Everyone hates winter, right?
I'm always hearing friends exclaiming that they hate winter and can't wait for spring to come with its lighter evenings and better weather (sometimes!). Although I don't often say it, I completely disagree!
Like most people, I hate it when the weather gets into a rut when it simply rains day after day, but if the weather Gods are being kind, winter is potentially the best season for landscape photography (think snowy landscapes, foggy mornings and nice late sunrises!). A great winter photography subject that isn't on that list is the dark early evenings. With sunset around 4pm, and darkness around 5pm, there is plenty of scope for photography without having to stay out too late.
Dark winter evenings are fantastic for experimenting with photography as the lack of natural light pushes you to get creative. In this blog we'll take a look at some ideas of things for you to try in the coming weeks.
Embrace the blue hour
Blue hour photography captures the enchanting period of twilight just after sunset when the sun is below the horizon, and the world is bathed in a soft, cool blue light. Lasting only about 20–40 minutes, this brief window offers a unique opportunity to create atmospheric images with beautifully balanced natural light.
Unlike the vibrant, fiery tones of golden hour, the blue hour evokes calm and mystery, making it perfect for cityscapes, landscapes, and long-exposure shots. The deep blue sky contrasts beautifully with artificial lights from street lamps, buildings, and cars, creating an interplay of warm and cool tones that adds depth and drama to your compositions.
It's the perfect light to combine with some of the other ideas in this blog, such as festive decorations in your local town. The photo below (of Torquay harbour) was taken in the blue hour, ensuring some cloud interest in the sky and lovely blue tones. You can read more about the blue hour in this blog.
With the low levels of light, you are likely to need to use long exposures and utilise a tripod. Try and keep the ISO as low as possible to minimise noise in your images.
Get festive!
In the festive season most town and city centres are full of festive decorations, making the perfect scene for some winter evening shooting. As with most low light photography, you will need to use long exposures (and a tripod), and you might also need to think about bracketing your shots so as to make sure you don't overexpose the highlights of the bright spots of light, whilst retaining some detail in the darker shadow areas.
If you want even more of a challenge, try a more difficult festive subject like the fabulous Christmas train of lights (shown below). In this shot, I didn't want to use a long shutter speed, since this would have blurred the motion of the train. Instead, I used a relatively fast shutter speed (1/200th), a wide open aperture (f2.8) to let lots of light in, and a high ISO (4000). The image was relatively noisy due to the high ISO, but the noise reduction feature in Adobe Lightroom has done a good job of reducing this.
Intentional Camera Motion without filters
If you enjoy the creative challenge of Intentional Camera Motion (ICM) then this becomes far easier in low light, since you can easily achieve the slow shutter speeds required without needing ND filters, as you often do in daylight. Taking photos of Christmas lights can be particularly fun to do, and this blog from last year provides a full guide on how to get creative with your Christmas tree without even having to leave home! Alternatively you can go a bit further, such as your local church, as I did for the photo below.
An ICM photo of Honiton Church at Christmas Light trails
Dark winter evenings, which happen at this time of year around the time of the evening rush hour, are perfect for a bit of creative light trail photography! At its core, light trail photography involves using a long exposure to capture the movement of light sources, such as car headlights, tail lights, or even handheld light sources, over a period of time (normally around 20 seconds or more). The result is a mesmerizing display of streaks, swirls, or patterns of light that seem to dance across the photo.
This type of photography works particularly well in urban settings, with busy streets and moving vehicles, but it’s also perfect for creative experiments, such as writing with sparklers or capturing the flow of stars across the night sky. Light trails can add dynamism, energy, and a sense of time to your photographs, turning static scenes into captivating works of art.
You can find a full beginner's guide to the technique needed to create light trail photos in this blog.
5. The night sky
If you want to photograph the core of the Milky Way, you'll need to do that between spring and autumn, as this is the only time of year that the core is visible above the horizon; however this does mean very late nights, usually between 10pm and 4am! However, winter skies are often crisp and clear and perfect for some night sky photography, and with proper darkness as early as 5pm at this time of year, darkness for night sky shots is easily accessible! Although the main core of the Milky Way is not visible, the beautiful arch will be, as well as plenty of stars if you choose a cold, crisp evening and head for a dark sky location. You can find my beginner's guide to photographing the Milky Way here.
The Milky Way above an iconic red phone box
Want to improve your photography skills?
Don't forget that if you want some direct help with your photography, I offer a range of 1-2-1 photography courses for Devon based folks. If you're not nearby then I also offer residential workshops for beginner photographers or improving photographers.
About me
I first got into photography after walking the beautiful South West Coast Path: I was so disappointed that my photos didn't do justice to the beautiful coastal scenery that I decided to walk all 630 miles all over again, but this time to also teach myself photography along the way!
A few years later and I find myself as a professional photographer, widely published and with landscape photos which have won national awards. But I do much more than landscapes, providing photography training to businesses & individuals on how to take beautiful photographs, and providing professional photography services to businesses across the South West. My commercial specialisms are property photography, business photography, people photography & aerial (drone) photography.
I’m also an author with a number of published books and I give regular talks about my passion for photography, and for Devon, to camera clubs and other groups.
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