then take a few shots. Because neon lights flash you will need the shutter to be open for some time in order to catch all the flashes.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Try to get something in the background too – streaks of light on their own can be a little boring!<\/p>\n

Now you can take your shot.<\/p>\n

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!<\/p>\n

Available light also plays a part in capturing a good night shot.<\/p>\n

Sometimes a scene looks its best when set amongst inky-black skies. Sometimes, a little light works best, so shots just before dark really sets in are worth a try too.<\/p>\n

The best bit of advice is to try both and see which captures the effect you are after best.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

If you practice you will soon get a feel for what you will need for any given situation.<\/p>\n

\n
About the Author:<\/div>\n
Did you enjoy this article? Interested in Dominating Digital Photography<\/a>? Well now you can by Discovering this free Tutorial<\/a>…what are you waiting for?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":267,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[109],"class_list":["post-7213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-software","tag-software"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/267"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7213\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}