Great Photography and Camera Deals

Night Photography, the Urban Extravaganza

It's no secret that cities create a huge amount of light at night. Urban dwellers make more use of their window shades to get to sleep than anything else, and from the country the road to the nearest metropolis is often identified by the distant glow of streetlights diffusing high into the atmosphere. I don't approve of light pollution, as a starry sky on a clear night is one of the most amazing things you'll ever see, but all of this excess light can definitely be put to good use. Whether it's "burning" landscape pictures or satellite imagery of bright city outlines, photography is perhaps the only positive outcome of poor light management.

Night photography differs from the popular counterpart in a few major ways. The lack of a single prime light source means photos will often have less contrast and shadow quality, but this is made up for in light diversity. One photo taken in a city may draw light from incandescent street lamps, fluorescent office lights, and sunlight reflected off a full moon. This creates a situation that's near impossible to white balance for, and one shouldn't try to, as the glory of night photography is in the uncontrollable variables. With longer exposures, camera sensors extract and amplify light from wherever available, often with fantastic and unexpected results. A changing stoplight or passing car can drastically alter an image, fog or overcast clouds can diffuse and reflect wayward city lights with incredible beauty, and a lack of consistent shadow often gives structures and objects a surreal existence. Tally in the array of colors from non white-balanced light sources and the camera becomes a kaleidoscope. All in all, night photography is an incredible way to convert some of that extra city light into photos that are, more often than not, a pleasant surprise.

Anyone interested can see some of my night and panoramic photography on my website linked. I've been shooting in and around Richmond, VA for a number of years now without even denting its generous supply of photo ops.

About the Author

Photography student at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA

Star trails captured using an exposure time of two hours to record the rotation Photo Mugs Star trails captured using an exposure time of two hours to record the rotation of the earth on its Polar Axis, stars are rotating around the Pole Star (Polaris), the Sahara Desert near Merzouga, Morocco, North Africa, Africa....

Taipei 101 at night, Taipei, Taiwan, Asia Photo Mugs Taipei 101 at night, Taipei, Taiwan, Asia....

Fireworks display Photo Mugs Fireworks display. Composite image offireworks exploding. The colours in fireworks arecreated by the addition of metal salts.....

Light Meter LX1010B,50,000 Lux Luxmeter with lcd display $8.18 The digital lux meter LX1010B can measure up to 50,000 lux, approximately 5,000 footcandles. It's used for checking the level of luminance, luminance is a measure of the amount of light falling on a surface. It is defined as: 'the density of the luminous flux incident on a surface'. It is the quotient of the luminous flux by the area of the surface when the latter is uniformly illuminate...

Photo Jigsaw Puzzle of Arc De Triomphe. Paris, France from Granger Art on Demand $24.99 Photo Puzzle, ARC DE TRIOMPHE. Paris, France. ARC DE TRIOMPHE. Paris, France. Chosen by Granger Art on Demand. 10x14 Photo Puzzle with 252 pieces. Packed in black cardboard box of dimensions 5 5/8 x 7 5/8 x 1 1/5. Puzzle image 5x7 affixed to box top. Puzzle pieces printed on RA4 paper at 300 dpi. This item is shipped from our American lab....

Photo Jigsaw Puzzle of Star trails captured using an exposure time of two hours to record the rotation from Robert Harding $24.99 Photo Puzzle, Star trails captured using an exposure time of two hours to record the rotation. Star trails captured using an exposure time of two hours to record the rotation of the earth on its Polar Axis, stars are rotating around the Pole Star (Polaris), the Sahara Desert near Merzouga, Morocco, North Africa, Africa. Chosen by Robert Harding. 10x14 Photo Puzzle with 252 pieces. Packed in black ...

Celestron NexImage Solar System Imager $162.95 Amazon.com Review Celestron's NexImage combines a sensitive CCD imaging device with powerful image processing software in one affordable package. Now anyone with a telescope can take pictures that are simply amazing. An image of Jupiter taken with the Celestron NexImage Solar System Imager Amateur astronomers have been taking great pictures of the moon and planets by using modified Web...

Tiffen DFXCMPV2 Dfx Complete Digital Filter Software V2 Stand-alone Version - Windows XP, VISTA or Macintosh v10.4.6 and higher $119.70 TBased on the success of its original award-winning Dfx Digital Filter software, Tiffen now introduces Dfx v2 that now features multiple masking and layering capabilities and a host of other features including more than 2,000 standard, exclusive and special effect filters, including simulations of many popular award-winning Tiffen glass filters, specialized lenses, optical lab processes, film grai...

