Exercise: Outdoors at night.

Preferably visit a city centre with brightly lit buildings and streets. Try to include:

• a floodlit building.
• a brightly lit store front.
• a large interior with many people.
• a raised view looking along a busy road.

I kept this exercise until last as I thought that I would probably find it the most problematic. For a start I do not live in a city so I visited a large town nearby. I was also a bit worried about wandering around in the dark with my camera and did not feel particularly safe. I did not take my tripod with me as I did not want to draw attention to myself and wanted to be able to move quickly if necessary. instead I relied on a high ISO setting. I aimed to shoot at dusk when there was still a bit of light in the sky so the buildings appeared clearer than if it had been completely dark, this ended up being between 8-9pm.

1.6s f25 ISO 1600 22mm -1.0 WB Auto.

The problem with this picture is that I arrived at the pedestrian overpass a little too early so the effect is not that good. It would have been a lot better if it had been darker and the road much busier. I took several pictures but this one came out the best. I would of liked the tail lights to have created longer streaks to create a more dramatic effect.

1/2 f18 ISO 1600 42mm -1.0 WB Auto

This was my first attempt in the town centre just outside the shopping centre. It is a bit blurred and out of focus I needed a slow shutter speed to allow light in but without the tripod I found it hard to keep the camera steady with my very unsteady hands!

1/3 f22 ISO 1600 18mm -1.0 WB Auto

The shopping centre was pretty much deserted by this time which was unfortunate as I needed many people but I have managed to produce a much clearer image this time.

1/3 f25 ISO 1600 30mm -1.0 WB Auto.

I love the deep blue of the sky on this shot. The focus is on the lighting under the roofing but then your gaze moves down the frame to the two people who are also looking up at it.

1/3 f16 ISO 1600 32mm -1.0 WB Auto

Another street scene.

1/3 f29 ISO 1600 40mm -1.0 WB Auto

This time a view of the multi storey car park with its fluorescent lights. I had tried to position the camera so that the cars were lit by edge lighting. this has worked quite well on the cars to the left of the frame nearest to the camera.

1/3 f14 ISO 1600 18mm -1.0 WB Auto.

1/3 f11 ISO 1600 30mm -1.0 WB Auto

1/3 f9 ISO 1600 21mm -1.0 WB Auto

This is actually one of my favourite photos of the night. I think that it could look a bit better composition wise but I love the colours and lighting effect.

1/3 f8 ISO 1600 32mm -1.0 WB Auto

1/3 f7.1 ISO 1600 24mm -1.0 WB Auto

1/3 f6.3 ISO 1600 18mm -1.0 WB Auto


I would never of photographed at night before, mainly because I always assumed that everything would come out so dark and dull looking but I actually really like the colour of the sky and artifical lighting and the effects that are created. With a bit of practice I think that I could get some really good images so will be heading out again.