Royal Albert Dock at Night, One

This winter I’m going to learn how to take photos at night. A big problem with this is the exposure times, the photos on this page had exposure times of over one second. At this exposure time you cannot hand hold the camera, it’s impossible to keep it steady, resulting in blurred photos. So, I’ve acquired a tripod to keep the camera still while the exposure takes place. Today was the first time I used my camera with the tripod.

I decided to take some photos at the Royal Albert dock Liverpool, as the buildings are well lit up.

Some of the resulting photos are shown on this page, quite a few didn’t make the cut.

As the clock on the Liver Building (above photo) shows I started taking them at ten to five, just before it got dark, so there is still some detail in the sky.

I was accompanied by my sister and spent around an hour taking them. Afterwards we went to one of my favourite pubs, the Ship and Mitre for some bevvies and a plate of fish, chips and mushy peas (and to meet John).

They’re not bad for a first attempt.

The next photo was one of the last one I took, by then it was dark, the sky was a very dark blue. The photo’s exposure time is a difficult one; exposing for the warehouses would result in the rest of the photo being dark. Exposing for the rest of the photo would result in the warehouses being over exposed. I just let the camera determine a suitable exposure time (which I have done for all the photos on this page, and the next). I only took one photo, I should have taken two, the second being of the dock without the warehouses.

Observations and Issues

I decided ages ago, that my first night photos would be taken at the Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool, as it’s well lit up at night and easy to access. I’ve taken many photos there over the years, though none at night. It’s close to the Baltic Fleet, one of my favourite pubs. It also gives me an excuse to visit my 96-year-old mum, sister and friend John.

Weather

I also decided that the best time to take photos at night is during the winter when it gets dark early. I’m no longer a late bird and it’s nice to have a pint or two after taking them.

My camera (a Panasonic FZ2000 Bridge Camera) is not fully waterproof, and the tripod (a Manfrotto Element Mark Two) is a lightweight travel one. Because of this, I needed a couple of days when there is almost no rain and no strong winds, which can be difficult to achieve in the winter. Suitable weather conditions finally occurred today and tomorrow, so I made a last-minute trip to Liverpool (I actually made the decision to come early this morning).

It’s the first time we’ve had no rain over two days since the clocks went back.

Camera Shake and Remote Release

When taking night photos you cannot use the camera’s shutter release (you get camera shake), you need a remote one. My camera can be controlled by an app on my smart phone, connected by Wi-Fi. It allows you to see the photo you are taking, and to easily adjust the camera settings, including the zoom level.

There are many ways to connect the two, I chose the wrong one today! My chosen method was to display a QR Code on the camera, and then read it with the phone, which would then connect to the camera. It worked, but it took a few minutes, as my hand was shaking a bit (my doctor tells me my body is not wired correctly) making it difficult to read the code. The Wi-Fi link dropped out several times, which was not good.

Levelling the Tripod

The tripod also needs to be level, which was difficult to achieve in the dark. Luckily, the photo editing software I use (Affinity Photo Two) makes it easy to correct the perspective. The photos on this page had a lot of corrections.

Self-Conscious

I was also a bit worried about walking around with a tripod, I was a bit self-conscious. It’s something I’d never done before. There was no problem, everyone just ignored me.