Afterglow: Shooting after dark
One of my favorite things to shoot are images after dark. I love to venture out before the sun sets and get shots that are almost surreal and that are hard to perceive with the naked eye. With a little bit of effort, you can get the most beautiful cobalt blue skies, car trails and star trails, gorgeous motion blurs and have timeless images that have a completely different look from a daylight shot.
I love shooting stars at night and recently bought a book called Creative Night, by Harold Davis, which has really peaked my curiosity and has made me want to try more ideas. He is a great photographer and a master of shooting star trails, which is something that I want to try more of. When you are shooting after dark, so many subjects can take on a whole other look and feel and many times I can sense during the day, how they might look at night. Sometimes you need a 6th sense, because you don’t always know if it is a waste of time or not. But more often than not, the creative possibilities at night and produce some of the most powerful pictures that you might ever take.
I love shooting car trails and look for great shot ops wherever I am, whether I am in Los Angeles or abroad. Setting your camera in the right location on a sturdy tripod, with a cable release and exposure time anywhere from a few seconds to even 30 seconds, can produce dramatic results.
Many times I count how many seconds it takes for the car or cars to travel from one point of my viewfinder to the other and then I know how long to set my exposure for. When I was shooting the Golden Gate bridge last week, I knew that I needed more than 30 seconds for the cars to go across some of the bridge, but I chose around 15 seconds and that worked just fine for most of the shots.
When I shot the cars going down the amazing curves of Lombard Street, I I did have the exposure at 30 seconds, which also often was not enough to capture the entire car from top to bottom. But when you shoot many images, you can use a layer mask in Photoshop, and paint in car trails wherever they are missing and finish your image perfectly. When shooting car trails at night, being a master with layer masks is the best tip I could give anyone.
I tried to get a different angle of Lombard Street on my last trip to San Francisco. Form several blocks away, I was able to find the view I wanted and it gave me this incredible zig zag look which was just what I wanted. Lombard Street is probably the most famous street in the city and capturing it at night is my favorite way to shoot it.
On the shot of the Oakland Bay Bridge from below, I knew in my head what I wanted to get but it was not the easiest shot to capture. It is illegal to climb down to shoot it from this vantage point but it is the only way to get this angle. Being a photographer often means having everyone tell you that you cannot take your photos. It’s pretty frustrating and it happens to me all over the world. From shooting at the Louvre in Paris to the Disney concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles,
all of the guards will for sure tell you to get rid of your tripod. Shooting after dark, almost always, requires a tripod so putting up with security guards is something we all have to deal with constantly.
At Los Angeles international Airport, LAX, my favorite view is from the top of an office building overlooking the airport. Being an instructor at UCLA, they gave me special permission to go to the roof with one of my students and I was able to capture time exposures of all of the cars just after sunset. I tried to get the cobalt blue sky, that appears for about 10 or 20 minutes, a little time after the sun goes down. After the sky went darker, she and I continued to keep firing away and got many more great images. These kind of locations are not your typical places to shoot but they are iconic and to get good images for my stock photography collection and these are what I strive for.
One of the bonuses you get from long exposures is that you usually are shooting with a small aperture. The long exposure requires you to have a pretty small f/stop and in turn the bonus that gives you are the beautiful stars from your bright light sources. 
This means that most street lights and bright lights give you the multi shaped star patterns and add some zing to your images. It is just a nice little incentive to try and go shoot more at night. You can see this in many of my night shots including my image of the Blade Runner like pedestrian walkway in the middle of the freeways in Shanghai. I never get tired of shooting in Shanghai, especially at night because of the endless possibilities for shooting after dark. Grab your tripod and go look for some incredible night locations because they might just be some of the best photos you could ever take!
Hi Scott, I immensely enjoy your podcasts with Audri Lanford and have not tired of listening and relistening over and over not only for your knowledge but also for getting inspired with the passion that you are so infused with for this wonderful craft! Your wit and humour are so engaging and help in delivering the message home beautifully!
Are you planning to visit Dubai any time soon? World’s tallest building is now in Dubai and surely you will visit to shoot it right? Please do let me know, I will gladly be your guide and will offer my 20 years experience of living here! Warm regards, Manoj
Hi Manoj,
nice to hear from you. Thank you so much!!! So glad you heard those podcasts…she was so great to work with!! Had so much fun.
so, yes I want to come to Dubai very badly. I love the new building and am dying to shoot it. Maybe you can let me know what to expect in Dubai and what might be a good time of year to be there.. And also any decent but cheap hotels to stay in…..
keep me posted Manoj,
thanx again for writing.
scotty
Scott,
I think you have outdone yourself here. These are fantastic! I’ve been discouraged with my photography lately, but these images spurred me on to order Davis’s book and get back on the road. Thanks.
