Photographic Technique - Winter Dusk Photography

By Author: Adam Coupe
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Photographic Technique - Winter Dusk Photography

Many of the best 'night' shots are, in fact, taken between the period between sunset and darkness. The crossover period, between sunset and darkness when there's still colour in the sky, is a crucial time - artificial and ambient light (daylight) are in balance so when you expose for one, the other is effectively recorded as well and shadow detail is still visible. This crossover period doesn't last long ( up to an hour mid-summer; only about 15 minutes in winter), so you need to be organised and accept that you'll only cover one or two subjects per night.

Got the Gear?
In terms of equipment, keep things simple. Filters aren't usually necessary but a tripod is essential. You'll also need an electronic or cable shutter release for slow exposures to avoid camera shake. If you don't have a remote release, use the camera's self-timer so that when you press the shutter there's a delay of several seconds before the shutter opens - time enough for any vibrations to fade.
Noise can be a problem when shooting night scenes and it's especially noticeable ...
... in dark areas. To minimise it, shoot in RAW and keep the ISO setting to it's minimum setting - usually ISO 100 or 200.
Colour casts are an unavoidable aspect of night photography because everything is lit artificially. Fluorescent comes out green, for example, while tungsten creates an orange cast and sodium vapour yellow. In a typical urban scene you're likely to have several different types of lighting so balancing them is near impossible - not that you want to anyway as this mix of vivid colours are what gives night shots their impact.

Exposure Poser
Getting the exposure right is perhaps the trickiest aspect of night photography - however use of the histogram for each image will provide the best indication of correct exposure - looking at the image on the display on the back of the camera at night may not give you the best indication. Your eyes adjust to the dark surroundings and then don't assess the image on the display as they would normally. Underexposure is more likely than overexposure so be prepared to give more exposure than you would expect and try bracketing the shot (shooting a slightly underexposed, correctly exposed and slightly overexposed image) so that you can select the best the next day. Work with pattern metering and with Aperture Priority mode, leaving the camera to set the exposure time and increasing it using the Exposure Compensation facility. Once exposures get to 20 seconds or more you needn't be spot on with your timings - being two or three seconds out will make little difference to the final image.

Subject Matters
A typical town or city will contain a range of different night subjects, floodlit buildings, piers, bridges, fountains, illuminations, colourful street scenes with cafés and bars, neon signs and so on. You'll also find scenes within scenes such as abstract reflections in water or puddles or shop fronts and polished bodywork or parked cars. All these things are straightforward to shoot - the main thing is that you're on location when there's still colour in the sky so it provides an attractive blue backdrop to all the vivid colours created by the man-made illumination. A popular technique at dusk is to use a long exposure and record moving traffic as colourful trails. Winter is a good time to achieve this shot because rush hour and dusk coincide so there's lots of traffic on the roads and traces of colour in the sky. For the best results, find a location where you have a view over a busy road or roundabout - bridges, buildings and multi-storey carparks are ideal. Mount your camera on a tripod and compose your shot. Use a wide-angle lens to capture a broad view or a telephoto to home in on a small part of the scene.
Adam Coupe is pro commercial photographer specialising in commercial photography, architectural photography and architectural interior photography for a wide range of organisations that need to project their products, people or brand in a vibrant way see for the full architectural photography and commercial photography portfolio : http://www.adamcoupe.com