Olympus T-100 12MP 2.4 LCD Digital Camera (Black) $118.99 It's Easy to Shoot, Upload & Share. Meet the T-100. It?s an outstanding value, making it a perfect gift for tweens and teens alike. It has all the technology they need -- like movie recording with sound and in-camera Creative Art Filters -- to have a great time taking photos and sharing them with their friends. Features 12 Megapixel - Achieve superior image quality with a high-resolution, 12-mega...

Fuji Superia 35mm Color Print Film 200 ASA 4 24-Exposure Rolls/Pack $22.29 The design of this product is very exquisite and beautiful....

Crystal Optics 55mm Multi Coated UV Filter $29.95 Multi-Coating improves overall quality of filter by correcting for refractive properties of the filter glass. With multi-coated glass your photos will look sharper and have more contrast. Though most people use the UV Haze to protect their lens from dust and scratches, it also absorbs ultra violet and blue rays without affecting exposure or color. Features: ? High-index / low-dispersion optical glass ? Fully multi-coated ? Anti-reflection coating ? Titanium anodized finish ? High speed auto-focus / Infrared compatible ? Designed to maximize day and night shots by providing maximum light and image transmission ? Fantastic for all types of photographic situations ? Made and designed in Japan ? 15 year Warranty

Crystal Optics 77mm Multi Coated UV Filter $59.95 Multi-Coating improves overall quality of filter by correcting for refractive properties of the filter glass. With multi-coated glass your photos will look sharper and have more contrast. Though most people use the UV Haze to protect their lens from dust and scratches, it also absorbs ultra violet and blue rays without affecting exposure or color. Features: ? High-index / low-dispersion optical glass ? Fully multi-coated ? Anti-reflection coating ? Titanium anodized finish ? High speed auto-focus / Infrared compatible ? Designed to maximize day and night shots by providing maximum light and image transmission ? Fantastic for all types of photographic situations ? Made and designed in Japan ? 15 year Warranty

Crystal Optics 82 Multi Coated UV Filter $59.95 Multi-Coating improves overall quality of filter by correcting for refractive properties of the filter glass. With multi-coated glass your photos will look sharper and have more contrast. Though most people use the UV Haze to protect their lens from dust and scratches, it also absorbs ultra violet and blue rays without affecting exposure or color. Features: ? High-index / low-dispersion optical glass ? Fully multi-coated ? Anti-reflection coating ? Titanium anodized finish ? High speed auto-focus / Infrared compatible ? Designed to maximize day and night shots by providing maximum light and image transmission ? Fantastic for all types of photographic situations ? Made and designed in Japan ? 15 year Warranty

Sakar 27mm Multi Coated UV Filter $29.95 Multi-Coating improves overall quality of filter by correcting for refractive properties of the filter glass. With multi-coated glass your photos will look sharper and have more contrast. Though most people use the UV Haze to protect their lens from dust and scratches, it also absorbs ultra violet and blue rays without affecting exposure or color. Features: ? High-index / low-dispersion optical glass ? Fully multi-coated ? Anti-reflection coating ? Titanium anodized finish ? High speed auto-focus / Infrared compatible ? Designed to maximize day and night shots by providing maximum light and image transmission ? Fantastic for all types of photographic situations ? Made and designed in Japan ? 15 year Warranty

Sakar 37mm Multi Coated UV Filter $19.95 Multi-Coating improves overall quality of filter by correcting for refractive properties of the filter glass. With multi-coated glass your photos will look sharper and have more contrast. Though most people use the UV Haze to protect their lens from dust and scratches, it also absorbs ultra violet and blue rays without affecting exposure or color. Features: ? High-index / low-dispersion optical glass ? Fully multi-coated ? Anti-reflection coating ? Titanium anodized finish ? High speed auto-focus / Infrared compatible ? Designed to maximize day and night shots by providing maximum light and image transmission ? Fantastic for all types of photographic situations ? Made and designed in Japan ? 15 year Warranty

Sakar 43mm Multi Coated UV Filter $39.99 Multi-Coating improves overall quality of filter by correcting for refractive properties of the filter glass. With multi-coated glass your photos will look sharper and have more contrast. Though most people use the UV Haze to protect their lens from dust and scratches, it also absorbs ultra violet and blue rays without affecting exposure or color. Features: ? High-index / low-dispersion optical glass ? Fully multi-coated ? Anti-reflection coating ? Titanium anodized finish ? High speed auto-focus / Infrared compatible ? Designed to maximize day and night shots by providing maximum light and image transmission ? Fantastic for all types of photographic situations ? Made and designed in Japan ? 15 year Warranty