The One Trick for Great Night Photographs

Reading time: Less than 2 minutes

Ahh night street photography - think foggy windows, umbrellas under lamp light, shimmering reflections on wet pavement, there are lots of opportunities for amazing shots in low light.

The thing is night street photography can be quite daunting and difficult at first, but once you get into it, it’s so much fun. So how can you level up your night street photography fast?

Well here is my number one tip: Embrace layering.

How do you do that? Well, when you find an interesting scene or subject, say a person sitting in a restaurant, think about how you can elevate that scene by adding more visual interest. Can you add in a reflection to the foreground from a parked car for example? 

Or can you work a different foreground element into the scene, using the environment to build up a stronger composition with layering and abstraction? 

Or how about waiting for some other people to walk past, using them to frame up the subject, maybe also using a slower shutter speed so they are blurry while your main subject is sharp?

Incorporating the environment in some way while also including a focal point in the image, such as an eye catching person or moment, can really take your night street photos to the next level. Humans love puzzles and the night time is inherently mysterious anyway so the more you can do to heighten that feeling of curiosity and mystery by creative framing and layering, the better your photos will become.

Using layering can be a fantastic way to quickly level up your night (and daytime) street photography but there are a lot more ideas you can try to really get the most out of your night photo walks, so for more tips to improve your night street photography fast check out this video on my YouTube channel: