During the day cities can be mundane places, with commuters going about their
business and trucks jamming streets making their deliveries. But at night cities
can come alive with light and activities that speak to a different side of life,
one where details fall in the shadows and edges are electrified. Night exposures
create new challenges for photographers, ones where camera steadiness, composition,
and proper exposure readings come into play. Our Picture This! assignment this
month was the City at Night, and readers responded with images from cities around
the world, with cityscapes of grandeur and street scenes that caught our eye.
Rockefeller Center |
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Tom Vogt combined two icons from the Rockefeller Center area in
New York City in this shot of St. Patrick's Cathedral shot
from behind the Atlas statue. This handheld shot with a Nikon
Coolpix S1 set at ISO 400 was exposed at f/3 at 1/5 sec.
© 2008, Tom Vogt, All Rights Reserved
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Eiffel Tower, Looking Up |
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David Olds made this unique view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
with a Canon PowerShot S110 with an exposure of f/2.8 at 0.8 seconds.
Olds wrote, "It was steadied by resting (the camera) on
a folded up coat on the ground...it was further stabilized
by using the internal timer to release the shutter."
© 2008, David Olds, All Rights Reserved
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Hong Kong Fireworks |
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There's nothing like fireworks to illuminate a night scene,
as in this shot by Tom Stubbs of Hong Kong. He set his Canon PowerShot
S70 camera on a railing and made an exposure at ISO 200 at f/2.8
at 1/6 sec.
© 2008, Tom Stubbs, All Rights Reserved
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Las Vegas, From Stratosphere |
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Noted Bartley D'Alfonso, "Tripods are banned on the
866-foot elevation Observation Deck of the Las Vegas Stratosphere,
but there are a half-dozen coin-operated telescopes there. You
can improvise and use them like a tabletop for long nighttime
exposure settings." He photographed with a Nikon D200 set
at ISO 100 and exposed at f/8 at 3 seconds using a Nikkor 80-400mm
lens.
© 2008, Bartley D'Alfonso, All Rights Reserved
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Angel Over Vegas |
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This view of "The Strip" in Las Vegas was made closer
to earth by Jessica Hollon with a Canon EOS 5D and a Canon 24-105mm
L IS USM lens. Exposure was f/5 at 1/6 sec at ISO 1000.
© 2008, Jessica Hollon, All Rights Reserved
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John Hancock Center |
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Chicago is one of the great architectural wonders of the world,
and Ross Kaplan caught much of that charm at night with a Nikon
D2X and a Nikkor 18-200mm lens. Exposure was f/8 at 4 seconds
at ISO 200.
© 2008, Ross Kaplan, All Rights Reserved
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North Beach |
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The famous Vesuvio Bar, a beat generation North Beach hangout,
serves as a perfect counterpoint to the Financial Center building
in San Francisco. Mark Optalka made this shot with a Canon A2
and a Canon 28-105mm lens on Kodak Ektachrome E100VS.
© 2008, Mark Optalka, All Rights Reserved
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Chicago Reflections |
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The Chicago skyline is reflected in the "Cloud Gate"
sculpture in Millennium Park. Gray Kerrick used a Canon PowerShot
G7 with an exposure of f/2.8 at 0.8 seconds.
© 2008, Gray Kerrick, All Rights Reserved
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Seattle At Night |
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This classic shot of Seattle at night was made by Greg Tucker
with a Nikon F100 and a Nikkor 28-105mm lens on Fujichrome Velvia
50 film. While it might not show up in repro, you can see a dim
but visible (on the print) Mt. Rainier in the background.
© 2008, Greg Tucker, All Rights Reserved
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Street Scene |
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The billboard with the image of a lone figure and bus rushing
by in a blur of light seemed a perfect counterpoint, and showed
a unique photographic eye. Doug Dellinger made this shot with
a Nikon D80 and a Tokina 19-35mm lens. Exposure at ISO 800 was
f/11 at 1/5 sec.
© 2008, Doug Dellinger, All Rights Reserved
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