Back Alleys at Night

I've always enjoyed late night photoshoots. I find that going out well after midnight is best as most people are in for the night and the streets empty. Something about the absence of people and the vail of darkness makes for interesting shots. Using a tripod and long exposures brings out intense colors of the night.

This was a hand held shot of a homeless man sleeping in an underpass. Shot with a Nikon D200 at ISO 1600, F/4.0, 1/25 speed. An 18-135mm Nikkor lense set at 31mm. Auto ISO was set on the camera.

This back alley image was shot using a tripod. Nikon D200 set at F/10, ISO 100, exposure at 18 seconds. My 18-135mm lens was set at 26mm.

Another alley shot set at F/10, ISO 100 using my tripod. Exposure was set at 30 seconds. My 18-135mm lens was set at 28mm. I took several shots of the alley with different exposures. I found that 30 seconds was the sweet spot.

This side street shot was shot using my prime 50mm F/1.8 lens. Very speedy. I set my camera at apeture priority (as I almost always do). ISO 100, F/11, exposure at 30 seconds.

Another image where I experimented with the exposure. I settled on 30 seconds which seems to be a good mix between capturing the right nighttime mood without the ambient light becoming too overpowering. I set my Nikon D200 at F/11, ISO 100, and my 18-135mm lens set at 40mm. Like most of my late night shots I used a tripod.