Taking pictures at the edge of night...

Santorini, Greece

I love taking pictures at the edge of night. The light can be incredibly magical. This was my favorite vantage point of Santorini, along with hundreds of other cityscape admirers. Most everyone left after sunset, but that's when the light starts to get interesting! The golden light cast a romantic glow over the village, paired with soft clouds and a colorful sky, the view is hard to resist!

To create your own twilight cityscape photos, you'll need just a few basics, camera, tripod, remote or cable release. You can also use the self timer on your camera. If your lens has vibration reduction or image stabilization, you can turn this feature off. Shoot in RAW format for the most flexibility during post processing. Choose a white balance setting that is complementary to your composition. With my Nikon D4, I use a white balance setting of 4000K to 5000K, or try the Fluorescent setting which can work beautifully with compact cameras.

If you want to learn more about taking pictures at twilight and beyond, join me for my online course Long Exposure Creativity at BetterPhoto.com. Class starts in less than week, I hope to see you there!