Thanks so much Glenn,
and yes…don’t get discouraged. That happens to me but then I get motivated…and many times it is from seeing someone else’s awesome pics. Like Art’s..
then I have to go out and shoot my butt off.
That book should help you!!!!!! Hope you are doing aok…..
I’m teaching way too much…….but all is good!! Putting together two photo tours….One to Burma and one to Death Valley. Late in the year…both should be super cool
if you know anyone who might want to come…… Art is leading one to Burma next month…He is using my guide.
anyway…………keep that camera nearby……OK dokee??
scotty
@scottstulberg
Hi Scott, great to hear from you! Dubai, apart from the expected desert around it, the s-shaped creek running through the city, the sea and of course the Burj Khalifa offers man-made wonders like the palm island, quite a few other iconic buildings, bridges, sea marinas and good night photography opportunities.
There are two seasons – hot, humid and dusty April-October and beautiful clear, crisp November-March. When you plan to visit, please see deals being offered on the web that combine visa+hotel and let me know and I see with my hotel contacts if we can work out better rates.
I would love to hear more podcasts you may have recorded on other web sites and would appreciate if you could please let me know.
I have just upgraded from my Sony F717 to a Canon EOS 7D, 70-200 F4L and EFS 15-85 F3.5 and soaking up ideas
,
Cheers
Hi Scott,
And the pictures!!! Your pictures are magic wrapped in delight! The more times I see them, the better they look! My Holy Grail!
Sometime in future I want to do a photo-trip with you but first must master the basics which I am doing now from podcasts and blogs, to try and graduate to taking pictures with – and learning to elevate the craft from – The Maestro!
Cheers
Manoj,
so many thanks!! you are too kind….
Hey..I am leading a workshop to Burma in December…. would you like to come if possible?? We will be shooting gorgeous things over there.
I love SE Asia…..but I have to get to Dubai……I have to!!! and shoot with you!!!!
the Maestro
Hi scott :
it’s Wonderful opportunity to get to know people like you is rare , with High sense of life
and I have a dream to learn from someone like you .
best regards
jamal
@scottstulberg
Hi Scott,
Shooting in Burma and Dubai sounds exciting! And December seems to be just the right time frame.
Could I please have a few more details on the Burma trip like costs, dates etc.?
Thanks and warm regards,
Manoj
Hi Manoj,
the trip will be December 2-14th, 2010. Will be approx. $6400. and will include just about everything except your flight to Yangon.
All internal flights, meals, hotels, guides, boats, entrance fees, tips, etc. WE will be there mostly to photograph great stuff…Lots of set ups,
and great stuff.. Not as much sightseeing as looking for the best photo ops. It is amazing there. Way special….love it there so much.
I will have a detailed itinerary soon. My guide is working on it now.
But you can email me at my regular email to talk more about it…..scott@asa100.com
hope you can really come.. I wish I could come to Dubai too….but probably will go to Thailand afterwards. I need to go to the United Nations…they want me to come see my images
up in the general assembly room. I am jazzed to see them!!
talk soon Manoj, scotty
Thank you Jamal….
so nice to hear that. WE only live once………so we have to make the best of it!!!!
peace, love and brown rice.
scotty
You made a great change. the new gear is just what the doctor ordered. Now go get some perfect shots M!!! OK???
I have to get to Dubai……I have to!!! I wish I was coming next week………but I am teaching so much,,,,3 nights a week..
But I have to get there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
scotty
You are an inspiration. I always wanted to take after dark pictures but it is impossible for me. :p People always stare at me, having a tripod and a camera so I can do these kind of pictures.
I am currently doing a powerpoint presentation about your photography and would like to know more about you.
May
Hi May,
thanx for writing…….
and don;t worry about others staring because you have a tripod. I take mine everywhere. How can you shoot after dark without one?
if you need to ask me some questions……my email is better than here… scott@asa100.com
talk to you later May,
scotty
Wow thanks for sharing these tips. This is really great – I’ll be checking it out for more. I shot a photo of the Louvre similar to yours, well mine is in HDR.
http://martinsoler.com/2010/02/03/lonely-at-the-louvre/
Martin,
Looks like we both had the same idea!! Shooting the Louvre at night is one of my favorite things in Paris. I go there when I have a feeling that it will be a prefect night.
Sometimes…that happens… but make sure you go after the crowds have gone. That is the biggest tip…
and don;t forget your tripod. When the crowds are gone….so are the Gendarmes……that bug you to put away the tripod…..
you keep up the good work……. liked your shot too!!!
ciao, scotty