Have you ever seen a photograph of a city at night? Have you seen those photo’s with the highways almost alive with streaks of red and light light from cars whizzing by? Have you ever tried to take a shot like that and not be able to figure it out? It can be complicated but it is something that everyone can do with the right camera.

The first thing that is required to get a shot like this is a tripod. Don’t have a tripod? Then pack up and go home. You need to be able to secure the camera so it doesn’t move at all and a tripod is a sure way to do that.

After securing your camera, set it so that you have a long exposure shot. Turn off ‘auto’ (and the flash) and enter the mode that allows you to set the shutter speed. You will need to experiment with the correct amount of time to keep the shutter open: start with a full second and adjust from there. If your camera is fully manual, you might set your ISO at 100 (this will eliminate background “digital noise”) and set your aperture at f8. Now continue to adjust your shutter speed to get the right exposure.

When you shoot the photograph, do not press the button. This will introduce movement into the photo and it will blur the entire image. Alternatively, set the self-timer or use an off-camera shutter depress mechanism if your camera has one.

If your camera allows for all this, you should be able to capture some killer night shots.

Best wishes for awesome photographs.

Chris