5 Cool Night Street Photography Tips
Bleak Spot
All the best photos that happen out on the streets come with practice. That's what I've found in my nine years of shooting.
I've tried numerous genres - Landscape Photography, Still Life photography, Seascape Photography. But my favourite is street photography. I just love the inherent atmosphere that can be conjured when all the elements come together and street photography has this in spades. Night Street photography has it in bucket loads.
Here are five rules that I live by…
Shoot at the Blue Hour
The blue hour is that gorgeous time just after sunset, right before darkness falls. If you are capturing the night sky in your image, there is enough detail and beautiful color in that sky to add an extra layer to your night photos, which unfortunately is very hard to find when the darkness of the night takes over. However, you have to be prepared. It only lasts for about half an hour. Blink and you will miss it.
Wish Ward Dreams
Increase your ISO
I currently do two types of Street photography - with people and without. If you want to capture people in your night photos, you are going to have to bump up your ISO so that you can increase your Shutter Speed in these low light conditions. I always aim for at least 1/200 of a second to get people tack sharp when they are moving or standing. This means that my ISO can be kicking off at 800 or above. Don't make the mistake I have made in the past where I have tried to capture motionless people with a slow shutter speed. Even if they are barely moving, they still look fuzzy in post. Crank up that Shutter Speed. Of course, this all depends on what aperture you shoot at. You want to capture more light at night so generally keep my aperture at f/ 5.6 or wider. There is one caveat though. If there are no people in your scene, you can shoot for a cleaner image. Go for an ISO range of 100 - 200 and wait a short time with a longer Shutter Speed.
The Corner House at Christmas
Look for the lights
One of my favourite things about night street photography is the street lamps, shop lights, and the reflected light from these man-made wonders. Capturing these in your images cranks up the atmosphere by one thousand. If streetlamps are placed in the composition correctly they can act as a leading line, or can be used simply to add ambiance. Reflected glows on the pavement or the road can create interesting layers to an image. Try shooting these glows in the rain as the puddles instantly add reflections. I am currently experimenting with a Tiffen Black Pro Mist filter which lifts contrast and also creates an atmospheric halation around light sources.
High Street Bues
Bracket your shots
One of the difficulties with night street photography is balancing exposures; particularly in cities and towns where there’s a great deal of contrast between the lights and the pavements. Once you over-expose a street or a shop lamp it's impossible to reduce it in post and it can look like a heavily lit blob. This is why I always bracket my shots in a set of three. One correct exposure, another two stops underexposed and a final shot, two stops overexposed. With these exposures, if a street lamp is overexposed in the correctly exposed image, I can always use Photoshop to carefully blend in the underexposed image's street lamp. Conversely, if the properly exposed image has some dark areas, if they contain noise, I will sometimes blend in the brighter areas of the over-exposed image and adjust the brightness accordingly.
Prepare
Leave early. Take the afternoon / early evening to scout the locations that you plan to shoot. Look for compositions that you could come back to when darkness sets in. Bring a backpack or bag with lens cleaners/shutter release, or anything else you think you may need. As a photographer, there is nothing more annoying than rushing out late, missing some action, getting caught in a deluge and getting your equipment soiled, and kicking yourself for not preparing sooner. This can be applied to all genres of photography. Once you prepare you can take it easy, enjoy the night and take some great street photos without worrying.
Night Castle
Bonus tip
I always use a lightweight tripod. It is essential for when it gets really dark and you are shooting people less, at a low ISO with slow shutter speeds. I also either put the camera on a 3-second timer or I use a shutter release remote and depending on the situation I will use Continuous Autofocus or Single Shot Autofocus.
I have followed these tips religiously on my quest for enjoyable nights out and interesting night street photography expeditions. Give them a go and see if they help you in your photographic journey.