Night and Low-light Photography Photo Workshop

the day, the sun is the main light source and the

light comes from overhead, but at night, the light

comes from within the scene, from the lights used

to illuminate the memorial from the ground up,

which creates a look that does not exist during

the day.

STREET SCENES

Big cities are a great place to capture street scenes

after dark. This is because there are people,

activities, and enough light sources to make all

these scenes relatively easy to capture. The bigger

When the sun sets and the city lights start to
come on, it looks like the city is waking up and
coming to life. The drabness of the day is slowly
replaced by an energy that is most evident in the
way the city is lit. Think of the city as a one-stop
show for night photography, as it offers a huge
variety of different subjects. These can include
the street scenes, light trails, bright neon lights,
and the cityscapes themselves. There is also a lot
of fun to be had photographing the same scene in
both day and night and comparing them. One of
the biggest differences is the direction of the
light. When the scene in Figure 8-1 is lit during

ABOUT THIS PHOTO The memorial shot at 40 seconds allowed me to capture the detail in the stone, yet the people visiting it look a lot like
ghosts. Taken at 40 seconds, f/22, and ISO 100.

8-1