Night Photography Resource

The colours and the curves! The colours really make this image special. The royal blue sky, chalky buildings, red and white lights from the cars, and occasional patches of green. These colours all blend together into a pleasing mess of light.

Unlike most pictures of headlights and taillights which are mostly straight lines, the hill and curving road turns the lights into big swooping curves. These fluid curves complement the straight lines of the paving stones and the buildings to add a variety of textures to the picture.

One continuing challenge in night photography is balancing several different light sources, each with a totally different colour and intensity. This usually comes down to either luck or skill, and the picture above shows some serious skill.

This picture is impressive since the aurora, starlight and light from the town all blend and mess together in a pleasing way. Nothing overpowers anything else, and the aurora subtly steals the show. The composition is superb, with the aurora running perfectly between the houses and the truck on the right blocking some harsh lights. What a wonderful image of winter in the north.

This image stands out from a combination of light sources (city lights and ambient light), a short focal length and a long shutter speed adding a slight bit of motion blur. The main subject matter is the boy standing in the foreground; however, the entire image is very pleasing to behold.

This picture really stands out for a number of reasons. The obvious things you notice are the excellent composition and unique colour cast provided by the film, but the subtle effect provided by the narrow depth of field also adds a lot of depth to the picture. The overall effect is that even if you give the picture a brief glance you tend to draw in and engage with the picture.

A while back I discovered the photography of Rune Guneriussen. Rune takes pictures of lamps out in the middle of the forest and the results are simply stunning.

I wish I could take pictures like these. A while ago my late friend Mikael and I had the idea of hauling a television, couch, side table and lamp all over the province taking pictures of them in strange places. This is very similar in feel and spirit. I'm wondering what he did for power and how he managed to transport so many lamps around.

This picture has been a long standing favourite of mine. Despite being taken in the city, there is enough light from the church and store that not everything is bathed in the yellow glow of sodium which leads to a pleasing mix of colours. There is a bit of traffic in the street but not too much, with just a bit of motion to everything.

When I was at the Grand Canyon a number of years ago, I was lucky enough to arrive on a night with clear skies and a nearly full moon. After wandering around a bit, I wanted to take a picture that highlighted both the night sky and the beautiful landscape. After a few tries in different locations I settled on this tree and was immediately pleased with the result.