Just because the sun’s gone down, it doesn’tmean you need to put your camera away. There are still a whole host of photographic opportunities out there – you just have to use a bit of imagination to find them. The lack of light around at night means you’ll need one of two things in order to take a photograph: flash or a long exposure time. Flash is pretty handy if you’re taking snapshots of your family on holiday, enabling you to capture the beauty of the city lights in the background, but also see the people’s faces. You can also have a lot of fun with wireless off-camera flash systems, if your budget can stretch to it. Long exposure shots, however, present an opportunity to get really creative. The most often photographed night-time subjects have to be the moon and the light trails from traffic on the roads. Although both subjects are usually fairly easy to come by and easy to photograph, there’s no harm in stretching your imagination a little further and looking for some alternatives. This tree was photographed in a supermarket car park, lit by the tall lights surrounding it. Your camera should be mounted on a tripod and switched onto Self-timer mode, to eliminate any risk of camera shake when the shutter’s fired. Keep your ISO low (50-200) to keep your image as clean as possible. With your camera in Manual mode, start with an exposure time of about two seconds and an aperture of around f/5.6, varying the exposure time and aperture to capture more movement or light. Look around for different subjects: from sparklers and fireworks to trees blowing in the wind and ghostly figures walking the streets – you should never be short of something to photograph!

1. Use a tripod

When taking photos with long exposures, a tripod is essential to avoid camera shake ruining your image. Using a sturdy tripod ensures that the camera stays still, so all the stationary objects in your image should stay pin-sharp, with only the moving objects becoming streaked or blurred.

2. Exposure

Start with an exposure time of around two seconds. Check the image and adjust your exposure time accordingly, allowing more light to fall on the sensor and more movement to be captured. This image required an exposure time of eight seconds to gather enough light.

3. Aperture

A good starting point for night-time photography is f/5.6, although you may want to experiment with this, varying the depth of field for creative effect. Here, a small aperture has been used to increase the depth of field and keep as many elements in the photograph in focus as possible.

4. White Balance

Experiment with your white balance settings to get the most pleasing results. Night-time photography usually involves a number of different light sources so it can be difficult to know which setting to use. Aim to keep the sky a deep blue and the street lights yellow or white for the best compositions.