Nighttime street traffic photography
Ben Clemens, Oct. 19, 2018 12:30 p.m.
Capturing photos at night with moving cars can produce some high-quality frames. These shots are best done as long exposures, capturing light streaks of the cars driving by, and done at “blue hour” – when the sky is a rich blue for about 20 to 30 minutes following the sunset.
To take these shots you only need three items: a DSLR camera, a wide-angle lens and a tripod.
The camera must have a manual mode that allows you to keep the shutter open for around 30 seconds or more. Blue hour photos requires only about 8 to 15 seconds, but the more time gives more flexibility for darker situations. As for the other camera settings, you want to restrict the light access, so you can keep the shutter open long as possible without the picture being over exposed. To do this, you want the ISO (light sensitivity) down around 100 and the aperture (f-stop) to 20, or higher if possible. This way your camera is relying on the shutter alone for light, allowing more movement to occur. For any light poles or small non-moving lights, the high aperture will create a nice star effect.
It’s best to use manual mode for complete control and shoot in a ‘RAW’ file setting instead of ‘JPEG’. ‘RAW’ files allow more details to be preserved when edited later.
Set the camera and tripod at your preferred angle and low to the ground so the shot is ready when traffic appears. It is best when the frame has lights moving in multiple directions, so intersections are great if possible – but okay if not. The high f-stop will keep everything pretty in-focus, but it’s still important to make sure everything is sharp in the frame ahead of time.
After the shoot, you can take the ‘RAW’ files and process them on your computer using any photo editor (Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.). There, adjust lighting, white balance, and any other details to your liking and export the photo as a JPEG.
Then success! You have your nighttime photo made.
