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The first and last images in this gallery were taken at Bar Italia in Soho, London in January 2012. Taken around midnight when the night was done but I didn't want to go home yet. These shots were the start of my night photography journey and my first serious attempts at black & white. The two are not unrelated.
Bar Italia is somwehere you can sit for hours nursing cappucinos and people watching. It has good mood, good light and there are usually interesting characters milling about - day people on their way home and night people on their way out. All the key ingredients for night photography are here
I try to find places like it when travelling, to wind down, take stock and maybe catch a final few images from the day.
(Shots from London, New York, Montreal, Havana, Trinidad, Florence, Genoa, Cortona, Montalto Ligure, Malaga, Madrid, Nice and Folkestone.)
There's a saying in photography that the best camera is the one you have with you.
Unless you happen to have an SLR with a wide angle prime lens on your person that's not true for night photography. Good night shots need good kit, a good lens in particular. Assuming you have one ...
In bars, if you can find a perch, put the camera on something solid and use a slow shutter (1/2 second) for sharp backgrounds and ghostly blurred humans.
For handheld street shots use a medium shutter with a wide aperture and let the ISO rip. Stop still when you see a shot and you should get something usable with the shutter at 1/30 - 1/50 second and aperture at f1.7 (thank you Leica) to f4.
Shoot RAW so you can clean up some noise in editing - particularly important for night work.
If you like any of the images in this gallery, send a message here. Limited edition fine art prints are available in sizes from A5 to A0.