Edinburgh Nights

Edinburgh City is undoubtably one of the most spectacular cities to be found within the United Kingdom. A perfect blend of old and new, natural and man made constructions, Edinburgh City is a dream location for any visiting photographer. And I am delighted to announce that it is to be the subject of my 6th solely authored book (to be released by Halsgrove in 2009).

There is something very special about this forthcoming publication. Unlike all of my previous books, the images are captured during the hours of darkness - The only source of lighting being the artificial city lights. As a photographer who spends a vast amount of time hanging around waiting for the sun to emerge, I am finding it quite bizarre shooting images where the reverse is the desired lighting conditions. In some ways it is also very liberating as I am no longer tied to the normal considerations of weather patterns and I can actually still create memorable images even in spells of overcast skies. Whilst the above shot of Edinburgh Castle was captured on a clear winter night, the image of the Scott Monument and Princes Street was captured on an overcast day at dusk - Proof that even on the dullest of days that there will always be a small pocket of 'cross over lighting' from day to night when the sky will retain some form of colour. A good dose of light pollution from the city lights will also help to ensure a degree of colour.

The Ferris Wheel and Helter-Skelter in the Princes Street image are part of the cities christmas celebrations to be found at the East Princes Street Gardens. If you are planning to visit Edinburgh over the next couple of weeks, I fully recommend that you visit the fair and join in the festivities. If you are a budding photographer ensure that you take your camera and tripod and try capturing some images after dark - The Ferris Wheel offers a number of creative opportunities. The image to the left was the result of a 30 second exposure at f19. A simple way to achieve this kind of image is to set your camera to aperture priority and select a small aperture such as f16 or f19 - The resulting exposure should be long enough to provide the desired result.