Lyon by night

[abergon]

Capturing the atmosphere of cities at night is certainly an area where I would like to make progress.

Your critics, comments, advice, will be, as usual, most welcome.

Shot with Nikon Df and PC-E 24mm.

[HCS]

Shooting at night is difficult, this also (maybe especially) goes for cities.

I have struggled with this also and haven't yet found a good recipe for "success". However, many a time the first comment is to shoot earlier in the night, when there is still some colour in the sky, so it's blue(ish) in stead of black.

Conversely, you could also try to leave out the sky as much as possible. Or, try to find a spot that allows you to get city and starry sky in the same shot.

I'm out of ideas now 

[Akira]

To me, the point of the image is the reflection from the street, which makes the image unusual and beautiful.   Was it shot right after the heavy rain had cleared up?

As Hans pointed out, I may also want a bit of more sky, but I think the capture itself really fascinating.

[abergon]

Thank you both for the comments. I will keep in mind the timing to catch the sky. As it was, I arrived late in the city and it was close to midnight when the picture was taken, on a very cold and humid weather.

The water area is actually a large fountain that stops during the night.

[Airy]

Very nice shot. Shooting during or after rain is often useful. I have no recipes for success, but a few hints:
- exposure compensation -2/3 (dusk), -1 (night with lots of lights), down to -3 EV if very dark scene, to avoid overexposure. The darkness is then fine-tuned in PP.
- shooting during or after rain is often a good idea
- apertures normally f/4, at times f/2.8, exceptionally f/2.0 or wider, to avoid nasty artefacts (blooming), possibly get sunstars (lens-dependent), and to 'forgive' focussing errors. Quality loss due to higher ISO is usually more than compensated by the better optical quality;
- FL typically 24 to 58mm; longer is seldom useful unless you got a tripod. Night shots are the sole circumstance where I like 35mm
- Flare-insensitive lenses are a plus; 24/3.5 PC-E is such a lens; Zeiss 35/2 is also excellent
- Auto ISO (Df: limit set to 12800; possibly 25600 if B&W is the goal)
- Composition: indeed, avoid pitch black skies eating the majority of the picture, otherwise no precautions
- The Tamron 45/1.8, which is stabilized, offers a range of possibilities because it allows sharp pics to be shot at 1/8s, or even 1/4s with some precautions.
- I never use tripods for night shots (when I am walking alone at night, I prefer not to be a standing target), but of course these will take you a step further

[Akira]

Albert, thanks for the details of the shooting situation.  I think even just the stopped fountain made it worth shooting late at night.

- I never use tripods for night shots (when I am walking alone at night, I prefer not to be a standing target), but of course these will take you a step further

I wonder how Brassai survived.   

[Airy]

he must have looked like the bad guy

[Akira]

he must have looked like the bad guy

I saw some portraits of him, and surely he did!

[CS]

I like the shot as is.

[Lars Hansen]

I really like the scenery and composition - to my eye a tad warmer white balance might emphasize the atmosphere.

[abergon]

Very nice shot. Shooting during or after rain is often useful. I have no recipes for success, but a few hints:
- exposure compensation -2/3 (dusk), -1 (night with lots of lights), down to -3 EV if very dark scene, to avoid overexposure. The darkness is then fine-tuned in PP.
- shooting during or after rain is often a good idea
- apertures normally f/4, at times f/2.8, exceptionally f/2.0 or wider, to avoid nasty artefacts (blooming), possibly get sunstars (lens-dependent), and to 'forgive' focussing errors. Quality loss due to higher ISO is usually more than compensated by the better optical quality;
- FL typically 24 to 58mm; longer is seldom useful unless you got a tripod. Night shots are the sole circumstance where I like 35mm
- Flare-insensitive lenses are a plus; 24/3.5 PC-E is such a lens; Zeiss 35/2 is also excellent
- Auto ISO (Df: limit set to 12800; possibly 25600 if B&W is the goal)
- Composition: indeed, avoid pitch black skies eating the majority of the picture, otherwise no precautions
- The Tamron 45/1.8, which is stabilized, offers a range of possibilities because it allows sharp pics to be shot at 1/8s, or even 1/4s with some precautions.
- I never use tripods for night shots (when I am walking alone at night, I prefer not to be a standing target), but of course these will take you a step further

Thanks for these recommendations. I'll keep them in mind. As for the tripod, my experience is it really slows you down as you are walking around the city. And I am a very slow photographer already.