SHOOTING STEPS
1 THE POSITION YOUR CAMERA SUPPORT Platypod has four screws – one per corner – and each can be adjusted to level it, even on uneven surfaces. A tripod head also has to be fitted to it so you can attach your camera – here a small ball head was used. This setup is very compact, but also very efficient.
2 SET UP YOUR EQUIPMENT Mount your camera on the tripod head fitted to the Platypod and compose the shot as you want to shoot it. Set your DSLR to aperture priority, the lens to f8 or f11 and the ISO to 100 – as the camera is nice and stable, you don’t need a high ISO.
3 THE TAKE THE FIRST SHOT Once sun has set and daylight levels begin to drop, the city lights will slowly become more obvious and you can start shooting. Use a remote release to trip the camera’s shutter, or you can set the self-timer so that there’s a delay between pressing the shutter release and the shutter opening.
4 LIGHT LEVELS TOO HIGH Although this shot isn’t bad, it was taken too early. There’s still a lot of daylight and the artificial lighting inside the buildings isn’t very obvious. The prime time to shoot low-light urban scenes is when manmade illumination and daylight are in balance.
5 ONCE THE BLUE HOUR APPROACHES daylight levels start to drop, it doesn’t take long before urban scenes really come to life.
You can see here how the city lights are much more obvious, the fading daylight has taken on a cool blue cast – which is where the term ‘blue hour’ comes from.
6 CHECK FOR SHARPNESS Once light levels reach their optimum point, you don’t have a lot of shooting time left. It’s tempting to keep firing away, but remember to zoom in on some of the preview images and check that they’re sharp. If your camera support is nice and stable, they will be.