Street Photos of London at Night

Thanks to extremely short winter days, taking street photos of London at night doesn’t require waking up in the actual middle of the night, 5pm on a December afternoon and the sun will have already said its final goodbye to frozen Christmas shoppers…

I enjoy capturing all sort of things at night. People, reflections, light trails, street art, motion and of course unexpected events unravelling before my eyes.

Have you ever played with light painting photography? Capturing movement of a light source and using it in creative ways?

Of course all photography is in fact light painting, the word “photography” means “to draw with light”.

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When you place your camera on a tripod by the side of the road and program the shutter for 1 second, when a bus passes by, its rear lights with the long exposure will create a light trail.

I wrote an article on the subject: HOW TO CAPTURE MOVEMENT IN PHOTOGRAPHY

It also pays off at night to take advantage of the rain if you can protect your camera enough. Colourful night lights reflected in puddles are truly beautiful.

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Another way to get creative is by taking advantage of reflections and capturing more abstract views of London, like this following image photographed in Piccadilly Circus:

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Because of my undying love for London street photography, people are also of interest to me at night. Of course avoiding freaking out anyone, a smile toward someone you wish to photograph can go a long way and try not to follow people down alleyways as it may be misinterpreted and maybe… a bit dangerous. (I wrote about Street Photography Ethics and Respect here)

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I find that black and white lends itself particularly well to night street photography, I guess the two together create a certain atmosphere:

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Another tip for more original night photography is finding a light source such as a shop window display and capture the silhouette of a person backlit by that light source as shown in the photograph below.

READ: HOW TO TAKE SILHOUETTE PHOTOS

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And finally look for opportunities to capture motion through longer exposures using a tripod. It can make certain things seem out of control, like this photo of the London Eye about to come off its axle only to roll down the South Bank furiously:

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I recommend anyone try night photography, even if just for fun, using whatever camera you have.

I captured the photograph below in 2009 and it was the first photograph I took which I ever got paid for. It was noticed online by the manufacturer of the lens I used to capture this photo.

This first photography client was enough of an encouragement to help me decide to launch a career in photography.

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Night photography is fun, at times very experimental, the results can be surprising and it is generally challenging in a way it will help you improve your photography.

How do you like to shoot London by night? Share your tips in the comments and thanks for reading!

Nico