Work with the last light

A place you can return to

Choose a corner you know in daylight. A bridge, an open square, or a quiet street with a clear view of the sky will do. Check public access before you go. Stay out of the road and leave enough room for people to pass your tripod.

Arrive before sunset. Frame a scene with both sky and artificial light. Keep the first composition simple: one building, a line of pavement, and room above the roof. This evening is about reading light, rather than finding a perfect location.

Make the first frame

Put the camera on a stable tripod. Use a two-second timer so pressing the shutter does not shake it. Start at ISO 200, f/8, and one second. These are test settings, not a prescription for every scene. Your lens, light, and subject will decide the next exposure.

Look at the histogram and the bright lights. If large areas are clipped, shorten the shutter time. If the frame is too dark, try two seconds. Change one setting at a time and write it down. Keeping the aperture steady makes the differences easier to see.

Check before you move on

Magnify the image on the camera screen. Look at a window frame or a roof edge. If everything is soft, check focus and tripod movement. If only passing people are blurred, the camera may be steady and the shutter simply too slow for them.

Make another frame two minutes later with the same composition. By the third photograph, the relation between the sky and the lamps will have changed. Choose the one that keeps detail in both. Record the time beside your settings so you can return on another evening.