The new digital cameras are wonderful light-sensitive creations that can be used for photographing the city at night, or any other place that is bathed in the nocturnal glare of artificial lighting. Even a point-and-shoot digital camera is a perfectly fine tool for capturing the magic of a well-lit nighttime landscape, whether it be the Broadway in New York or a truck-stop oasis in Nevada. Grab your camera, head for the streets and you will be surprised at the visual opportunities that await you.
Instructions
1. Turn off your flash unit. Most digital cameras today have a flash unit that automatically comes on when the light level dips to a certain point. Fortunately, almost just as many cameras have a manual override, where you can turn the flash off, if you so desire. Today our visual world is so overwhelmed with artificial lighting that we can dispense with the handy little flash device that is mounted inside your camera.
2. Take a walk around an area of town that you think will provide some interesting views for a nocturnal landscape. Make sure it is a place that you know well and feel comfortable carrying a camera. Pay particular attention to storefronts and public buildings that are well lit up. You will be hand holding the camera, so you need to search out locations that provide ample light. A night baseball game is a wonderful place to take a camera.
3. Have someone drive you around in a vehicle at night, so that you can shoot from the passenger’s window of a moving car. Don’t worry about movement or blurry images, these can become important elements in your picture. You will have to be aware of light intensity and therefore restrict your shooting to well-lit areas.
4. Shoot during the afterglow of a sunset. After the sun dips below the horizon the sky goes through a series of visual changes that are of high interest to a photographer. During this transition from day to night, you can juxtapose the glow of artificial lighting against a sky that can often take on some extraordinary hues. The short span of minutes that occurs after sunset is a great time to be out and about with a camera. (The short predawn period also offers creative possibilities, although the sleeping patterns of most photographers might come in conflict here.)
5. Use a tripod to photograph the night skyline of a major city. Although you may have success taking night pictures in the shopping district of a large urban area, when you try to get that nighttime picture that looks like it could have been used for a still in a “Batman” movie, you might find that your camera’s lighting system is not quite up to the task. For long distance shots you will need a camera that mounts on a tripod and can deliver a time exposure of anywhere from several seconds to several minutes.
