OUTDOORS AT NIGHT

Exercise

Show a variety of images demonstrating night photography

• a floodlight building
• a bright lit store
• a large interior
• traffic trails

Creative light

I have taken a series of images along the river Thames to show
the variety of  night images that you can achieve.
I used a tripod and experimented with shutter speed and
aperture levels to try to achieve the perfect exposure levels.

Taken just before the sun completely disappeared behind the

horizon I chose a smaller aperture to try to achieve maximum

sharpness.This meant that shutter speed was low at the light in

the foreground has an Orange hue caused by effects of the

tungsten lights on the bridge. the camera see these as orange,

even though they are white to the naked eye.

f11 8 sec

I also took the same image using with colour balance

set to fluorescent which has added lots of blue to the

final image, changing the colour hues to blue.

f 11 8 sec

My final image was taken later in the day when the sun had set

I used a tripod and assessed the available light. It was important

not to over expose the light on the bridge or to under expose the

background. Again I used a smaller aperture to achieve maximum

sharpness. The slow shutter speed has frozen the movement

of the water creating a shiny surface for the colour of the light

to reflect which adds to the overall image.

f11 4 sec

Lights from buildings

You can also capture flood light buildings at night.

I used a slow  shutter speed creatively capture the light

on the wheel. The slow shutter speed has blurred the

movement of the wheel which has added to the final image

f10 4 sec

This image of Big Ben show the effects
caused by exposure issues with flood light buildings
the bright lampposts are over exposed and also the
dial of the clock. The overall exposure is correct.
You might be able to recover the over exposure in
photoshop.

f 20 10 sec

This office block close to tower bridge was illuminated even
though the workers had gone home! The overall tone of the
image is blue green caused by the early night sky and the
fluorescent tones of the internal lighting. I like this image for its
pattern but I think i could improve it with better sharpness and
improved composition.

f11 4 sec

Selective lighting

I took this image of a flower stall in Rome to try to show

isolated lighting. I think the image works but still need to try

to improve the balance of light and dark. Small spot lights

are the brightest and so are over exposed.

iso 1600 hand held f5 1/30 sec

I was walking towards the Vatican and saw this side street

lighting. I did not have a tripod so changed the iso to 1600

and took a the exposure leve from the light to try to achieve a

spot light image to catch some of the detail of the buildings

in the alley. I am pleased with the results. The red hue of

the the tungsten light adds to the final atmosphere of the

image. I added some fill flash to the image in photoshop

to capture some more detail in the foreground.

The image is very grainy due to the high iso. I would

improved this image by using a tripod.

iso 1600 hand held f4.5 1/50 sec

Taken at Santa tecla festival which was again taken

to show selective lighting. The exposure level has

Incorporated the detailing in the background of the

children being showered by the flames from the bull.

iso 1600 f 4.5 1/250 sec

I used the bright tungsten light city scene creatively in this image.

I noticed the couple on the bank and set the exposure

level around the foreground in front of them and then took the

exposure levels of the city scape. I then selected an exposure

which would allow me to capture some detail on the foreground

and not over expose the background lights.Again I did not have

a tripod so the image is grainy as I changed the iso to 1600.

I really like this image and think the grain adds to the image.

The orange hue from the tungsten lights also add to the final

composition.

iso 1600 f 4.5 1/30 sec

Shops and Malls

This image of selfridges windows at Xmas was taken to try to select
the coloured light coming from the window display.

I think I could have improved this image by improving the exposure
level. as the foreground is to dark.

iso 800 f4.5 1/40 sec

I noticed this unusual light in a sushi shop in London

I set the exposure level so that I captured the light and

some of the reflection details also the small exit lights

in the store. This abstract image is interesting and

a creative way to use store lighting.

iso 800 f4.5 1/50 sec

This entrance to a shopping mall in central London

I was attrached by the symmetrical shapes but the tones

of the tungsten lighitng adds to the image.

iso 400 f4.5 1/50 sec

The above two images were taken at St Pauls Cathedral...i wanted

to capture the colour tones of late night lighting.

iso 100 f4.5 1/30 sec

Creative abstract image of car trails around Piccadilly circus.

This high contrast image is grainy as i used a high iso so that I could

slow down the shutter speed and still managed to capture some sharpness.

iso 1000 f 4.5 1/20 sec

Comments

 

Outdoor images at night can be very dynamic and interesting

Exposure is key and is affected by the varying lighting sources

When shooting a night image take into consideration the

" hot spots" of light. Also always try to carry a tripod with

you on any shoot so that night images can be taken on

lower iso levels and aperture levels which increase sharpness

Be aware that long exposures even on a tripod in an outdoor

situation can also incur some blur.