Photography masterclass Autumn 2009

Just because the sun’s gone down, it doesn’t mean you have to pack away your camera. In fact, for our resident pro- photographer Peter Cairns, dusk is when the fun begins…

One of my favourite times for playing with light is at night. You might not think it, but there’s almost always enough light to photograph, even if it isn’t obvious. The trick is good timing and choice of subject. Herein lies the beauty of night-time images: the really striking ones are often in urban environments so most of us don’t have to travel far to shoot one. When light levels are really low, you’ll be shooting at such lengthy shutter speeds – often a minute or more – that a sturdy tripod is a must. It also helps if you can trip the shutter using a cable release or a selftimer. That way you avoid any camera shake and your pictures will be perfectly sharp.

No matter what the manufacturers claim, no one can get a sharp image holding a camera for several seconds or more. With your equipment sorted, you’ll need to find an appropriate subject – and they are everywhere. Cityscapes, moving traffic, fairgrounds, castles and lighthouses: all these subjects light up the sky and, consequently, look much more dramatic as darkness falls. For me, the best conditions are around dusk when the levels of natural light match the levels of artificial light, allowing some detail to be captured in the sky before total darkness descends.

So now to the tricky bit: how long should you leave the shutter open? It varies, but if you’re shooting when there’s still some light in the sky, you can take an exposure reading as you would normally; just don’t be surprised when your camera tells you that half a minute is required. These long shutter speeds allow moving subjects such as traffic trails to record as continuous lines of colour. And as long as the camera doesn’t move, the static part of the image remains sharp – a great combination! Once you’ve mastered the basics, you’ll see possibilities everywhere. Judging by the recent submissions, walk readers will undoubtedly rise to the challenge!

Top tips

• Scout your location during the day so you’ll know exactly where to stand come nightfall
• Take a torch so you can more easily operate the camera, and use a cable release or self-timer.
• Keep shooting – the light will be changing subtly all the time. With moving subjects, each image will be different so don’t assume you’ve nailed it after one or two exposures.
• If you’re shooting digitally, check the camera’s histogram after every shot to ensure exposure is spot-on. If shooting film, bracket your shots (vary the shutter speed).
• Be safe – know your surroundings and stand well away from roadsides.

Step by step

Ruthven Barracks sits on a mound outside the Scottish Highland village of Kingussie. What visitors see today is pretty much what the departing Jacobites left in 1746. Somehow its bloody past seems more tangible against a brooding winter sky.

1. I chose an evening with a stormy sky and took a viewpoint looking roughly south, towards the setting winter sun. I’d already found out that the building was lit from early evening.
2. I positioned myself to utilise what amounted to nothing more than a large puddle, which provided an almost perfect reflection of the Barracks – a real bonus.
3. 3 Tripod in place, I took an exposure meter reading from the illuminated side of the building and used an aperture of f8, which gave me a shutter speed of 25 seconds. I used a self-timer so I didn’t have to touch the camera until the exposure was complete.
4. The lengthy exposure time provided some movement in the scudding clouds overhead, giving a slightly dreamy effect to the sky.
5. I then went on to take a range of both vertical and horizontal shots at various focal lengths using a wideangle zoom lens. Most importantly, I stayed at the scene until it was completely dark and I felt that I’d exhausted all the potential the Barracks had to offer.

If you think you have mastered these techniques why not enter our photography competition.