There's some magic when the light goes down and most of the people just leave the scene. Staying behind with patience to wait for the next episode does pay most of the time. And it's never a repeated story as I'lll try to show.
Your best friend in these hours is a tripod. There's no way you can get that kind of light without a support. And while a rock, your own backpack or whatever you come across as a make-do support can work, the freedom you have from having a tripod that can be set almost anywhere, will make you think twice next time you decide you can leave your three-legged companion in the boot of the car. After all, why did you buy a tripod?
That said, a tripod will not make the photographs for you. You still have to look for the right choice of framing and light, and eventually come to discover that even in the still of the night, when all seems equal, there's a difference between land and sky. And it's then and there that a filter might help. Not just any filter but a graduated filter that can make the bridge between the light extremes still hanging about when you least expect it. It's only then that you understand that there are limits to what you can do. If you know the theory you'll be aware that you can use the magic of modern cameras, digital, to easily bracket exposures that you'll mix together at home. Or follow the other recipe and use your RAW (if you use it) to make different exposures when back at the editing desk. Or, last possible choice, use a graduated filter in Lightroom or Zoner Photo Studio or any other program.
But be aware that none of these solutions will give you the in site vision that you can get placing a filter in front of your lens and deciding then - is it Cartier Bresson's decisive moment? - what you want to do with that frame. You can build thousand different photographs afterwards, but if you're not building the image in place, or at least making it as close as possible to what you envision, you'll miss part of the fun. And besides, no technique in the afterwards editing will capture the same subtle nuances you'll have by filtering at the original source. Think about that and if you want a crash course on photographing in the still of the night, get in touch.
These images are from a collection that tries to get the light during and beyond the twilight hours and when possible show the human elements within the landscape.
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